Going back to school?
These treats are the perfect school snack.
When I was growing up, I’d often find a rice crispy treat—in that infamous turquoise wrapper—packed into my school lunchbox. So rice crispy treats remind me of school. But really, this recipe is a good snack to eat any time:
-You only need 5 ingredients
-They can be “high-protein”
-Freezable, portable, and yummy-addictive!
Do the wrappers look familiar?
I used the same ones for the Chocolate-Banana Bon Bons.
(Those bon bons are another yummy-addictive snack!)
Plus, they’re gluten-free!
Rice Crispy Treat Babies
(Or you can make squares)
- 3 cups rice crispies (I used brown rice crispies)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt (I used salted pb, too)
- 1/2 cup plus 2 T nut butter (for lower-cal option, see below link)
- 1/2 cup sticky sweetener ( (I used agave. Click for lower-sugar version)
- optional: you can add 2-4 T protein powder
Mix your pb, sweetener, extract, and salt. Melt (either in the microwave or stove), then pour over the cereal and stir very well, making sure to coat all the crispies. Form into balls or line a pan with wax paper and spread the mixture evenly into the pan. Place a sheet of wax paper on top of the mixture, then press down as firmly as you can. Really press it down! Freeze for at least a half hour before slicing.
Click for lower-sugar and Lower-Calorie Options.
These treats can be stored in the freezer, in the fridge, or loosely covered in a cool, dry place. But the best place to store them is in your tummy.
And yes, there is definitely a chocolate version. I will post it soon!
Speaking of chocolate…
I changed chocolate-ified my About Me page.
It’s now really chocolate-covered!
{ 89 comments… read them below or add one }
Yay I love rice crispy treats! I never thought of using nut butter before.
The question is will there be any left for me to freeze?
I love rice krispie treats, and I haven’t had one in soo long!
What about if you don’t want a PB tasting treat? (I have friends who love the krispies but not the PB).
Do you just omit the nut butter?
Nevermmind, checked out your Lower calorie option page
You must be telepathic, I was just thinking about rice crispy treats this morning, and wondering how they could be made without marshmallows. I LOVE putting peanut butter in RCTs, and my mom would sometimes stir butterscotch chips into the mix; pure brilliance. Thanks so much, Katie!
these treats look so yummy!! totally reminds me of Ireland
hopefully I will find brown rice krispies!
and again, love your pictures!
LOL these actually aren’t some of my favorite photos! I did the shoot in like 5 minutes and wanted to do it over… but then I got hungry and ate the subjects
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oh really? I do like the simplicty of the pictures so much and also the colour combination.
I bet they tasted superb
LOVE this! …I’ll be having to make treats for my kids at school VERY soon and these will come in handy. I love that I don’t feed them junk when I treat them. Thanks for the idea!
–Can’t believe that they stuck together so well, that’s awesome! Mmmm!
These look delish! I actually tried this recipe (almost to a T! I didn’t use vanilla or salt) a long time ago and used PUFFED rice cereal–it DID NOT work! I noticed you had the idea to try the puffed rice as a lower calorie option, and asked if anyone knew if they worked, so I wanted to let you know they dont! haha I think it’s because the puffed rice absorbs so much moisture, that they don’t hold together. I tried to form mine into balls too, but they sucked up all the agave and some peanut butter and would not stick together into balls. The cereal started to get soggy after a few minutes and then the second I let my fingers off of it, they would crumble. Soooo….unless I did something terribly wrong, the puffed rice is a no-go
Eek good to know!
These are so so cute! Love rice crispies so I’m so excited to try them and make them for my boys too. And I just HAVE to tell you that I tried the peanut butter fudge last night and OH MY GOODNESS……….I don’t even know waht to say. Wait, yes I do. AMAZING! Your recipes are incredible! I look forward to checking out your page everyday.
Ooh I am SO excited you tried the fudge!
Great bite-sized snacks! I can’t wait for the chocolate version…
I used to love rice crispy treats when I was a kid too. Today, my taste buds would definitely prefer your version. You should make a batch with mini chocolate chips in them!
Very cute — you should definitely make these on a stick and dipped in chocolate (and sprinkles!)
Oh my word, that is the best idea ever, Holly!!!
Oh yum! I’m gonna try these with some puffed kamut that I have! Thanks for the recipe!
Yummy I’d love these way more than the packaged kind… Sooooo much better for you too!
I love rice krispy treats but since going vegetarian I have not had one because of the marshmallow component! These look AMAZING! I’ll def. be making these ASAP!
Okay I’m really inspired – I’ve been addicted to puffins lately, so I may try a version of this recipe with broken up puffins and use banana butter instead of PB. Thanks
I love the Puffins idea! Let me know how they work; I’m curious too!
Aaaw how cute!!! And I bet they’re delicious, too!
These look delicious! About how many does one batch make?
It depends on how big you cut them or roll them. It’ll fill an 8×8 pan.
Just make these and from the finger-licking test they should be great! I used Wow butter which is a soy nut butter(my kids have allergies), a combo of cornflakes and rice crispies as i ran out of rice crispies and corn syrup. The only trouble I had was forming them into balls. Yours look so perfect!! I used my melon baller to get them startedbut tried to form them a bit mire but they just stuck to my hands…which meant of course I had to lick them clean!!
Thanks for the great recipe.
Yeah, they’re not so fun to roll into balls. They were sticky… It was so much easier to make them in pan-form (use an 8×8)!
So cute!! these are the perfect “back to school” treat haha
You. rock. PERFECT treats!
Awesome! I love that you made these without marshmallows.
I love that these can be made with any nut butter. My daughter is in a peanut-free school, and that eliminates about half of the foods she loves! I’ll make these with homemade almond butter
They look delicious! And so easy to make. I love GF desserts
rice krispie cakes were something we always used to make as children, brings back good memories!
mmmm pb rice crispy treats!!! yum yum!
This will make such a nice and easy snack to bring with me when I’m on the run doing tasks. I love the variety of recipes on this blog. It seems like we have similar taste in food since I notice a lot of ingredients I like are in the recipes.
I really do look forward to getting to see and try the different recipes as they appear on the blog… it gives me something to look forward to during the day and ends up making me smile.
Who you are makes a difference! You help spread so much happiness and the people in your life are so lucky to have you around n_n
Wow, YOU just made me smile SO much!!
I really want to make this. It must be much cheaper and healthier in the end than making it with vegan marshmallows.
They look so cute! Yum yum yum!
Ohhh gosh, I’m excited for these!! I lovelovelove rice krispies but haven’t had one since going vegan
thank you, Katie!!
Girl these look amazing! Rice crispy treats were Always a favorite of mine! I may just make a batch of these to welcome my new class to second grade!
I haven’t had these in so long! Can’t wait for the chocolate version
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Just FYI, and/or so your readers don’t get confused, regular Rice Krispies are not gluten-free. (They contain barley malt.) But they do have a new GF version that uses whole grain brown rice (and is sweetened with real sugar).
Haha- yey, I love how they are best stored in the tummy
Ill keep that in mind 
These looks so good btw!
I LUV rice crispy treats and have made quite a few variations on the blog! I love using nut butter..peanut and almond so far!
Great new addition to my collection of recipes..and with 5 ingredients..I LIKE!
Yum! I have always loved rice krispie treats! I love seeing a healthier version!
I am a huge rice krispie treat fan and have about 10 version on my site, the latest being raw vegan chocolate chip cookie dough STUFFED rice krispie treats…with choc frosting of course
The other nice thing about RKTs is that is so easy to make them vegan (as long as the marshmallows are, you’re pretty much set) as well as GF since rice is naturally GF.
I love your individual ones. So cute in the little papers and rolled into balls. just READY for munchin’
I used to get that same wrapper! Along with some yodels and tastycakes and other treats I am tad embarrassed to say were eaten
Realllly wishing I had rice crispy treats right now!
These are ADORABLE! And they certainly remind me of back to school time
I made something really similar using different puffed grains, although rice seems to be the Perfect size… Puffed millet is tiny and corn is big, but puffed kamut worked awesome too
These look totally yum!
Aww these are so cute!
I never really liked “real” rice crispies because I thought they were too sweet and didn’t have a lot of flavor. But with these, I could adjust the sweetness, and since it’s one of your recipes, I know it won’t be lacking in the taste department 
And thank you so much for letting me know about the coconut milk. Mine did have water so that must be why it was thinner. I guess that just means I’ll have to make it again… ah, what a bummer (enter squeals of excitement here)
<3 <3
p.s. I love the even more chocolatey about page
Pretty much one the of the best things you have come up with yet again.
HUGE fan of krispie anything!
I make this stuff all the time but what I love is your idea of making them into balls. Bravo Love!
oh yum! I have a question about the vegan cool whip. Can you use the coconut milk from Trader Joe’s, like the one from the box? Or do you recommend a can?
Has to be canned.
Did you hear Bill Clinton is vegan now? http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/bill-clintons-vegan-journey/ He should read your blog
WOW! I knew he did a vegan challenge, but I had no idea he was a full-fledged vegan now! Amazing!! First Ellen DeGeneres, now Bill Clinton. Next??? Mark Zuckerburg? LOL who says veganism is not mainstream?
wooooooah. katie you are so freaking smart! i lovee rice crispy treats but i can’t eat them because of my allergies/veganisim.
AHHHH I WANT THESE. They are so darn cute. Portion control
ahahah
Yay! I was just now looking at a post on The Mother Huddle and sighing, realizing that I couldn’t make any of the four fun rice crispy treats for my little kiddos, AND NOW I CAN! Thank you, thank you for the great reminder that being vegan really does rock. Not only are we able to live an amazingly healthy lifestyle, but we can still have a blast (maybe even more so than otherwise) in the process.
P.S. Would somebody please tell me how in the world I add my face onto my comment? I am tired of being gray and white, he he.
LOL I did mine a long time ago. I think I went to gravatar.com!
Whaaaat I was trying to think of a way to make these vegan!!! Nut butter, duh! That’s what I have you for
I’ll have to show these to my bf’s sis. She’s vegan and loveeeees rice crispies!
You could also use marshmallow fluff. Smuckers is vegan (although not exactly healthy lol) as is Ricemellow Cream, if you can find it.
um, I made rice krispies this past weekend – I LOVE them and they are one of my favorite desserts. but as I was eating and making them, I was thinking to myself, I wonder if Katie has a version of these that is healthified (that’s probably not a word)? because that would be AWESOME! and look, I think you read my mind!!!
Wow, lol! Hmmm, let’s see if I can read your mind right now. You are currently thinking about… chocolate.
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Oops, I think I accidentally read MY mind
Yum! my mom used to make rice crispy treats all the time, but we liked her Fiber One treats even better. She’s spoiled me- I won’t eat the packaged treats.
Ahhh yes! Those turquoise wrappers SCREAM childhood for me! But these look SO much better. I wonder if you could make them into a regular bar sized form? Maybe add chocolate chips? Mmm.
Yup! It’s actually easier (less messy) to make bars.
The only rice krispie treats I’ve ever had are homemade. I thought it was crazy that you could buy them in the store all packaged and made, and couldn’t believe how expensive they are! Love doing peanut butter ones, especially covered in a nice layer of chocolate
good luck with the new site! I totally feel ya!
I’m sure this one is delish and I would like to try it.
Katie, ohmygosh. You are my life saver.
I made these as popcorn balls since I didn’t have any rice crispies. (Also I love popcorn balls!) They are setting now, so I haven’t had a set one yet, but the pieces I ate were delicious! About 1/4 cup of kernels made enough popcorn for the balls, and a snack for afterwards.
Oh wow, I LOVE your idea!
Just made these with pb & organic koala krisp (chocolate krispies). They’re in the freezer now. This will be a long 30 mins….
Oh wow, I’ve added cocoa powder to mine, but I never thought to use cocoa crispies! What a fabulous idea!
they are amazing! used an 8×8 pan, my husband ate half the pan in 5 mins! cookie pie is next on the list – for my nieces bday this wknd!
I am so excited you liked them! And good luck with the pie… tell your niece happy birthday for me!!
i really want to make these for a friend, but i was wondering – i know its not as healthy, but if i have a few marshmallows to use up (leftover from summer and don’t want to waste food!), would those work if i melted them in too? And what would you think about the addition of oatmeal, choc chips, or raisins, as far as the bars holding up? Thanks!
I made these exactly as you said, but with the lower peanut butter option and they turned out perfectly- the extra two tablespoons of PB are not missed, so might as well save the calories!!
Help! Where do you find brown rice crispies??? I have brown puffed rice cereal that I was planning on using, but now see the warning against it…
Though I am really craving these and might just wing it with the puffed rice anyway…
Brown rice crispies are just rice crispy cereal (like the ones that come in the Kelloggs box) made from brown rice instead of white. In fact, Kelloggs makes one, as does Erowon. Look in the cereal aisle
. (But regular rice crispies will work too!)
i made these yesterday and they are delicious! and dangerously easy to make =)
My mom and I made these last night and the only word that came to mind was, “INCREDIBLE!” I LOVE peanut butter, so this was a bowl of peanut butter dreams. We ended not even making balls and literally ate the whole bowl full (no guilt included). I used the less sugar version, which made me use less krispies and I used 1/4c+2T of crunchy pb and 2T of Better n’ butter (because it doesn’t have a real pb taste, but it is less cals/fat) and next time I might add 1/2tsp extra of vanilla extract. I will be making these again and that thought alone makes me excited. Also, you cuold make it with rolled oats, if you wanted to try a different texture. Thank you again, for all your amazing recipes
where do I find nut butter? I can’t eat the nuts I have Chrohns disease but I can eat peanut butter is it the same??
Nut butter can be anything, Peanut butter, almond butter, coconut butter, even sunbutter!
I really wanted to make this recipe, but you know how when you’re out of ingredients substitutions can lead to creating whole new foods…. Well I went a bit crazy….
1 cup Fiber One Squares+1 cup golden grahams+1 cup of captain crunch, all slightly crushed.
Sweetener- 1/4 cup of Blue Agave+ 1/4 Cup of Ricemellow cream
Fat= 1/4 cup earth balance+ 1/4 cup coconut oil+ 2 tbs PB&CO Crunch Time
Added in a handful of unsweetened Navitas Naturals Cacao Nibs a handful of Guittards Chocolate chips and topped it with PMS chocolate swirls…
Its a monstrosity…
A delicious, calorie laden, chocolate covered nightmare of yumminess….
Have you ever had a recipe get out of hand Katie?
Haha oh yes definitely… especially when a food processor is involved. It’s just too easy to keep adding things! Or soup…
I made these with freshly ground almond butter today and…OH MY GOD THESE ARE AMAZING. I swear I just went to heaven
Eep! Please edit your post so people know that most brands of rice krispies are NOT gluten-free? You have to look for specially-marked packages. Thanks!
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