Hi friends!
Long time no talk. I’m home from my vacation – what an awesome time it was! – so I’m back to normal life at home in SoCal for a few weeks before my next trip (Vegas for work). I’ll be recapping my wine country vacay soon on the blog, but today? Let’s talk chocolate peanut butter treats!
Since we were going to be in the car traveling a lot on vacation, I made sure to pack lots of snacks. I always pack some sort of snacks on trips, but between the long drive from the San Diego area up to San Francisco, then heading up to Sonoma, then driving around wine country vino tasting for a bunch of days, then lastly making the trip back home, I knew that snacks would be a necessity. And today’s recipe made the cut to travel with us in my bag of goodies!
I also just made another batch of these rice crispy snacks when my father-in-law was recently in town staying with us, and I got a big thumbs up from his sweet tooth lovin’ self. I mean can we really go wrong with chocolate + peanut butter, aka the best food combination ever?! Not in my book.
This recipe is not only a crowd pleaser, it’s definitely healthier for you than those popular blue wrapper Rice Krispy Treats that contain ingredients like margarine, gelatin and corn syrup solids.
We start off with brown rice crisps cereal – Barbara’s Bakery is my go-to. Melt some natural smooth peanut butter, brown rice syrup (I use Lundberg Farms), and a pinch of sea salt together in a saucepan, then pour it over the cereal.
Once that’s evenly pressed into a pan, we melt dark chocolate chips, some more PB, a bit of almond milk, and a touch of vanilla extract together until smooth. Pour the chocolate evenly on top of the cereal mixture, then throw it into the fridge for awhile until they harden up.
Cut them into squares, and enjoy as a snack or dessert all week long! They’ve been a hit with the adults in my life that I’ve shared them with, and I think that kiddos are bound to love em too. Just make sure to store them in a cool place so that the chocolate layer doesn’t soften too much.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Brown Rice Crispy Squares [vegan, gf]
Ingredients
- 3 cups brown rice crisps cereal
- 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
- 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter - divided into 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup
- 1/2 cup vegan dark chocolate chips
- 2 TBSP almond milk or other type of non-dairy milk
- 1/2 TSP vanilla extract
- 1/8 TSP sea salt
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine brown rice syrup, 1/4 cup peanut butter and pinch of sea salt over low heat. Allow mixture to melt, stirring often.
- Pour cereal into a large bowl. Once brown rice syrup mixture is smooth and warm, remove it from heat and pour on top of the cereal. Stir with a wooden spoon until evenly combined.
- Line a square 8x8 pan with tin foil. Pour the cereal into the pan, pressing down firmly.
- Combine the dark chocolate chips, remaining peanut butter, milk, and vanilla in the same small saucepan. Warm over low heat, stirring often until melted and smooth.
- Pour the chocolate mixture evenly over the brown rice crisps cereal.
- Refrigerate the brown rice crispy treats until the chocolate is firm and hardened (at least 90 minutes).
- Cut the treats into squares, and keep in a cool place until ready to be enjoyed.
Notes
Tell me… What’s your favorite food combo?
Chocolate + PB always has my heart, but I also love chocolate + mint and apple + almond butter.
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table says
Chocolate and peanut butter is the best combo. And banana, if you’re adding fruit. I’d probably eat this whole pan.
Can’t wait to hear about wine country!!!
Brittany says
Oh my, I am salivating at this. I make a similar recipe with dandies marshmallows, but this looks great!
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
Welcome back! I am glad that you had a good time.
I am drooling over this, I just want to reach through the screen and grab one.
GiGi Eats says
Gah!! These don’t hold a candle to the brownies I made last week, LOL!! So I guess you’ll prob just make these over and over again!
Britt@MyOwnBalance says
My favorite food combo goes completely in a different direction: caprese–tomato, basil and mozzarella. To me, there is literally nothing better! Excited for your recap!
Nikki @ will run for pizza says
I think you’ve posted this recipe before and I made them and we LOVED them. I forgot about this recipe, and now I want one, so I might be making these tonight!
foodielovesfitness says
Ah yes, love me some homemade rice crispy treats! I’ve shared a salted caramel crispy treat recipe & a similar recipe with chocolate chips, but this may be my favorite because it has a whole chocolate Pb layer on top! Mmm, hope you make em!
rachel @ athletic avocado says
can’t believe that these are healthy, they look amazing!
Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health says
I love these! I actually have a very similar recipe on my site (but I use coconut oil to melt the chocolate) so I know how delicious they are. 😉
You can’t go wrong with chocolate & pb!