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My vegan rice crispy treats are a household favorite. Thick, crispy, and gooey, they’re made with just 3 ingredients.
Craving more vegan desserts? Try my vegan chocolate chip cookies, vegan brownies, or vegan cookie dough next.
Table of Contents
If you love classic rice crispy treats, you’re going to want to make this vegan version.
Rather than being made with marshmallows (which, sadly, contain gelatin), I use nut butter, which gives the bars the perfect chewy texture and, according to my family, makes them taste ten times better than classic Rice Krispy treats!
Why I love this recipe
- The best texture. Like my peanut butter rice crispies, these are chewy, crunchy, dense, and just a bit gooey.
- You only need 3 ingredients. So long as you have crispy rice cereal, nut butter, and maple syrup, you’re ready to roll! Or, ready to mix, I suppose.
- A MUCH healthier option. In addition to not having copious amounts of sugar from the marshmallows, there’s also no corn syrup or artificial flavors.
Key ingredients
- Crispy rice cereal. Any crispy rice-based cereal works, including Rice Krispies cereal or brown rice crisps. Use gluten-free rice crispy cereal if needed.
- Almond butter. Make sure it’s smooth and creamy with no added sugar. If you have a bag of almonds in your pantry, make my homemade almond butter. I promise it tastes SO much better homemade.
- Maple syrup. Adds sweetness and helps bind the mixture.
How to make vegan Rice Krispie treats
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep. Line a square baking pan with parchment paper. Melt the nut butter and maple syrup in a microwave-safe bowl.
Step 2- Mix. Pour the nut butter mixture over the rice crispy cereal and stir until combined.
Step 3- Shape. Press the cereal mixture into the prepared baking dish, flatten into an even layer, and chill until firm.
Step 4- Slice. Use a warm, sharp knife to slice into bars.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Adjust the consistency. Sometimes, I noticed the cereal mixture would get a bit too sticky to handle. If that happens, add a handful of cereal. If it becomes too dry, add more maple syrup.
- Coat your spatula in coconut oil. This is sticky business, which is why I usually coat my spatula in oil to prevent the mixture from getting too messy.
Variations
- Nut-free. Use sunflower seed butter or tahini instead.
- Cut the carbs. Make my keto rice crispy treats.
- Drizzle with chocolate. Before slicing the bars, drizzle melted chocolate chips over the treats and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
- Use melted marshmallows. For a ‘traditional’ rice crispy, use mini vegan marshmallows (Trader Joe’s brand is good!) and skip the maple syrup and nut butter. To melt them, microwave them in 10-second intervals until you have a soft and gooey marshmallow mixture.
Frequently asked questions
Technically, no flavor of Rice Krispies is vegan since they’re enriched with D3, which comes from animal sources. For vegan crispy rice cereal, you have to look for a specifically ‘vegan’ brand.
Vegan Rice Crispy Treats
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups rice crispy cereal
- 1/2 cup almond butter
- 1/2 cup maple syrup can sub for agave nectar or brown rice syrup
Instructions
- Line an 8 x 8-inch baking tray with baking paper and set aside.
- Add your almond butter and maple syrup to a microwave safe bowl and melt your nut butter with your syrup.
- Add the rice cereal to the almond buter and syrup mixture and mix until combined.
- Pour mixture into the lined baking tray and press firmly into place. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
- Slice into bars and enjoy.
Hi,
How long can these be stored?
Hi there-
In the fridge, they can be stored for up to 2 weeks. In the freezer, 2 months or so. 🙂
I made these with sunbutter since I’m allergic to peanuts. Also reduced the brown rice syrup a little. It was plenty sweet. I really liked them. Thinking about trying it with my chocolate soy butter next.
Oh that would be delicious with soy nut butter- It has such a distinct taste yum 🙂
But these are still pretty sugary, there’s the equivalent of about 2/3 of a cup of sugar in this recipe if you use brown rice syrup. That’s basically the same or a little more than regular rice crispy treats (I compared the sugars, in grams, in the nutrition facts for both recipes). Brown rice sugar, honey, etc. are all still sugar to our body. It seems like most people don’t understand that. Only reason to use them instead of table sugar is for different consistency or taste, not health. Subbing out the butter with peanut butter IS healthier, though. Subbing out saturated fat for healthier nut fats is always a good thing. That’s a good idea for rice crispies, think I’ll have to try it!
That’s true but had we included marshmallows, syrup and usually glucose syrup too, it would have been a sugar bomb! I love the peanut butter taste too 🙂
I just love your no bake recipes, Arman! These bars look so incredibly delicious! 🙂
Thanks so much, Sina!
Brittle is the stickiest (but crunchiest) thing I may have ever eaten. That junk doesn’t come out of my teeth!! Blech. I love nut butter and rice crispies. And..sugar.
Hahaha and how about croissants 😉
I’d have to say, I think Snow White learned her lesson once 😉 but those rice krispy treats look great! I love the addition of the peanut butter or the cashew butter–it’ll make them taste even better!
SOOOOO good! 😀
The most sticky sweet snack I’ve ever eaten was…hmmm, maybe candied caramel apples, although I love those things. Sweet meets crisp and refreshing. I will get me one of those this fall, although these look significantly easier and fantastic.
Too bad we weren’t in school together. You would have kept me fed and happy.
Oh man. We need to try one of those caramel apples!!!!
I used to eat these years ago, and loved them! But I like your version better; much healthier.
Thanks so much, Joanne!
We didn’t have any catered halls at uni… then again I think I am the cook I am today because I had to make so many random meals from a variety of bits and bobs in our kitchen! But yeah rice krispie squares were definitely one of my snacks. In fact when we were growing up, one of the most popular tray bakes were krispies mixed with melted mars bars… cooled in a tray and then melted chocolate (a lot!) poured on top and then set. Oh boy a party wasn’t a party without those bad boys!
Oh wow…That sounds incredible!!!!
I sometimes overdo maple syrup on my pancakes…the pancake becomes a soaked up sponge and there still is a pool of syrup around them. Delicious if you want to crash in an hour 🙂
Mmm that sounds delicious!
I feel like ‘sickly sweet’ doesn’t exist for me. I’m the sort of person that can eat buttercream frosting straight up – my sweet tooth knows no bounds.
Oh wow. Props. Don’t you eat straight splenda too 😉
rice crispy has always been my favorite..the one with marshmallows 😛 love the idea of this with just pb and honey for me.
It’s so good!
Caramel Pie is straight up the most sickly sweet thing I’ve ever eaten. I used to love it, but now it makes me want to gag.
And where were you when I was in college and needed no bake snacks??
Haha I’m sorry!
I started making my rice crispy treats with PB and will never go back to any other way. Haven’t tried them without the marshmallows though, and even the vegan ones are sorta sketch. Well done.
Cheers pimp!
I love making rice crispy treats like this – I make my own with the brown rice crispies, PB and maple syrup and they’re delicious. But I add sprinkles because I’m colorful and like the TEENY sugar rush 🙂
YES! I have a fun twist coming up next week 🙂