These peanut butter and honey rice crispy squares with chocolate are the perfect simple, gluten-free, healthy treat! Made with a handful of pantry ingredients, you can whip up a batch whenever the craving strikes.

Hello and happy Monday! How are you enjoying your December so far?

I created these peanut butter and honey rice crispy squares on Halloween, but as so often happens, I am only getting around to posting them now. I realized that they are an equally wonderful treat to add to your Christmas dessert arsenal! They remind me of Scotcheroos, but they are much healthier. Still, they taste decadent, and my dad and brother both couldn’t get enough of them. And, unlike some of my dessert recipes, these ones are on the more affordable side and don’t have an exorbitant number of fancy ingredients! The chocolate topping is homemade, but you can definitely just melt some chocolate for something even simpler. They would be a fun treat to make with your kids!

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED

FOR THE SQUARES: Rice crisp cereal (I like Whole Foods Market 365 or Nature’s Path brown rice crisp cereal), raw honey, peanut butter, butter, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt (if using unsalted peanut butter).
FOR THE CHOCOLATE TOPPING: Cacao butter, cocoa powder, raw honey, and non-dairy milk.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

MAKE THE SQUARES: Place the cereal in a large mixing bowl. Line a 8×8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper with enough overhang to allow you to lift out the square once it’s ready.
Melt the honey, peanut butter, and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking often. Once melted, mix in the vanilla and salt, if using. Pour over the cereal in the bowl and mix well to combine.
Scoop the mixture into the prepared baking dish and smooth the top.
MAKE THE RAW CHOCOLATE TOPPING: Melt the cacao butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and pour over the square.
Freeze until firm- at least 4 hours- and slice into squares. (I recommend running a sharp knife under hot water for about 20 seconds first to aid in slicing.) I found 16 squares to be the perfect size!
Store the squares in an airtight container in the freezer. They won’t last long!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can you make them vegan? I would assume so. Just use vegan butter and vegan sweetener. It is important to use a sweetener with a similar viscosity to honey, though. I recommend brown rice syrup or coconut nectar. Do not use maple syrup, as it isn’t sticky enough to hold the square together!
What do you recommend if I have a peanut allergy? I think sunflower seed butter would be a delicious alternative to peanut butter! Or, if you can eat other nuts, hazelnut, almond and cashew butter would be tasty, too.

I think that’s all I have to say today, folks! I wish you all a fabulous week. 🙂 If you make these peanut butter and honey rice crispy squares, let me know how you enjoyed them by leaving a comment and rating below the post. And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen. I love seeing what you’ve made.

Enjoy!

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