Next time you need an easy, last-minute, crowd-pleasing dessert recipe, you’ve gotta give my Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats a try. Simply made with just 7 pantry staples and about 10 minutes of effort, they’re the salty-sweet, gluten-free, crunchy-chewy flavor bomb you’ve been looking for.
As someone who spent years making pastries in a professional kitchen, I’m no stranger to challenging or complicated baking recipes. (See my DIY wedding cake and vegan, gluten-free chocolate truffle cake as examples!)
Hand me a copy of Tartine (or, better yet, Tartine Bread) on a day off, and I’ll happily crank out homemade croissants, mini tartlets, a lattice-topped pie, or any other yummy, beautiful, carb-y project you want. What I’m trying to say is, baking is my therapy. If I had all the time and money in the world, I’d probably spend half my time baking bread and making desserts.
But sometimes – more often than not, these days – I need a quick & dirty, no-fail treat to scratch my itch for something sweet. On those days, I turn to favorites like my blueberry peach cobbler dump cake, this 5-minute lemon ginger blueberry trifle, my no-cook mix-and-churn mint cookies & cream ice cream, or these speedy chocolate peanut butter krispie treats.
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Y’all, these chocolatey, peanut buttery, crispy, stretchy-soft bars of deliciousness are the magical kind of dessert that’ll vanish before your very eyes.
I recently made a batch for my father-in-law’s birthday, and although there were only 5 of us, the whole dang tray was nearly empty just 15 minutes after I brought them out. And this was after we ate beefy black bean chili and cheeseburgers for dinner. They’re the kind of good you make room for. And they’re SO EASY.
Why You’ll Love This Chocolate & Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats Recipe
These chocolate-laced rice krispie peanut butter bars are a surefire winner among kids and adults alike. They’re:
- Salty-Sweet - i.e. my FAVORITE dessert flavor profile. The way I see it, peanut butter and chocolate are as iconic a pairing as PB&J. This dead simple recipe brings Reese’s peanut butter cups to mind but with the delightful crunch and chewiness you’d expect from cereal bars.
- Quick & Easy - You only need about 10 minutes of active time and 7 basic ingredients to make these no-bake chocolate peanut butter rice crispy treats. They’re just as easy as the original!
- Inclusive - Unlike my Fruity Pebbles treats made with marshmallows (most of which include gelatin), these peanut butter chocolate chip Rice Krispie treats are naturally vegetarian. They’re also gluten-free, easy to make vegan/dairy-free, and can even be made nut-free if needed, so just about everyone can get in on the fun!
Ingredients & Substitutions
These peanut butter rice krispies with chocolate chips require just a few easy-to-find ingredients. Here’s what to grab:
- Brown Sugar - While the original Allrecipes recipe I based these peanut butter chocolate Rice Krispie treats on calls for white sugar, using brown sugar adds a caramelly complexity that I love. Feel free to use light or dark brown sugar.
- Corn Syrup - We’re making these chocolate peanut butter rice krispie treats with no marshmallows, so we need something sticky to hold it all together. You can also use tapioca syrup instead.
- Butter & Kosher Salt - Pretty much every professional baker will tell you to start with unsalted butter, then add salt to taste. I buck tradition here — salted butter has a longer shelf life, and I ALWAYS want salt in whatever I’m making. If you opt to use unsalted, just add more salt to taste.
- Creamy Peanut Butter - You want to reach for the ultra-smooth processed kind that doesn’t separate, not natural peanut butter. While you technically could use chunky peanut butter, you’d need to add a decent bit more for the same amount of binding power. If you want the chunky texture, I recommend you chop ½ cup of roasted, salted peanuts and stir them into the mix.
- Rice Krispies - I’m sure y’all have felt the pinch of grocery inflation lately — last I checked, a 12-oz box of Kellogg’s was $6.50. 🤯There’s no need to reach for brand names; I always use the store brand to save money. In this case, white-label cereal saved me $5! You can also use Cocoa Krispies (or preferably their generic counterpart) for a more intense chocolate flavor.
- Mini Chocolate Chips - Using the little guys ensures you get chocolate in every bite of your peanut butter rice crispie treats. If you only have full-sized chocolate chips, you can either chop them with a knife or pulse them a few times in a food processor.
- Flaky Salt - Optional, for a deliciously crunchy, extra salty garnish. If you’re a salt fanatic like me, Maldon is the way to go.
How To Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Krispie Treats
Got 10 minutes to spare? You’ve got enough time to whip up a batch of these chocolate peanut butter rice crispy bars. Here’s how it’s done:
Step 1: Mix. In a large pot, add brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and kosher salt. Set over low-medium heat.
Step 2: Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, just until the butter has melted and the brown sugar has dissolved. Do not bring to a boil, do not overcook, do not pass go. Turn off the heat.
Step 3: Add Peanut Butter, stirring until well combined. Taste and adjust salt if needed. (I like mine saltier than most!)
Step 4: Add Rice Krispies to the peanut butter mixture, using a silicone spatula to mix. When the mixture is nearly combined…
Step 5: Add Mini Chocolate Chips and stir to disperse.
Step 6: Shape & Set. Gently press the mixture into a 9x13 pan, garnish as desired (I like adding some flaky sea salt and extra mini chocolate chips), and allow to set up at room temperature, which should take about 2 hours.
Step 7: Cut into squares using a serrated knife. Serve & enjoy!
Optional Variations & Dietary Adjustments
As much as my family and I love these peanut butter and chocolate Rice Krispie treats, there are several ways you can tweak the recipe to make it your own. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Dairy-Free/Vegan - Simply swap in plant-based butter and vegan chocolate chips to make these chocolate PB Rice Krispie treats safe for your vegan and lactose-intolerant friends.
- Corn-Free - You’ll need to get crispy rice cereal that is made without corn (like Nature’s Path), since Kellogg’s Rice Krispies are made with corn. From there, opt for peanut butter made without corn syrup, and swap in tapioca syrup.
- Nut-Free - If you can’t do peanuts, or if you just want to try something a little different, swap in tahini (or chocolate tahini?!?) for the peanut butter. It’s a grown-up twist that I LOVE! Sunflower seed butter, granola butter, or cookie butter can also be used.
- Extra Chocolatey - Use chocolate-flavored rice cereal to double down on the chocolate flavor of this peanut butter rice krispie bars recipe.
Recipe Success Tips
- Spray your measuring cup with non-stick spray before measuring corn syrup — it'll help it slide out nice and easy!
- Don't cook the corn syrup and sugar mixture too long or over strong heat. If you do, you'll risk caramelizing the mixture, resulting in hard, borderline teeth-shattering bars.
- Wait to add the chocolate chips. I like having some of the chocolate chips stay in chip form. If you add them to the mix too early, they’ll all melt into the peanut butter mixture. The resulting chocolate and peanut butter rice krispies will still be delicious; they’ll just be more homogenous and chunk-free.
- Be gentle when you press the cereal mixture into the prepared pan. If you press too hard, you can smoosh all the cereal, which takes away some of the crunchiness.
- Store in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 5 days.
FAQs
While there are a lot of easy chocolate peanut butter recipes out there — like my peanut butter chocolate chip cookie cake and chocolate peanut butter fat bombs — this recipe for Rice Krispie peanut butter chocolate treats wins for the easiest. All you need is one pan, 7 ingredients, and 10 minutes. Can’t beat that!
In my experience, making your own ANYTHING will generally be cheaper than buying it in packages from a store. I spent less than $3 to make a batch of 16 of these peanut butter rice krispie treats with chocolate in February 2024, using ingredients I got from Aldi. Compare that with a box of 8 packaged Rice Krispie Treats going for $2.99 at Kroger.
And just to be clear, fresh, homemade cereal treats taste WAY better than the pre-packaged kind. And these chocolate peanut butter ones? Even more so.
Also, don’t forget that the packaged version comes with a bunch of weird artificial ingredients. From the back of the Rice Krispies Treats box: Toasted Rice Cereal, Corn Syrup, Fructose, Vegetable Oil (Soybean and Palm Oil with TBHQ for Freshness), Sugar, Corn Syrup Solids, Vegetable Glycerin, Dextrose, Gelatin, Natural and Artificial Flavors (Contains Milk), Salt, DATEM, Acetylated Monoglycerides, Soy Lecithin, and BHT for Freshness.
So, not only are you paying more for the pre-made packaged ones, you’re also getting all those extra ingredients that they don’t even bother spelling out. See: TBHQ, BHT, and DATEM.
TL;DR? Make your own. They’ll taste better, be cheaper, and be more natural to boot.
This combo of creamy peanut butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup is an excellent alternative to mini marshmallows.
Rice Krispies (and most store brands) are naturally gluten-free, so these chocolate peanut butter Rice Krispies treats are as well. Just make sure you don’t have any issues with cross-contamination with your other ingredients.
Ooops! Sounds like you cooked the binding mixture too long and/or too hard. Whether you’re making the treats with marshmallows or the brown sugar-corn syrup mixture we use here, overcooking will result in the chemical structure of the sugars changing and hardening. (Check out this handy sugar syrup temperature chart to see what I mean.)
Sounds like you either a.) added too much butter, b.) used stale cereal, c.) let the treats go stale, or d.) some combination of a-c.
More Easy Dessert Recipes
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
Equipment
- Dutch Oven or large pot
- 9x13 Baking Dish
- Measuring Cups & Spoons
- Non-Stick Spray optional, but nice for measuring corn syrup
- Serrated Knife
Ingredients
- 1 C Brown Sugar lightly packed
- 1 C Corn Syrup or tapioca syrup
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 C Creamy Peanut Butter the processed kind
- 6 C Rice Krispies use store brand to save $; can also use Cocoa Krispies for more intense chocolate flavor
- 4 oz Mini Chocolate Chips
- Mini chocolate chips & flaky salt optional, for garnish
Instructions
- In a large pot, add 1 C Brown Sugar, 1 C Corn Syrup, 2 tablespoon Butter, and 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt. Set over medium-low heat.
- Cook the mixture until the butter has melted and the brown sugar has dissolved. Do not bring to a boil, and do not overcook. Turn off the heat.
- Add 1 C Creamy Peanut Butter, stirring until well combined. Taste and adjust salt if needed. (I like mine saltier than most!)
- Add 6 C Rice Krispies, using a silicone spatula to mix. When the mixture is nearly combined, add 4 oz Mini Chocolate Chips and stir to disperse.
- Press the mixture into a 9x13 pan, garnish as desired, and allow to set up at room temperature, about 2 hours. Cut into squares and serve!
Notes
- Spray your measuring cup with non-stick spray before measuring corn syrup — it'll help it slide out nice and easy!
- Don't cook the corn syrup and sugar mixture too long or over strong heat. If you do, you'll risk caramelizing the mixture, resulting in hard, borderline teeth-shattering bars.
- Wait to add the chocolate chips. I like having some of the chocolate chips stay in chip form. If you add them to the mix too early, they’ll all melt into the peanut butter mixture. The resulting chocolate and peanut butter rice krispies will still be delicious; they’ll just be more homogenous and chunk-free.
- Be gentle when you press the cereal mixture into the prepared pan. If you press too hard, you can smoosh all the cereal, which takes away some of the crunchiness.
- Store in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Dairy-Free/Vegan - Simply swap in plant-based butter and vegan chocolate chips to make these chocolate PB Rice Krispie treats safe for your vegan and lactose-intolerant friends.
- Corn-Free - You’ll need to get crispy rice cereal that is made without corn (like Nature’s Path), since Kellogg’s Rice Krispies are made with corn. From there, opt for peanut butter made without corn syrup, and swap in tapioca syrup.
- Nut-Free - If you can’t do peanuts, or if you just want to try something a little different, swap in tahini (or chocolate tahini?!?) for the peanut butter. It’s a grown-up twist that I LOVE! Sunflower seed butter, granola butter, or cookie butter can also be used.
- Extra Chocolatey - Use chocolate-flavored rice cereal to double down on the chocolate flavor.
Nutrition
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