Going back to school?
When I was growing up, I’d often find a rice crispy treat—in that famous turquoise wrapper—packed into my school lunchbox. So rice crispy treats remind me of school… in a good way!
No-bake, and they can be gluten-free!
Rice Crispy Treats
(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 tbsp peanut or other nut butter
- 1/2 cup sticky sweetener ( (I used agave. Honey will work, unless they are for strict vegans.)
- optional: you can add 2-4 tbsp protein powder
Rice Crispy Treats Recipe: 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. 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.
Click for lower-sugar and Lower-Calorie Options.
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!
Colleen says
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!
Michaela says
these treats look so yummy!! totally reminds me of Ireland 😉
hopefully I will find brown rice krispies!
and again, love your pictures!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
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 ;).
Michaela says
oh really? I do like the simplicty of the pictures so much and also the colour combination.
I bet they tasted superb 🙂
Julie H. of Spinach and Sprinkles says
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!
Kristin @ STUFT Mama says
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.
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Ooh I am SO excited you tried the fudge!
Mia says
Oh yum! I’m gonna try these with some puffed kamut that I have! Thanks for the recipe!
Ashley O. @ The Vegetable Life says
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!
Katelyn (new kid on the vegan block) says
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 🙂
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
I love the Puffins idea! Let me know how they work; I’m curious too!
Gen says
Aaaw how cute!!! And I bet they’re delicious, too!
Raychel says
These look delicious! About how many does one batch make?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
It depends on how big you cut them or roll them. It’ll fill an 8×8 pan.
Kim says
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.
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
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)! 🙂
VeggieGirl says
You. rock. PERFECT treats!
Lindsey @ Why Just Eat says
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 🙂
Amber K says
They look delicious! And so easy to make. I love GF desserts 🙂
Jennyb says
rice krispie cakes were something we always used to make as children, brings back good memories!
Megan says
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
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Wow, YOU just made me smile SO much!!
babette says
I really want to make this. It must be much cheaper and healthier in the end than making it with vegan marshmallows.
Aja says
They look so cute! Yum yum yum!
Char says
Ohhh gosh, I’m excited for these!! I lovelovelove rice krispies but haven’t had one since going vegan 😀 thank you, Katie!!
Cait @ beyond bananas says
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!
Rachel Ramey says
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).
Ragnhild says
Haha- yey, I love how they are best stored in the tummy 😀 Ill keep that in mind 😉
These looks so good btw!
Aine @ Something to Chew Over says
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? 🙂
Katie @ Nutrition in a peanut shell says
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?
Katie @ Nutrition in a peanut shell says
Nevermmind, checked out your Lower calorie option page 😉
Anna Crouch says
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 🙂
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Eek good to know!
Grace says
I had the same problem using puffed rice, they got soggy by the time I’d finished mixing them with the banana mixture. Not so tasty. But next I’m going to try lightly processing some bran flakes and krispies with pb
Cristina says
Aww 🙂 I used puffed rice and it worked perfectly (I used browb rice syrup) Thanks Katie!
Kate (Bread & Chocolate) says
Great bite-sized snacks! I can’t wait for the chocolate version…
Jen says
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!
Holly @ The Runny Egg says
Very cute — you should definitely make these on a stick and dipped in chocolate (and sprinkles!)
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Oh my word, that is the best idea ever, Holly!!!
Abby @ Abz 'n' Oats says
Yum! I have always loved rice krispie treats! I love seeing a healthier version! 🙂
Heather @ Get Healthy with Heather says
Yummy I’d love these way more than the packaged kind… Sooooo much better for you too!
Lauren @ What Lauren Likes says
So cute!! these are the perfect “back to school” treat haha 🙂