No Bake Crispy Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Update April 2023: I just updated the recipe for these No Bake Crispy Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars and they are better than ever!

They are a healthier version of a Rice Krispy Treat, made with peanut butter (substitute your favorite nut or seed butter) instead of marshmallows and topped with an amazing layer of chocolate… soooooo yummy!!

Perfect peanut butter flavor, great satisfying crunch and a chocolate layer that is the perfect finishing touch!

They have been a HUGE hit with my family and all my taste testers!

Oh, and they happen to be gluten-free, vegan, no bake and take only 15 minutes to prep!

They were originally inspired by Crispy Peanut Butter Treats with Chocolate Chips that we used to make all the time from Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet. These were made with Brown Rice Syrup however which we can no longer readily find. So we’ve been playing around with different sugar/ liquid substitutes and found a combination we love!

All you need is 6 ingredients:

Creamy Peanut Butter (we love natural creamy peanut butter)

Crispy Brown Rice Cereal (Rice Krispies brand aren’t gluten-free in the United States)

Honey or maple syrup

Vanilla extract

Coconut oil

Chocolate chips (we used Enjoy Life semi-sweet but dark chips would work well too).

So let’s make the No Bake Crispy Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars!

They come together quickly in just a few steps:

First, simultaneously melt the peanut butter, coconut oil & honey/maple syrup, and the chocolate chips and coconut oil until both are smooth and creamy.

Pro tip: If you opt for natural peanut butter as we do, try to avoid the bottom of the jar which can be harder and doesn’t “melt” as well. You want the peanut butter itself to be quite creamy so that it combines well with the other ingredients to form one liquid-y, peanut buttery mixture.

Then pour the peanut butter mix over the Brown Rice Cereal and mix to combine so that all of the crispy rice cereal  is well coated.

Pour the entire cereal mixture into the pan and using the the back of a large spoon or spatula, firmly press the mix into the pan. Do not worry if you hear a some of the cereal crackle, you want to make sure the cereal is coated and firmly pressed down so that it helps the bars stick together.

And pour the melted chocolate over the cereal, tilting the pan as needed to make sure it is evenly spread across the bars.

Then set in the refrigerator to set, preferably for an hour (or more).

If you want to top with coarse salt, remove from fridge after about 15 minutes so that the chocolate has cooled a little and sprinkle with kosher or coarse sea salt.

The salt does add the yummiest finishing touch!

Remove from fridge and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting so that the chocolate isn’t so cold that it cracks when slicing squares.

And enjoy!

And there you have it! An easy, 6 ingredient treat with the best sweet and salty crunch!

Tips for making sure they hold together well:

• Use creamy peanut butter and avoid the bottom of the jar if using natural peanut butter.
• Coat all the cereal well with the peanut butter mixture.
• Firmly press the cereal mix into the pan.
• Let the bars set before cutting into them.

Hope you love them as much as we do!

Click here for  more easy and amazing No Bake Treats

Some favorites include:

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

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