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This Is Not Your Mother's Rice Krispie Treat

March 16, 2011   23 Comments

Snack Girl has been working on a "new" Rice Krispie treat for a while now. First, I had to change the name.

Healthy Rice Krispie Treat

Mine are called, "Crispy Rice Treats", catchy, no?

You don't have to use the famous "Kellogg's Rice Krispies" to make the treats. If you are lucky enough to live near a Whole Foods or natural foods store, they have something called "Brown Rice Puffs" which are the same thing except that they contain the entire rice grain.

These would work for this recipe and give it more nutrients. You can use any PUFFY cereal, really, that you like - wheat puffs, Cheerios, anything you have in your cupboard.

Now, I used marshmallows, which are not exactly the healthiest ingredient. I TRIED honey and it just didn't work.

As I ate them, I kept missing the marshmallows and I couldn't give them up. I have seen marshmallows without Blue #1 at Whole Foods (but I didn't buy them because I am cheap).

I did exchange the butter for coconut oil (in the natural foods section of the supermarket) because it has been getting some good press lately. It seems that the saturated fat in coconut oil is actually good for you! It is called "lauric acid" and unlike saturated animal fats it has been found to increase good cholesterol.

Go figure.

So, I used coconut oil which also imparts a sweetness. If you can't find it, don't be too upset. Just go ahead and use butter.

Finally, I added good stuff - dried cranberries, chopped almonds, and dark chocolate chips and this tray of "Crispy Treats" lasted all of 10 minutes in my house.

These are super fun to make, fast, and very satisfying. My daughter (with a little help) can make them for an afternoon snack and they taste SO much better than any packaged cookie or bar.

My Crispy Rice Treats are defined as TREATS, so watch it on the amounts. I did managed to sneak in some good stuff with the nuts and berries.

And, these treats would be a fantastic addition to a tea party! Foodbuzz, my advertiser, will donate $50 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund for every tea party recipe that is submitted to them (and I am submitting this one).

You can select the perfect tea party outfit on Kelly Confidential and they will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

How have you altered your Rice Krispie Treat recipe?

ricekrispieb

Crispy Rice Treat Recipe

1.6 from 24 reviews

(makes 12)
2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter
2 cups miniature marshmallows or 20 large marshmallows
2 1/2 cups crispy rice or other healthy cereal
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1/2 chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, peanuts, etc.)
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Spray non-stick spray on 8x8 inch square pan (or equivalent). Melt coconut oil in large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir CONSTANTLY until melted and mix in cereal and whatever else you choose to add in. Press into prepared pan. Cool for 10 minutes and cut into squares.

For one treat: 128 calories, 5.6 g fat, 17.4 g carbohydrates, 1.7 g protein, 0.7 g fiber, 57 mg sodium, 3 Points+

Points values are calculated by Snack Girl and are provided for information only. See all Snack Girl Recipes

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23 Comments:

I submitted a tea party recipe to Foodbuzz. Is anything special required to ensure the donation to ovarian cancer research?

OMG these sound so awesome!!! I love rice krispy treats, but never really make them because I can't stand the whole ton of butter thing. But never thought of using coconut oil. Hooray!

Awesome recipe, I'm definitely gona try this!

I used dried cherries with the dark choc & no nuts. One word: Amazing.

I was able to find the kelly's tea party site www.Kelly-Confidential.com, but not the place on Foodbuzz, where you can add a recipe and have them donate $50. Please send a link. Thanks!

@Ashia - you are so sweet! Actually, I submitted this post to FoodBuzz and because I did this - they will give $50 to Ovarian Research Fund. You need to be a "featured publisher" to submit a recipe for them to donate - which means you have a blog that shows FoodBuzz ads.

Thanks for the inspiration and new ideas!!

I tried swapping rice krispies with some plain puffed brown rice cereal a while back, but they came out annoyingly chewy... more of a gooey and too-chewy rice treat, not crispy at all. I was hoping the texture would be at least some like the original recipe/cereal. They were disappointing, but okay. My kids gave them a thumb's down. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations when using puffed brown rice cereal? I thought I'd try maybe toasting the cereal in a dry skillet or in the oven first to add some more crispyness to it before i toss it in the marshmallow goo, but i'm not sure if that would help. I'll for sure add some nuts and dried fruit.... what a great idea!

Sounds wonderful. I'm going to have to give them a try.

I get Coconut oil at Wal-Mart.

Doesn't Kashi make a puffed rice style cereal? I've wondered since before your posting about using the fiber one twigs and making these.I'm going to have to get on it! We have a little one who has the need to up his fiber, adding in the dried fruit and nuts would be even better.

I've made a version from Ellie Krieger that uses peanut butter and honey with brown rice puffs - we really liked it!

And veganize it by making sure you get Vegan Marshmallows, which you do have to get from special places. Most Marshmallows have gelatin (ick) in them.

Mad Marshmallow disease......

Have you thought about using Ricemellow Creme? It's a gluten-free, vegan, non-dairy marshmallow creme made with brown rice syrup. The brand I got was called Suzanne's and it came from my local natural foods store.

P.S. I make a homemade granola bar that's kind of like a healthy rice krispy treat using peanut butter and honey as someone above mentioned. Here's the link if you're interested :)

http://freezeyourwayfit.blogspot.com/2011/03/clean-eating-h…

We just had a rice krispy treat snack attack & I read all the comments, I will try ur version 1st then the ricemellow stuff & fiber1, awww man I can't wait 2 go 2 the store 2morrow! :)

I'm making these tomorrow. I assume that I should use 10 extra large marshmallows rather than 20 regular large marshmallows? lol

My granddaughter and I just made them! She wasn't too sure about liking them until she took her first bite. We both just loved them....followed the receipe to the T. Perfect for a must have sugar attack'

I looked up coconut oil on this site to see if you had any info on it and found these. Is the oil solid or liquid. I have seen it at wal-mart and a health food store. Gonna buy some today

My neighbor brought me a huge plate of rice krispie treats with dried cherries and toasted almonds and we ate 1/2 of them and put rest in freezer for later. I want to make them with toasted pecans since I have them.

excellent recipe! The coconut oil worked wonders. I love the scent...it gives a tropical flavor to the treat. Thanks.

I made an adapted recipe recently with these substitutions/additions based on the "original" recipe:

double the fat- I used 6 Tbsp of Earth Balance for Omega Health

1/2 the marshmallows
2 Tbsp dark cocoa powder
3 Tbsp Soy protein

[melt the fat, liquefy the marshmallows, stir in the cocoa, stir in the powdered soy]

Then add the rice cereal

I'd like to try the coconut oil and puffed brown rice. I have dairy and wheat allergies and rice krispie treats are one of the "safe" treats out there, but using the original recipe they are nearly anti-nutritious, except that the rice cereal is vitamin fortified, which I don't actually like either because I'd rather just eat vitamin rich foods.

The adapted recipe I posted turned out tasty, but a little more crumbly than I wanted, so it might need more marshmallows for binding. Can marshmallow root be used for binding action?

I think that using more marshmallows would help them stick together. Thanks for your question!

I am thinking about making these for my daughter preschool class. Has anyone tried other fruit than raisins or cranberries? These sound awesome. Thanks!

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