Vegan Hot Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats
Let’s talk rice krispie treats!
I don’t know about you, but I love food trends. They keep you on your toes with exploring new ways to love food and sometimes they are so good, they stick around! One of the more recent trends in the last few years has been brown butter. I’ve seen it honestly in anything and everything and while intrigued, I didn’t feel as though you could capture it with every recipe. The flavor can be lost depending on what you’re putting it in. However it absolutely works with Rice Krispy Treats!!
Believe it or not, while simple, you can easily mess up a good rice krispy treat. It’s supposed to be soft, flexible, and not a hard brick. If you cook the marshmallows on too high of heat too fast, that will effect the texture as well as adding too much cereal. I once thought well the more cereal the better, because they would be bigger. However, that’s far from the truth as you’ll just achieve a rock hard result. So lower heat, less cereal, and lastly, fold in whole marshmallows and flavor! Bonus tip, when pressing them into the pan to mold them before cutting, be gentle. The more you press the less flexible they’ll be and the harder they’ll be.
Initially I never thought to add flavor to a rice krispy treat. It’s sweet, crunch, why do you need more? Well, you do! By adding a lil hot chocolate and some flake salt, I swear, it completely elevates the flavor and captures the essence of the season. Tie it all in with rich browned butter, it’s game changing!
What’s great about this recipe? All of it! It’s my staple rice krispy treat recipe, buttery soft, packs less cereal, more marshmallows, hot chocolate notes of rich butter, a hint of vanilla and sea salt, they can easily be made in bulk, contain no animal products, are perfect for entertaining, and perfect for any season!
If you love all things brown butter or rice krispy treats, you’re going to love these new vegan Salted Hot Chocolate Rice Krispy Treats!
Why this recipe is great:
Quick
Easy
Affordable
Vegan
Rich hot chocolate flavor
Notes of brown butter
Buttery Soft
Notes of salt
Vegan Hot Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 6 - 12 bars 1x
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp vegan butter
- 1 1/2 bags vegan marshmallows
- 1/2 cup vegan hot chocolate
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 cups rice cereal
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Grease an 8×8 or 9×9 square baking dish.
- In a large (preferably non-stick) saucepan over medium-low heat melt butter and allow it to sizzle and foam.. Add the hot chocolate, stir until well combined.
- Add 1 bag of marshmallows, stirring frequently. Once melted with a few solid pieces remaining. Remove from heat and stir in the Rice Krispies. Fold in the remaining 1/2 bag of marshmallows. (if you don’t care to have some solid-ish marshmallows you can just cook them all together, but it makes them softer!)
- Scoop the mixture into the prepared baking dish and gently press into an even layer. Sprinkle the top of the treats with flaky sea salt and allow to cool to room temperature before slicing and serving.
- Prep Time: 10 mins