Chocolate Crispy Rice Squares

Chocolate Crispy Rice Squares

As I was preparing to write this post about everyone’s favourite dessert, I decided to do a search on the ingredients of conventional marshmallows.

In to google went the words “marshmallow ingredients”. Out of google came the word “hooves”. (I seriously couldn’t make this stuff up!) I don’t know for sure if there are hooves in the gelatin that are used in marshmallows but what I can say is that marshmallows most often contain a variety of artificial colour, artificial flavour, corn syrup, dextrose, gelatin, modified corn starch, natural flavour, sugar, tetrasodium pyrophosphate and water.

The only ingredient in those that I like to consume is water and a glass of water is not a marshmallow.  Marshmallows were, at one time, my favourites. As if I am the only one who ever had a contest to see how many I could jam into my mouth at any one time. I would eat them straight from the bag until I was nauseous. My brother, long ago before he was a dad, enlightened me with his secret recipe for a single serving of rice krispie squares and I would eat this daily! Please, please, please don’t attempt this at home. Nothing good comes from putting marshmallows into a microwave, pushing the on button and watching them blow up and expand like a balloon. The next step was to remove this burning hot bowl of marshmallow-toxic-waste-substance from the microwave and mix in some rice krispies. Done and done. It’s no wonder I wound up with Crohn’s disease. Sheesh. I’m lucky I didn’t grow a third eye and second right arm.

It has been roughly six years since I dug my teeth into a sweet ooey gooey crispy, crunchy rice krispie square and so the time had come. Here you are, my first attempt at mostly healthy, chocolate crispy brown rice squares that are, of course, amazing! They contain superfoods. They are high in protein and fibre. They are vegan. And did I mention amazing?

As always, this recipe is open to your interpretation and creativity.

 

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Chocolate Crispy Rice Squares

Chocolate Crispy Rice Squares


  • Author: Meghan Telpner

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 cups crispy brown rice cereal, puffed quinoa, puffed amaranth or other dry cereal of choice
  • 1/3 cup chopped nuts/seeds (I used part almonds and part pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted)
  • 1/2 cup almond butter
  • 3 Tbs coconut oil
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 Tbs maple syrup (optional)
  • 1/3 cup bitter-sweet dairy free dark chocolate (optional- though without- use an additional 1/4 cup almond butter)
  • 1/4 cup cacao nibs (optional)
  • 3 Tbs ground flax
  • pinch of cinnamon
  • pinch of sea salt

Instructions

You could also add in coconut flakes, goji berries, golden berries or other dried fruit of choice

  • In a large pot on medium heat, melt together the almond butter, honey, coconut oil, vanilla extract, maple syrup, chocolate, cinnamon and sea salt.
  • Once melted together, stir in the cereal, nuts, flax and optional dried fruit. Stir until thoroughly mixed
  • Lightly oil a glass dish with coconut oil and spread mixture out evenly
  • Press down with the back of a spatula until firmly pressed together
  • Refrigerate for 30-40 minutes until hardened and then cut into squares.

42 Comments

  1. Those definitely look ooey-gooey! What’s funny is that I just finished reading an article on Marshmallow Fluff–and now will never crave it again. ;)

  2. Looks good. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth but I love those treats. I’ve been using vegan marshmallows. I know, processed but they’re such a decadent treat.

  3. I’ve never liked marshmallows. I always feel gross after eating them.
    This recipe looks divine! Bookmarked.

  4. Ugh, I LOVE rice crispy treats! They’re a serious weakness of mine. Happy to have a less guilt-inducing alternative to the pure sugar variety!

  5. Well, on the downside, now I am thinking about marshmallows and how wonderful they smell and taste. On the upside, I think I am going to have to try your recipe!

  6. I think I’ll try making these with cashew butter, extra vanilla and no chocolate. I’m excited just thinking about it! Thanks for the recipe!

  7. Now I’m really craving marshmallows after your description. If only the ingredient list would deter me.

    Angelica, your version sounds divine…more like the tradition treat, which is what I like. :)

  8. wow, I was just experimenting with making marshmellows two days ago in an attempt to make rice crispy treats for the hubby. They totally didn’t come out! But i will try these.

    Thanks!

  9. I’m so glad you posted these, as I completely love rice krispie squares…but stopped eating them due to the hooves….yes, gelatin is derived from the collagen in hooves. With these, I will never have to think of that again- thank you!

  10. I’m always amazed that people have no idea where gelatin comes from. I knew that even before I was vegetarian. Then again, I also knew lots of gross stuff about wieners, head cheese, and limberger cheese from my dad . . .

  11. This looks great…gonna have to try it sometime. I would replace honey with agave nectar to make it truly vegan. Thank you for sharing!

  12. My kids will LOVE this! I wonder how it would be with raw cacao powder instead of the dark chocolate?? And perhaps just use my VitaMix instead of a pot?? Hmmm…..

  13. Thanks so much for this recipe! I love that it’s gluten free and could be made with so many different flavours. And, since I just started avoiding gluten and it’s such a hard adjustment sometimes, I’ve been treating myself to these GF rice “granola” bars… they taste really good, they are organic, but they are also expensive. These look so similar, but even healthier, so I can’t go wrong with that!

  14. Just finished assembling these. They’re now in the fridge. Can’t wait to try them. Of course, I didn’t quite follow the recipe, as I didn’t have quite the same ingredients in the house. (I used a combo of organic pb and sunflower butter to replace the almond butter. I get hives from almonds, and other nut butters are out of my budget. For the same reason I used walnuts for my chopped nuts. I also used chocolate chips instead of bittersweet dark chocolate. Somehow, when I went to get my dark chocolate from the cupboard it was all gone. I can’t imagine where it went.) I’m confident the squares will turn out in spite of my experimenting. That’s what I love about your recipes Meghan. They’re usually open to interpretation. Thank goodness. Last week when making your medicinal cookies I forgot the coconut oil. They were fine without, but I’m looking forward to trying them again. Just for comparison purposes of course.

  15. I love the look of these and would like to make them for my kids. But I dont think Ive ever seen puffed quinoa, puffed amaranth or brown rice cereal in the shops here. Will keep my eyes open for them.

  16. Thanks so much for this awesome recipe! I just made these with goji berries, cacao nibs, dried cranberries, and agave. I had high hopes, but was totally blown away. They far exceed any granola bar or rice crispies bar that I have ever had! I was just wondering how you store them? I would like to keep them in the fridge or freezer, but am worried that the puffed rice will become mushy. What do you think?

  17. As you know, I made them yesterday and they are so fantastic. I must confess that I had 2 small squares before I went for my run this morning! I usually start my day with a green smoothie, but they were just sitting there looking so delicious :-)

  18. I just made these and they didn’t all make it into the pan!
    my husband said “these are so good it’s sick”:)
    thanks for another great recipe.

  19. I just made these the other day and they didn’t stick together at all. Do you have any advice on that?
    It still went fast :) Kids loved it :) and I loved the fact that I could let them indulge :)

  20. Thanks Meghan, I just made these (slowly catching up on the recipes!). I did a few minor modifications (used some gluten free flake cereal, puffed millet, puffed quinoa, added coconut, goji, cacao nibs, did not add nuts). Can’t wait. I love having healthy squares to snack on!

  21. These look great. I came here because of the link you dropped in in the comment you left me.

    My grandma and mom used to make Rice krispie treats and used PB and cocoa powder in theirs.

  22. These are in the fridge and I can’t wait to let my 3 yr old try them! They were very easy to make despite the long ingredient list that at first intimidated me. I made with peanut butter because it’s what I had on hand. We are gluten free and my toddler loves the EnviroKids rice krispy granola bars. After reading about arsenic in organic brown rice syrup (and that’s the 2nd ingredient on the bars) I didn’t want her eating them anymore. So happy to find this recipe!

  23. Hi, I just made these (triple batch) a couple night ago as party favors, but with all amaranth (popped—we live in Mexico, and amaranth’s much easier to come by than puffed rice). They tasted delicious but the bars did not hold together well. About 2/3 held together enough right out of the fridge long enough to cut and bag, but the edges crumbled. When they’d come to room temperature they all completely fell apart. :-( So I recommended eating them out of the bag like push pops, or in the case of my husband, he has a new source of “healthier” ChocoKrispie cereal. Any thoughts?

  24. Great recipe, I was given some puffed spelt flakes and did not know what to do with them. will try this but maybe use sunflower butter instead! thanks for coming up with such awesome recipes :)

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