I hope everyone had a blessed Easter! Chris and I enjoyed our time with his dad’s family in Big Sky. Plus, the weather was beautiful, Kassi (our dog) and I got to stretch our legs on a nice walk and I baked a flourless, sugar free cake (to be posted soon)!
But now onto today’s recipe 🙂
Rice krispy treats bring me back to the days of sack lunches in grade school. Those little squares wrapped in shiny blue wrappers were a hot commodity at the lunch table amongst my friends. I remember trying to trade my Goldfish or pretzels a few times without any luck…
Looking back, I am not sure what the big deal was since I recall them tasting a little bit like cardboard. Is that still the case? In my opinion, the homemade versions far surpass the packaged ones.
I hadn’t eaten a rice krispy treat in years and for some reason after seeing one commercial, I couldn’t get my mind off those crunchy little bars. Instead of using marshmallows, I opted for a healthier option by combing almond butter and honey as the binder and it worked nicely! I added sliced almonds for extra nuttiness along with almond extract (mmmm so good!) for the triple almond punch.
These bars are adaptable; change up the nut butter or seed butter, add your favorite mix-ins and/or extracts and make it your own! I was aiming for a peanut butter version but my pantry stash was running low (gasp!) so I opted for the almond butter. Dried cherries and mini chocolate chips with peanut butter will be my next batch!
Triple Almond Krispy Bars
Ingredients
2 cups gluten free crispy rice cereal (I used Enjoy Life crunchy brown rice)
1/3 cup sliced almonds (or other nuts or seeds for a different variation)
3 Tbsp flaxseed meal (almond meal would work too I bet – you could omit but will need more rice cereal)
1/2 cup creamy unsalted almond butter (or other nut or seed butter)
1/4 cup honey or brown rice syrup (I used honey but use brown rice for vegan)
a few drops or a pinch of stevia to taste, optional for sweeter bars
pinch of sea salt
1/4 tsp almond extract (if you don’t have it, can omit but I like the additional almond flavor)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (if you don’t like cinnamon, feel free to omit)
Directions
1. Line a large loaf pan (or 8X8 pan but will be thinner) with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cereal, almonds and flax meal.
3. In a large saucepan, combine almond butter and honey/syrup over medium heat, stirring often until melted. Remove from heat and stir in the salt, extracts and cinnamon until smooth.
4. Add in the cereal/almond/flax mixture to the liquid ingredients and stir until well coated.
5. Spoon the sticky mixture into prepared pan and spread evenly (I greased my fingers with coconut oil to avoid sticking) and let chill for an hour. Cut into bars and enjoy!
Variations: feel free to add chocolate chips, seeds, nuts, dried fruit, coconut, spices etc if desired. Use your favorite nut or seed butter to make different flavor variations. I’ve made these with peanut butter and cranberries before and they are wonderful!
*For individual treats, press the mixture into a cupcake/muffin tin lined with paper muffin cups (I assume e 9-10 cups depending on the size)
Natural Noshing 
These just went to the top of my to-bake list! I’ve been using a lot of Rice Krispies lately because my stash is expiring soon (which really means in my world that it expired last year) so I have to make these. There’s no chance of finding a healthier crisp rice cereal here so I’ll have to survive with what I’ve got. They look sooooo yummy. I can’t wait to make these! I’m definitely making the peanut butter version. 🙂
I’m happy you had a nice Easter!
Looks like this recipe is calling your name! Go use those up soon, I hope you love them like me! 🙂 I would go the PB route too, you can’t go wrong with those! Hugs!
Wow, that bread looks SO good! Can’t wait for the recipe. Glad to hear you guys had a great weekend 🙂
These look delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks so much! Can’t wait to check out your site!
I can’t wait for the cake recipe. We have a similar Rice Krispy recipe on our site and they are so good. I love foods that remind me of my childhood!
I will get to that soon so you don’t have to wait too much longer 🙂 I am playing catch-up!
I can’t wait for the cake recipe! We have a similar recipe on our site for Rice Crispy Treats that uses almond butter and they are so yummy. I love foods that take me back to my childhood.
~Sarah
I will be posting soon! It’s deemed the “Fruit Loop Cake” and has a very interesting flavor – I need to get that posted! 🙂
I have so many memories of my childhood – most of them have to do with food hehe!
It is SO awesome how similar our recipes are 😀 These look SO good, and of course, I love that you used almond butter too. It’s so yummy, isn’t it?
How funny is that?!?!? OH yes, almond butter is amazing stuff!
These look SO god Nora! Even the kids will love these. Brilliant!
Thanks Shira! 🙂
ooooo YUMMO. Excited about your bread recipe too… almond meal? Love your work 🙂
Thanks so much Lou 🙂 I love your work too!
mmm, that bread looks fantastic – I eagerly await that one!
rice crispies are totally my childhood – and now they are so fun to make, endless flavor combinations! yours look perfect…
Soon my dear, I promise! Don’t you love versatile recipes that have tons of flavor combos? mmmmm!
I wish we would have gone to school together–I would have *totally* traded you a blue wrapped Rice Krispie Bar for goldfish crackers, heck yes I would! 🙂
Oh my goodness, how fun would THAT have been! I think we would have been good buddies back then 🙂 I would have totally swapped you for Goldfish – salty, cheddar amazingness!
yummy! i LOVE almonds and almond butter. these look delicious!
me too! 🙂 I can’t get enough!
Can you say perfection? I love almond butter. I just got some too! Yeayuh.
You are too sweet 🙂 Thanks Kammie! AB is the best!
I definitely remember those shiny blue wrappers! I love your version of rice krispy bars, and you could have a lot of fun changing them up – that peanut butter, cherry and chocolate chip version is calling my name!
Thanks Genevieve! I need to make the PB and chocolate cherry version ASAP! I will eat one in your honor when I do 🙂