Peanut Butter-Chocolate Crisped Rice Treats

Sweet, crispy, chewy, and gooey, peanut butter, crisped rice treats need no introduction. And this nutty version is as simple to make as the original. The recipe is designed to work with both natural and processed peanut butter. But for a better treat, opt for peanut butter without any added sugar or oil. As always here, there are tips on substitutions for paleo, vegan, and the GAPS diet. Top the squares with melted chocolate or mix in dark chocolate chips. Or both.

Jump to:

• The Story
• Simple Equipment
• The Ingredients
• The Method
• To Cut
• Storage
• Dietary Substitutions
• Edible Epilogue
• 📖 Recipe
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• 💬 Reviews

The Story

Crisped rice treats, or what most of us call Rice Krispies treats, are not healthy. Period. Kellogg's even paid out big bucks for advertising such a false notion, and more than once. But when it comes to dessert, who cares about fiber and nutrients? Moderation friends, so you can enjoy what gives you that fuzzy feeling.

The bottom line is that crispy rice cereal makes for a simple dessert. Especially when stirred into a mixture of melted butter and marshmallows. The idea for the gooey, crunchy marshmallow square is thanks to Iowan Mildred Day, and a colleague of hers, Malitta Jensen. The two worked at the food corporation as recipe testers from the late 1920s to the early 1930s.

Historical accounts suggest Day worked in the Home Economics Department. Creating an incredibly delicious, approachable, now mainstream recipe that sells even more Rice Krispies, of course. I do tip my chef hat to Day for being decades ahead of her time in food science. Information is scarce on who first added peanut butter to the marshmallow squares. My best guess is another clever recipe tester. But one who worked at a peanut butter brand.

Simple Equipment

For ease of mixing these sinfully addicting treats, I find the bigger the pot the better. Aside from that, a large, flexible spatula and landing pan are all you need. More of Mildred Day's brilliance (although it's not likely she had specialty tools in 1930).

To cook an average-sized batch of marshmallow treats, I reach for my Dutch oven. The ceramic coating also makes cleaning up a bit easier. Any large pot will do. If you don't own a rectangular baking pan, eight or nine-inch cake pans work. You'll simply end up with thicker treats and perhaps a few quirky shapes.

The Ingredients

Ingredients for peanut butter crisped rice treats are the usual suspects, plus peanut butter. I prefer natural peanut butter. And I don't notice any negative effects on the flavor and texture. If anything, natural peanut butter brings more peanut buttery deliciousness since it lacks added preservatives, hydrogenated oils, and sugar.

The Method

Any kind of treat you can dream up is quick and easy to make. Do keep the heat low. You don't want to scald the delicate marshmallows. Or cause any separation in the peanut butter.

The Steps

If you like finding the occasional intact mini marshmallow in your treats, set aside one additional cup for mixing in at the end. Don't take away from the amount in the recipe, but measure an extra cup and set it aside. Please enjoy the process shots, it took quite the photography effort.

To Cut

The shape of your treats is a personal preference, of course. Squares are classic and festive or seasonal shapes can be a fun project for kiddos armed with a cookie cutter. It helps to spray the insides of any cookie cutters with spray oil. If your treats are destined for a bake sale, or you are persnickety about exactness, a ruler comes in handy.

If you pressed the mixture into a 9" x 13" pan, the unmolded block of treats will be about 8" x 12". You can then use your measuring tool to cut squares based on what size or quantity you're after. To easily unmold the whole kit and caboodle, flip the pan over onto a cutting board lined with parchment paper. Then lift the pan off, and cut to your liking. I find cutting into the treats from the bottom with a large knife preserves the beauty of the tops. Please enjoy another process montage:

Storage

Store the squares at room temperature in an air-tight container. Or freeze for a few months (yeah, right). If you coat them with chocolate, top each row in a container with parchment to prevent a mess. Or the chocolate from one bar is likely to smudge up its upstairs neighbor. Not that this would be a huge problem.

Dietary Substitutions

• Paleo or GAPS Diet. Grain-free cereals, when pulsed briefly in a food processor, can replace crisped or puffed rice cereal. Then in place of marshmallows, whip up a triple batch of homemade marshmallow fluff using honey. Mix in the vanilla extract, peanut butter, and cereal while the fluff is still warm, and proceed as usual. If you don't have a food processor, you can crush the cereal by placing it in a plastic storage baggie and smacking it with a rolling pin or a pan. If there is a will, there is a way.
• Vegan. Swap in your favorite brands of vegan butter and mini marshmallows. You can also replace the butter with coconut oil. Vegan marshmallows are not as hard to find as they used to be.
• Peanut Allergy. To replace the peanut butter, try cashew butter, sunflower seed butter, and almond butter. In that order. If the peanut-allergic partaker can eat cashews, they offer the next best, creamiest replacement. Sunflower seed butter can be a secret weapon in peanut nut-free baking since the texture is creamy and the flavor is unassuming. Almond butter works in a pinch but will bring its signature flavor and a grainier texture.

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Edible Epilogue

Please don't be fooled by online recipes with "Best-Ever Rice Krispie Treats!" or "Perfect Rice Krispie Treats!" titles. We are talking about marshmallows and crispy rice cereal. Not much can go wrong. Outside eating the entire batch of chocolate-laced, peanut butter squares over the course of 24 hours.

Seriously, don't say I didn't warn you.

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