Rice Cakes

Whenever you have been riding for as long as I have you get sick of eating the same pre-packaged food over and over again. A few years ago I started making rice cakes for my ride fuel. Rice cakes are so soft and moist that you barely have to chew them. I also love the fact you can make any flavor you like, and from a fueling stand point these puppies work super. I start eating the rice cakes about half an hour to 1.5 hours into my rides and take one roughly every half hour throughout my rides. This past Monday I made rice cakes with an athlete I coach, and I am going to share some flavors I make with you.

   Showing Spencer how to (w)rap

Chocolate
Ingredients:
1.5 cups of sushi rice
1/2 cup of chocolate chips
2 tablespoons of molasses
3 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup
2 tablespoons of almond butter
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/3 cup of chopped almonds

Cookie Butter Cream Cheese
Ingredients:
1.5 cups of sushi rice
2 tablespoons cookie butter
Half a stick or 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of cream cheese
4 tablespoons of sugar, honey, or maple syrup
2 tablespoons of coconut oil

Sweet Potato
Ingredients:
1.25 cups of sushi rice
1 small sweet potato, skinned, cooked, and mashed
1/4 cup of raisins
1/4 cup of chopped almonds
3 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey
1 tablespoon of molasses
2 tablespoons of almond butter
Small amount of cinnamon

 

              Sweet Potato Rice Cake

To begin cook the sushi rice in a rice cooker or on the stove top with about 1.5 times the volume of water to volume rice. After the rice is cooked mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. After the ingredients are mixed put them in a brownie tray and spread them out over the entire tray. Press a spoon over the top of the mixture to make sure it is spread to a relatively even thickness. I prefer to let my rice cakes sit out at room temperature for 1.5 to 2 hours. This ensures they are cool before you wrap them. It also makes the rice cakes dry and stick together well. You could put your rice cakes in a fridge or freezer to cool. I do not prefer this method because the cold leaves condensation on the aluminum foil when I wrap the cakes. I use a sharpie to label the flavors, and the condensation makes it impossible to label them. After the cakes are cooled wrap them up in aluminum foil. You have some tasty ride fuel as long as you don't eat all the rice cakes while you are making them. I can't say this hasn't happened before...

The finished product. Now it's time to ride!