Healthier Vegan Rice Crispy Treats

Vegan Mofo Theme: Healthy Vegan Brunch from A to Z.

Remember those old commercials with the woman emerging from the kitchen, covered in flour, water sprinkled on her face, shoulders slumped from "exhaustion" and carrying a plate full of Rice Crispy Treats. Behind the scenes, we know that she was really reading a novel the whole time while telling her family that "these things take time".

When I first learned how to make Rice Crispy Treats, I was surprised by how little effort they really require. People go crazy for them as if they took a lot of effort to make, but in reality, they are just so easy to make.

These vegan rice crispy treats are a healthier adaptation of a version I used to make when I was the pastry chef at Cafe Flourish. It only contains four ingredients, but is packed with flavor and reminiscent of the kind my mom used to make when I was a kid.

Since I use almond butter and brown rice syrup instead of vegan marshmallows, which tend to contain sugar and corn syrup, I'm declaring them healthy enough to eat for brunch.

If you invited a group of friends over for a brunch buffet, can you imagine how delighted they'd be to see these childhood favorite treats out with the rest of your spread.

My go to is almond butter, but you can have a little fun with changing up the nut butters. To make them even healthier, you can stir in things like chia seeds, flax meal, dried fruit, or chopped nuts.

Or, to rebel a little and make it a bit more indulgent, go ahead and melt in some chocolate chips, or better yet, dip them in melted chocolate for a yummy chocolate coating!

On the rare occasions I can actually find crispy quinoa cereal at my local Co-op, I sub out the quinoa for rice, or do a mix of both.

Almond Butter Rice Crispy Treats
Ingredients
1 Cup brown rice syrup
1 Cup almond butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 Cups crispy rice cereal

Directions
1. Have a silicon spatula and a 9x13 cake pan or baking dish handy. You'll need to move quickly!  You may want to wear food handlers gloves if you don't like your hands getting sticky.

2. In a large sauce pan, heat the brown rice syrup for a minute to thin it slightly. Stir in almond butter and vanilla extract allow to almond butter to melt, about 30 to 45 seconds. Remove from heat and fold in crispy rice cereal to well coat it.

3. If you're wearing gloves, great! If not, you may want to rub some oil over your hands to help prevent sticking (coconut oil is great because it softens your skin too!). Transfer to your baking dish and spread evenly.

4. Cut into squares and serve. Wrap whatever you're not using in plastic wrap or an air tight container and enjoy within a couple days. The longer they sit uneaten, the harder they will become.  For a smaller batch, simply cut the recipe in half or quarter.