Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
This chocolate peanut butter rice krispie treats recipe creates the easiest no-bake dessert that’s perfect for summer or any time of year! Some days only the flavors of rich chocolate and smooth peanut butter can soothe your troubled soul, which makes these the perfect cure for whatever ails you.
Chocolate and peanut butter are so great together. Everyone loves it! Whether it’s vegan peanut butter blossoms cookies, or vegan peanut butter pie, this flavor combination is a favorite!
This recipe is one of the darlings that I have experimented with over the years. The idea of making rice krispie treats with peanut butter, instead of marshmallows was terrific!
Of course, I also love the more traditional vegan rice krispie treats, too!
But when it came to adding chocolate, I didn’t like the combination of chocolate and marshmallows at the time (talk about finicky!). That’s why I knew this peanut butter and chocolate rice krispie treats would be a real gem!
What Makes This Recipe Shine?
- NO MARSHMALLOWS — Adding creamy peanut butter with Rice Krispies makes them flavorful and means you don’t need marshmallows.
- PERFECT TEXTURE — Gently pressing the treats into the pan creates dense and chewy treats.
- DELICIOUS — Creating a chocolate ganache topping makes these treats beautiful and delicious
Key Ingredients
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, including substitution ideas:
- Peanut butter — I recommend creamy peanut butter, or you can use crunchy.
- Agave nectar — You can substitute maple syrup or corn syrup.
- Rice Crispy Cereal — You can use either a brand name or store-brand version of rice crispies cereal.
- Chocolate chips — Find the best dairy-free chocolate chips.
- Vegan butter — Use either vegan butter or coconut oil.
- Plant-based milk — Use your favorite plant-based milk, such as almond or soy. You can use a vegan substitute for evaporated milk because it’s rich and creamy!
Ingredient Spotlight
What are Rice Krispies?
This little cereal treat has been around since 1927 and was invented by Malitta Jensen and Mildred Day. It’s a rice paste that is dried and then baked. When milk is added to them, they “snap, crackle, and pop” as they rehydrate. They are added to other treats, such as peanut butter balls, to add crispy crunch bites. You can use the brand or store-brand cereal for this recipe. Just be sure to get Rice Krispies rather than puffed rice.
How to Make Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats
If you’re curious about how to make some old-fashioned peanut butter rice krispie treats, I’m here to show you how. In fact, let’s have some fun too! Let’s begin.
- Make the peanut butter sauce by heating it in the microwave and stirring.
- Pour the peanut butter sauce over the cereal and stir until coated.
- Spread the peanut butter cereal into the prepared pan.
- Heat chocolate chips and vegan butter in a microwave-safe bowl and then stir in milk.
- Spread the chocolate fudge topping over the peanut butter layer.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to an hour.
Marly’s Tips
You can make chocolate peanut butter rice krispie balls by using a cookie scoop to portion the batter and then rolling them into balls. Either dip them in melted chocolate or serve them as is. They’re delicious either way!
Storage Tips
Cut them into individual slices and transfer them to an airtight container. They can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 10 days. If you have to stack them on top of one another, place a sheet of waxed paper between the layers.
Here are even more tips for storing rice krispie treats.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Treats
Don’t you love these peanut butter chocolate rice krispies treats! It’s such a great flavor combination! Here are even more vegan chocolate peanut butter recipes to enjoy:
These chocolate peanut butter rice krispy treats are so good, you’ll want to make a double batch!
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Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats with Chocolate
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Bars
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
- ⅓ cup agave nectar (or syrup of choice)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups Rice Crispy (or Rice Krispies) cereal
Chocolate Fudge Topping
- 2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter or coconut oil
- 2 – 3 tablespoons plant-based milk
Instructions
Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Bars
- Prepare a 9" square cake pan by using vegan butter or coconut oil to grease the bottom and sides. Alternatively, line pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine peanut butter and syrup in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 10-second increments until the peanut butter softens/melts. Add vanilla and stir until combined.
- Pour the rice crispy cereal into a large bowl and then pour peanut butter sauce over the top. Stir until the rice crispies are evenly coated.
- Pour the coated rice crispy mixture into the prepared pan and spread it around. You can use your fingers or the greased back of a spoon to press this into the bottom of the pan.
Chocolate Fudge Topping
- Next, combine the chocolate chips and vegan butter (or coconut oil) in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir to ensure the chocolate chips are coated and then heat for about a minute. Stir and heat for another 30 seconds until the chocolate chips are melted.
- Add the milk, one tablespoon at a time, stirring in between until you get the desired spreadable consistency.
- Spread the chocolate fudge topping over the peanut butter layer.
- Cover and place the pan in the fridge to allow it to set for at least 30 minutes (but an hour is more optimal).
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Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2019 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
What could I use instead of the coconut oil or spread?
Any dairy-free margarine should work just fine. You could probably even use vegetable oil. In fact, if you didn’t want to do that, you could just add little more soy (or other dairy-free) milk. Your chocolate will set on the creamy side but it should still taste just as good!
I am so going to try this with Nutella!
This sounds incredible. Does it have to be kept refrigerated?
We ate them so quickly that we didn’t need to worry about refrigeration. If you think it will take you longer than a few days to get through them, you might want to refrigerate them. But I’d probably let them sit to get to room temperature before eating them – otherwise they might be difficult to chew!
YUM! What a wonderful combination– chocolate, peanut butter and rice crispies? I love it. And it’s vegan. You are a genius, my friend.
Okay, I made them last night.
It made a decent pan size and I gave half of it away (simply because I can’t afford to eat that many – lol!).
The Peanut butter with chickpeas…. WORKED LIKE A CHARM. OMG. It was SO, SO good! I was literally licking it off the spoon while working with it… lol!
These things are absolutely delish….
“I do whatever my rice crispies tell me.” HAHA! I love that!
That works perfectly! 🙂 Thank you so much. I’m going to try it out and let you know tomorrow or Wednesday.
I want to make these bars so badly.
Peanut butter + chocolate + rice crispies seems to be a match made in heaven.
The chickpea idea seems like a PERFECT idea. Can’t wait! Thank you SO SO MUCH 🙂 Often when I read vegan blogs I don’t get a response on substitutes – which can be frustrating because I live in SA where vegans are not really catered for.
Can’t wait to hear how it works for you. I think I’m going to try it myself!
omg! that looks SO good.
nom nom nom.
Hi Jovana. So glad you like this peanut butter rice krispie treats recipe! Nom Nom for sure!
Oh WOW these look incredible! I used to love rice krispie treats, and I was ecstatic when they came out with peanut butter ones (do they still make those??). But this, this is even better!
I agree it’s even better! I used to love rice crispy treats too. It’s surprising to think they’re not even vegetarian, let alone vegan! People look at me like I’m from another planet when I say that. Well, they look at me like that a lot, but that’s beside the point. So glad you like the recipe!
could i use brown rice syrup instead of corn syrup??
I think you definitely could use brown rice syrup. I’m considering using agave nectar in my next batch. Oh, trust me, there will be a next batch!
Let me know how the brown rice syrup goes!
Just a heads up, on the latest episode of Dr. Oz there were warnings about arsenic being in brown rice syrup.