These sweet, salty, classic, crispy peanut butter rice crispy treats are so fun and EASY to make for snack or dessert!
Vegan
Gluten Free
Refined Sugar Free
No Corn Syrup
Just 5 Ingredients
They’re the perfect choice for a hot day when you don’t want to turn on the oven, or any time you need a last-minute dessert to serve a crowd. Secretly healthy rice crispy treats made with just a few ingredients, no marshmallows, and NO baking required!
Also, here is a Nutella version that I posted way back in 2013: Nutella Rice Crispy Treats.
I made these vegan rice crispy treats for a Memorial Day barbecue yesterday, and the verdict was that they tasted “just like Scotcheroos, but without the butterscotch chips!”
I’d actually never had a scotcheroo before, so of course I had to google them on my phone. And now I really want to get my hands on some vegan butterscotch chips.
Or maybe make my own? Stay tuned!
Watch the recipe video above
How To Make Rice Crispy Treats
I’ve written the printable recipe below, mentioning to stir the nut butter, sweetener, vanilla, and salt together first. But if you just want to throw everything into a bowl at once like the video shows, that’s honestly fine too.
Once you have a sticky mixture, you can make rice krispies treats balls by rolling them with your hands, or you can press into a lined 8×8 pan and then freeze until firm.
The recipe calls for peanut butter instead of marshmallows, but if you’re allergic or are sending them in to a peanut-free classroom, it also works with sunflower butter, almond butter, cashew butter, or even coconut butter.
Even if you do love peanut butter, it can be fun to try the recipe with different nut or seed butters, to find your favorite flavor combination.
The recipe makes 9-12 bars, but it can easily be doubled for a larger crowd.
If making a bigger recipe, just double of the ingredients and use a 9×13 pan. They go so fast that making a larger batch is never a bad idea!
Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats
Ingredients
- 3 cups rice crispies cereal
- 2/3 cup nut butter or allergy-friendly sub
- 1/2 cup agave or honey
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- optional 2-3 tbsp protein powder
Instructions
- *To make the optional chocolate topping, simply melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips with 2-3 tsp oil. Chocolate burns quickly, so be careful and stir very often. I also stop heating before all the chips are melted, then keep stirring without heat to finish the melting process.If not already stir-able, gently heat the peanut butter to soften. Stir with the sweetener, vanilla extract, and salt. Pour over the rice crispy cereal and stir very well, making sure to coat all the crispies. You can either form the mixture into rice crispy treat balls, or line an 8×8 pan with parchment or wax and spread the mixture evenly into the pan. (Note: Feel free to double the recipe and use a 9×13 pan if a larger yield is desired.) Place a second sheet of parchment or wax on top, then press down as firmly as you possibly can. If desired, top with the chocolate sauce. Freeze for at least a 1/2 hour before slicing into bars. Leftovers can be refrigerated, frozen, or stored loosely covered in a cool place.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
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Whitney says
Yes, PLEASE make healthy butterscotch chips!!! I have been WAITING for someone to make a good recipe that’s not loaded with sugar!
Question: do you think it would be okay to use maple syrup instead of agave or honey? Those two ingredients shoot my sugar cravings/anxiety through the roof (they have a worse effect on blood sugar)? Thank you!
Jason Sanford says
Unfortunately it’s too thin and they will not stick together. But you can get around that if you wish by adding extra peanut butter. You might also look into brown rice syrup (we haven’t tried it here)?
Jason (media relations)
Whitney says
Cool, thanks! 🙂
Brittany Audra @ Audra's Appetite says
I’ve never been a fan of marshmallows anyways…and am OBSESSED with peanut butter so these are perfect!
Cassie Thuvan Tran says
Oh my goodness, this looks wonderful! I’ll be sure to use homemade date caramel or maple syrup and add some more peanut butter powder to help with thickness. Chocolate chips on top would probably make this dish that much more fun!
Paige Flamm says
These treats look amazing! I need them in my life!
Paige
Nina says
Wow. I just made these. Delicious. What a delicious combination.
Soraya says
Can’t these work with your vegan marshmallow fluff? Just wondering 🙂
Jason Sanford says
Not sure – we’ve never tried, but it sounds like a fun experiment!
Jason (media relations)
Soraya says
Here it is!
Jason Sanford says
Wow! It worked?! So awesome, I must try now!
anne says
more no oven recipes please and thank you katie!!
these sounds yummyI will be making these for our next church potluck at the end of June but will use maple syrup instead of agave or honey and will report back on how they taste (even though I might just make a ‘test batch’ this weekend teehee) xo
Jason Sanford says
If using maple syrup, be warned that you might have to use extra peanut butter to make them stick together, because maple is thinner than agave.
Ridhima says
These look sooo good! And yes, please make healthy butterscotch chips!!!
Rachel says
I made two batches of these yesterday and oh my god I can’t even put into words how good they are!! These are going to be in my weekly meal plans for a while. I’ve already shared the recipe with friends. Does the nutrition information include the chocolate on top or is it without? Thank you!
Theron says
I am old so I grew up on Scotcheroos and my dad, who is 93, still makes them. They are still one of my favorite things. I have been searching for years to find a non-hydrogenated vegan butterscotch chip replacement. I would be sooooo greatful if you were able to crack this elusive code.
Jason Sanford says
I know Katie has been working on one, not successfully so far but she’s still trying so hopefully soon!
Camille says
I made these tonight and they are GREAT. I didn’t have protein powder so I used hemp seeds instead. Love this recipe!
Karen Becker says
I just made these this week (no chocolate on top) and they are delicious! I am going to try the Nutella ones next 🙂
Amanda says
I doubled this recipe but it turned out too salty! I used peanut butter that had salt in it already. :/
Jason Sanford says
Unfortunately many recipes can’t be exactly doubled just by doubling all the ingredients. I don’t know why this is the case, but if you google “problems with doubling recipes” it seems to be a common issue with recipes.
Kaylene Moss says
These are good for snacks. I use a glass tumbler to roll and press this down firmly. Holds together perfectly.
Angel says
Just made these with raw agave syrup and didn’t add salt since the pb had some in it – soooooo good!! They are in the fridge now. I attempted a similar bar with special K cereal recently and they were terrible. Never again. I didn’t do the chocolate topping – maybe next time:-) thanks for the recipe
Nicole says
Super quick to make and delicious! I added some peanut butter and coconut oil to my chocolate topping. It was hard to gauge how thick my layers were but I would 100% make these again and play around with the thickness for each layer. Thanks!