Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats are sure to be a family favorite! This Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bar Recipe is marshmallow-free made with brown crisp rice cereal, peanut butter, and honey. Finished with a chocolate topping, because chocolate and peanut butter are perfection together! 

If you love chocolate and peanut butter together as much as I do, be sure to check out  Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie, Homemade Peanut Butter Cups, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies.

One of my earliest memories of a sleepover at a friend's house included making homemade rice krispie treats. I remember laughing and giggling and thinking we were so grown up that her mom let us make the classic no-bake treat all by ourselves.

And truly, to this day, I have a hard time resisting a soft rice krispie treat, just like I have a hard time passing up chocolate.

Put the two together and an IRRESISTIBLE treat is created.

You guys know I have a serious love for peanut butter already, with my Peanut Butter Banana Bars, Peanut Butter Banana Sushi, and even Peanut Butter Coffee. I also love to switch out overly processed food to make classic recipes a bit healthier.

So it was a pretty obvious choice for me to lose the marshmallows in rice krispie treats and replace them with peanut butter and honey. The chocolate addition is just because everything is better with chocolate, right?!

These rice krispie treats are rich with peanut butter, perfectly sweet from the honey, and gooey just like traditional rice krispie bars. They are truly spectacular--and totally better than the original recipe!

Notes on Ingredients

• Brown Crisp Rice Cereal--this can be harder to find, so regular old crisp rice cereal works, you just lose the whole grains that brown rice cereal provides.
• Peanut Butter--use all natural, creamy style peanut butter. You can use regular peanut butter, but keep in mind that has added oils and often added sugars.
• Honey--I love the way honey and peanut butter pair together and the honey helps to sweeten these bars up naturally. You can use agave syrup if you need these to be vegan friendly.
• Chocolate--Melted chocolate tops off these peanut butter rice krispie bars to take them over the top, but is totally optional. Use milk, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate. You can also use dairy-free chocolate if needed.

How to Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Rice Krispie Bars

• Measure out the peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and a pinch of salt and mix well.
• Measure the rice cereal and pour into the peanut butter mixture.
• Stir the cereal into the peanut butter mixture until the cereal is well coated.
• Pat down the bars into a greased or parchment or wax paper lined pan.

Chocolate Topping

You can totally stop right there and have delicious peanut butter rice cereal bars.....or you can take the extra step to add a layer of chocolate.

Simply melt chocolate chunks or chocolate chips in the microwave, by heating chocolate in intervals, 20 to 30 seconds, stirring in between, until the chocolate is completely melted and has a smooth consistency. Then pour over the peanut butter rice krispies and spread out.

Pro-Tip: Be sure your peanut butter rice krispie treats are hardened before icing with chocolate, or it will be quite a mess! Pop the rice krispies in the fridge for 10-15 minutes and then ice with chocolate.

Serving and Storing

• Let bars cool completely and then slice into squares.
• Store in an air tight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.
• Rice Krispie Treats DO NOT freeze well.

Notes on Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars

• Use dairy-free dark chocolate and agave syrup in place of the honey for Vegan Rice Krispie Treats.
• If you don't have parchment paper to line your pan with, grease well with butter or coconut oil.
• I like to use a leftover dark chocolate bar, chopped up to melt if I have it in place of chocolate chips.
• Be sure your crisp rice is certified gluten-free to make these Gluten Free Rice Krispie Treats.

More Peanut Butter Recipes

• Peanut Butter and Jelly Baked Oatmeal Muffins
• Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Banana Bars
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie
• Peanut Butter Pancakes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

This Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bar Recipe is marshmallow-free made with brown crisp rice cereal, peanut butter, and honey. Finished with a chocolate topping, because chocolate and peanut butter are perfection together! 

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Resting Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 16

Calories: 275kcal

Author: Kristen Chidsey

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 cup peanut butter
• ▢ ½ cup honey or maple syrup
• ▢ dash of salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ▢ 4 cups brown rice crisp cereal
• ▢ 2 cups dark chocolate chips

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Instructions

• Cover an 8x8 pan with parchment or wax paper. Set aside.
• Heat honey and peanut butter up for 30 seconds and then stir in vanilla and salt until smooth. Stir in cereal until just coated.
• Pour into prepared pan and gently flatten out. Place the treats into the fridge to harden before ICING with chocolate for 10-15 minutes.
• Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until chocolate is melted.
• Pour chocolate over cereal mixture and spread out with the back of a spoon.
• Allow to set up in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.
• Remove from fridge and cut into squares.

Notes

• Substitute agave syrup for the honey and use dairy free chocolate for a vegan rice krispie treat. 
• Be sure your peanut butter rice krispie treats are hardened before icing with chocolate, or it will be quite a mess! 
• Store in sealed container for up to 3 days at room temperature. 

Nutrition

Calories: 275kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 135mg | Potassium: 261mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 465IU | Vitamin C: 4.6mg | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 2.8mg

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