These healthy rice crispy treats are made without marshmallows and instead we use tahini, maple syrup and coconut oil to make these. I was obsessed with rice krispie treats growing up and never got tired of eating the gooey marshmallow sticky bars when I could get my hands on them!
But fast forward to today and marshmallows are not exactly at the top of our list of nutritious foods to include in the repertoire. This alternative gluten free and dairy free, vegan recipe will give you healthy rice crispy treats instead.
Blood Sugar Balance
We talk a lot about the importance of eating protein and healthy fat at each meal to stabilize your blood sugar, but what about when you want to have a dessert? It’s completely normal to indulge sometimes and enjoy a treat, you’ve got to enjoy life after all! The key is to be conscious of the type of treats you eat. By using tahini, we add in a nutritious, healthy fat that’s also rich in many minerals such as calcium. Tahini also provides some protein and we get some extra fat from the coconut oil. These two will help to reduce the blood sugar spike that you’ll experience after eating rice crispy treats.
Valentine's Day
If you want to make these for Valentine’s Day, like we did, the pink yogurt topping looks pretty AND adds the additional benefit of some gut supportive probiotics. You can use a natural pink coloring here, instead of food coloring. For that we like to use dehydrated beet powder or pink pitaya (dragonfruit) powder.
The yogurt topping needs to be stored in the freezer in order to remain solid. We just recommend taking the rice crispy treats out of the freezer a few minutes before you want to eat them, so they can warm up slightly. The frozen yogurt is actually really refreshing to bite into and pairs perfectly with the rice crispy treats!
Pink Tahini Rice Crispy Treats
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- pinch of sea salt
- 4 cups brown rice crisp cereal
Yogurt topping
- 3/4 cup yogurt dairy free or dairy, plain and unsweetened
- 2.5 to 3 tsp pink powder beet powder or pitaya powder
Instructions
- Combine the tahini, maple syrup, coconut oil and a pinch of sea salt in a small pot. Heat gently over low heat to combine together.
- Add the rice cereal into a mixing bowl and then pour in the tahini mixture, stirring well to combine evenly.
- Line a small 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper and pour the gooey mixture into the pan, pressing down with your fingers to make the top flat.
- Place in the fridge for 1 hour to harden. Then cut into squares. If you're making the pink yogurt topping, skip this step and do the next step.
- Whisk together the yogurt and pink powder.
- Spread the pink yogurt over top of the rice crispy mixture in the baking dish to make a layer over top.
- Place in the freezer for at least 2 hours to solidify. Then cut into cubes. Store any leftovers in the freezer to keep the yogurt from melting.
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