Made with just four ingredients, this chewy, gooey Vegan Rice Crispy Treats Recipe is the best Christmas treat to make at the last minute, in just 30 minutes.
Christmas is just around the corner, and I love quick, easy treats like my 2-ingredient fudge, vegan macaroons, or 3-ingredient almond flour shortbread cookies.
They all have in common to use minimal ingredients and they are no-fail recipes, which makes then perfect for baking with kids.
A traditional Rice Krispie Treats recipe is not vegan since it’s made with classic marshmallows with beef gelatin, butter, and the famous rice cereal Krispies™ that are not vegan either.
So here I created a vegan rice crispy bar using vegan ingredients that taste the same as the traditional old rice crispy treats. But I also have my healthy peanut butter rice crispy bar recipe if you are not a fan of vegan marshmallows or you are after a treat with fewer carbohydrates and more proteins.
Why You Will Love These Vegan Rice Crispy Treats
- Quick and easy to make in 30 minutes
- Just 4 ingredients
- Gooey, chewy, and crispy
- Perfectly white for a beautiful Christmas treat
- Gelatin-free
- Dairy-free
- Gluten-free
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Vegan Mini Marshmallow – It’s tough to find mini vegan marshmallows in New Zealand, but you can also use regular-sized marshmallows chopped into small pieces with a kitchen scissor. They melt faster in small bits.
- Vanilla Extract for flavor
- Vegan Butter or vegan margarine
- Rice Crispy Cereal – The original brand of crispy Rice used in crispy treats is not vegan. It contains vitamin D3 derived from animals. But here I am using a vegan crispy puffed rice brand. You can also use other crispy cereals of a similar size, like puffed amaranth, puffed quinoa, or puffed brown rice.
Making Vegan Rice Crispy Treats
Line a 9-inch x 13-inch with parchment paper. No need to use oil as it won’t stick. Then, measure all the ingredients and keep them close so you can work fast. Speed is essential for this recipe!
- Melt the vegan butter over low heat in a large Dutch oven pan or non-stick large pot. Observe as you don’t want to burn and brown butter. Add the vegan marshmallows and stir them over medium heat with a silicone spatula until melted. It takes a few minutes to scrape down the sides and stir constantly to prevent the marshmallows from burning. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract, and work very fast to incorporate.
- Then, fold in the crispy rice cereal. Stir quickly to coat all the cereals with melted marshmallows.
- Stir in extra mini marshmallows for ultra ooey-gooey texture.
- Pour the stretchy rice marshmallow mixture into the prepared pan and lightly press with the rubber spatula, or use a large piece of parchment paper to press and avoid the mixture sticking to your fingers. Don’t press too much, or they get packed, dense, and hard to chew.
Pop the pan in the fridge for 20 minutes, or keep it at room temperature for an hour, then cut it into rice crispy squares. Feel free to decorate the top with a drizzle of melted dark chocolate or add vegan sprinkles. They store up to 1 week in a sealed container in the refrigerator, but they don’t freeze very well.
Expert Tips To Make The Best Vegan Rice Crispy Treats
- Use mini marshmallow. It’s not easy to find the dandies mini vegan marshmallows, but small pieces of marshmallows are easier to stir and melt. Vegan marshmallows won’t melt like classic marshmallows, so small pieces ensure they melt quickly and evenly. Simply use a kitchen scissor to chop your into bits and pieces before melting.
- Work fast. As soon as the marshmallows are melted, stir them into the cereals and work fast to coat them.
- Oil the rubber spatula. The marshmallow bars mixture is super sticky. working with an oiled tool makes it easier to stir and press the mix into the pan.
- Work at medium temperature. Don’t melt at too high a temperature as the butter would brown fast and the marshmallows burn.
- Measure the ingredients before you start. As soon as marshmallows are melted, you must stir in the cereals. If you don’t measure the right amount just before starting, the melted marshmallow hardens, and the cereals become impossible to stir in.
More Vegan Treats
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Vegan Rice Crispy Treats
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons Dairy-Free Butter (Unsalted)
- 16 ounces Vegan Marshmallows - cut into mini bites
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
- 6 cups Crispy Rice Cereals - make sure it's vegan!
Optional to stir in for extra chewy texture
- 4 ounces Vegan Marshmallows - cut into mini bites
Instructions
- Line a 9-inch x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper. No need to oil the paper. Set aside.
- If you are using large vegan marshmallows, I recommend using a scissor to chop them into tiny bits and pieces, like mini marshmallows. They melt better.
- In a large non-stick Dutch oven pan, melt the vegan butter, stir in the vegan marshmallows, and keep stirring with a rubber spatula, scraping down the sides of the pan to prevent them from burning.
- As soon as they are melted, remove the pan from the heat and immediately pour the puffed rice. You need to work fast or the marshmallows will harden.
- Stir to coat all the crispy rice with the melted marshmallow.
- Scoop out the mixture into the prepared pan and gently press it with an oiled rubber spatula to flatten it into a single layer. Don't over-press or it gets dense.
- Let it cool down in the fridge for 20 minutes or an hour at room temperature, then cut it into 12 squares.
Please check your ingredients. Dandee vegan marshmallows contain some hazardous ingredients that may put one’s health at risk. The ingredient is Carrageenan extracted from red seaweed, carrageenans are used as gelling and thickening agents. Under certain conditions, they can break down into compounds classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” by the ARC. A studey by INSERM (the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research) in March 2024 found that crrageenans increase the risk of cancer.
The thing is, Carrageenan have also been shown to have anti-cancer properties. (source, source, source).
So for a couple of studies showing it may under specific circumstances degrade into a compound that may have carcinogenic properties, there are many or more studies showing it has a direct anti-cancer effect.
I don’t think we can blanketly say carrageenan are good or bad, especially in the quantities present in vegan marshmallows.
Have you ever tried making rice crispy treats with marshmallow fluff? I figured it would be easier since it would potentially remove the need for a “butter” since it’s already kind of in a liquid form. Just heat the fluff and mix, but I haven’t tried it yet. Assuming they wouldn’t setup very stiff though.
I never tried marshmallow fluff because I could never find a plant based version.
They’re not American, Carine! My auntie Nan was making these over sixty years ago! With exactly the same ingredients, except they weren’t vegan ingredients! She called them Yoohoo after that make of glue! UHU! Yours sincerely, Avril Easton X
Interesting, I didn’t know! I’m assuming you’re from the UK?
My fiancé requested vegan treats as a pre-gym boost and these were an absolute winner. SO tasty! Thanks for posting. I melted mine in the microwave to decrease my chances of failure and they turned out just as yummy as yours look in the pics 🙂
Thanks a lot