Healthy Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
Published 7/7/2019 โข Updated 1/19/2024
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Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats that are delish and healthy too? YES PLEASE! These fabulous Peanut Butter Rice Krispies are made with all-natural peanut butter and NO marshmallows.
Want more Rice Crispy recipes? Check out our Chocolate Peanut Butter Brown Rice Crispy Bars or our Crunchy Rice Crispy Peanut Butter Cups for more options.
How to Make Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats
Dying to know how to make peanut butter rice crispy treats without marshmallows that use whole, real ingredients and that the whole family will love? Good news…these bars are super simple and don’t require any baking at all!
Guess what else? This recipe is gluten free, vegan, and dairy free.
Step 1: Gather Ingredients
Lucky for you, this recipe only calls for 6 simple ingredients and a square cake pan. Let’s check it:
- Rice Crispy cereal – any kind of rice crispy cereal works! We’ve used both white and brown rice cereal and they’re both fantastic.
- all-natural peanut butter – for this recipe, make sure you’re using an all-natural peanut butter recipe that has no added salt or sugar! If you need a peanut substitution, we recommend almond butter or cashew butter.
- brown rice syrup – brown rice syrup acts as your binder and is super sticky. We don’t recommend swapping for anything else because it’s so much sticker than honey and/or maple syrup. Buy it on Amazon HERE.
- dark chocolate chips – dark, milk, semi-sweet, white…any kind of chocolate chips work!
- coconut oil – the coconut oil is used to thin out the chocolate chips. A little goes a long way!
- coarse sea salt – don’t skimp on the sea salt. Just trust me.
Step 2: Mix
Now it’s time to place all ingredients into a large bowl. Spray a wooden spoon with nonstick cooking spray and then use that to mix everything together. If it’s easier you can use your hands for this part too! I suggest wetting them so it doesn’t stick.
Step 3: Transfer to Pan
Next, line a square cake pan (8×8 or 9×9 works) with parchment paper and give it a good spray with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer the rice crispy batter to the pan and use your spatula to press the bars into the pan.
Step 4: Drizzle that Chocolate
Next, make your chocolate drizzle. Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil together to create your chocolate sauce. Drizzle the chocolate sauce on top of your peanut butter rice krispies. Be as generous or as scant as you wish. IMO, the more chocolate the better. Then, sprinkle on some coarse sea salt (this is the best part).
Step 5: Freeze
Place the entire pan of peanut butter rice krispie bars into the freezer and freeze for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Step 6: Slice
Remove bars from their pan and place onto a cutting board. Let sit for around 5 minutes to thaw a bit. Spray a knife with nonstick cooking spray and slice the pan down the middle. Then, slice each section into 6 bars. If the bars, crack a little, no worries! They will still taste delish.
Storage
We suggest storing these bars in the freezer. After slicing, transfer them into a freezer-safe gallon-size bag and remove as much air as possible. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Healthy Rice Krispie Treat Recipes
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Brown Rice Crispy Treats
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Brown Rice Crispies
- Rice Crispy Peanut Butter Cups
- Almond Butter Brown Rice Crispy Treats
Healthy Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats
- 4 cups rice crispy cereal
- 1/2 cup unsalted all-natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
Chocolate drizzle
- 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
- coarse sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- First, line a cake pan with parchment paper. Then, spray with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- Place peanut butter and brown rice syrup into a medium bowl and mix.
- Next, place rice crispy cereal in a large bowl and then pour on peanut butter mixture.
- Spray a spatula with nonstick cooking spray and then use that to mix everything together.
- Once everything is thoroughly coated, transfer into the cake pan. Use your spatula or hands to evenly press rice crispy treats into the bread pan.
- Lastly, place chocolate chips and coconut oil into a small bowl. Microwave for around 60 seconds to 2 minutes, stirring half-way.
- Drizzle chocolate on top of rice crispy treats with a spoon.
- Place cake pan into the freezer and freeze for a least 2 hour.
- Once frozen, cut into 12 servings and sprinkle on coarse sea salt.
Tips & Notes
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This is awesome and beautiful recipe, Lee! Will Pin It. Beautiful photos!
Thank you Olena! ๐
sweetgoodness! i know what i’m making my little guy for dessert tomorrow. he’s gonna love these..especially with that chocolate drizzle ๐
did you use 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil? or do i start with 1/4 cup hard coconut oil?
Great question! I used 1/4 cup of hard coconut oil, then I melted it down!
WOuld that make a difference if you started out with liquid coconut oil? Also, honey in place of brown rice syrup or agave or maple syrup\?
Thanks
The liquid coconut oil should be fine…the reason I like brown rice syrup is because it’s a much stickier, thicker consistency. I’d use honey over maple syrup because it’s thicker, but still not 100% sure how it will turn out!
Seeing that all I’ve been craving lately is peanut butter and chocolate, these sound fabulous!! ๐ ๐
Rice Krispie squares are one of the few things I ‘miss’ since going vegan. Not anymore!
BOOOOOOM. Shakalaka.
Need to make these ASAP!
rice crispie treats that are real food?! yes please.
What a great idea! Rice crispy treats really aren’t that bad, it’s just the amount of sugar from the marshamallows. I wonder how using Kashi cereal or another cereal with a bit more fiber would do? Thanks for the idea ๐
O0o Genius. I bet you could do any kin of cereal. I love that kashi cereal thats super crunchy (its like o’s and hearts)…not sure what it’s called but I love it!
Oh and duh… Happy Thanksgiving! ๐
Um this looks amazing and I may need to make this tonight! I love rice crispy treats but marshmallows freak me out because of the gelatin. BUT this looks amazing! We have 4 hours of wintery weather mix to drive through tomorrow and I am thinking this could be a good snack! ๐
Sara ๐
Hahaha. I still eat em. I can’t say no to a good smore. Happy T-giving to you toooooo!!! And safe travels! I’m hoping the weather is good for me…or I may need to nyquil myself. JKJKJK
These look fantastic! Can’t wait to see you on SUNDEE! Whoop whoop.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!