Easy Vegan Rice Krispie Treats

These vegan rice krispie treats are gooey, marshmallowy, sweet (but not overly so), and made in just minutes with just 4 ingredients! Flavor variations included!

Ooey Gooey Wonderfully Chewy Vegan Rice Krispie Treats

Homemade rice krispie treats (also called rice crispy treats and marshmallow cereal treats) are a childhood classic treat for good reason. They’re sweet, gooey, crispy, soft, chewy, and easy enough for anyone to make (children included). Now, these vegan rice krispie treats taste almost identical to the classic but are 100% cruelty-free.

Are Rice Krispies Vegan?

Unfortunately, no. While most ingredients within this puffed rice cereal are vegan, they’re fortified with animal-sourced vitamin D3, which derives from lanolin (the oil on sheep’s wool). More so, commercial rice krispie treats usually use gelatin-based marshmallows derived from animals. Many recipes also include dairy butter.

Luckily, with just a few simple ingredient swaps, you can transform this childhood classic into a delicious vegan rice krispie treats recipe, and no one will even be able to tell they’re vegan!

Best of all, they take just minutes to prepare and are a crowd-pleasing treat loved by children and adults alike. Plus, this recipe is easily adjustable, too. That includes adjusting the consistency (from super ooey gooey to crisp and firmer) and flavor (with the extracts and add-ins of your choice, like peppermint rice krispie treats).

Once prepared, they’re perfect for enjoying at birthday parties, picnics, potlucks, and other special events, along with more treats like vegan peanut butter blondies, blackberry orange cupcakes, and easy vegan apple muffins.

The Ingredients

This vegan rice krispie treats recipe requires just three base ingredients with an optional fourth to make holiday-ready peppermint rice krispie treats.

• Vegan marshmallows: I love using dandies (and call these ‘Dandies rice krispie treats’) or Trader Joe’s vegan marshmallows, but choose your favorite vegan marshmallow brand.

When looking for vegan marshmallows, look for a vegan symbol on the packaging and/or check the ingredients to ensure there is no gelatin (or any other non-vegan ingredients, of course).

• Vegan butter: Use good quality vegan butter, like Miyoko’s or Earth Balance (salted or unsalted), for the best flavor and richness. I don’t recommend using a low-fat or low-quality vegan margarine style option, as they contain much more water and will throw the ingredient ratio off.
• Crispy rice cereal: While traditional Rice Krispies may not be vegan, several vegan puffed rice cereal alternatives are available (most are gluten-free), in the free-from section in your grocery store, in health food stores, or online.
• Peppermint flavoring: (optional) To add extra flavor to the cereal treats, I love experimenting with flavorings and extracts. This time around, I made peppermint rice krispie treats. Keep reading for more flavor variations.

Rice Krispie Treats Variations & Add-Ins

Homemade rice krispie treat bars are super simple to prepare and not much harder to customize. Here are a few ways to add to this vegan treat:

• Vanilla: For simple vanilla-flavored vegan rice krispie treats, use vanilla marshmallows or add some vanilla extract.
• Other extracts: Play around with flavorings and extracts to find delicious flavor combinations. I particularly like coconut or almond extract. When making vegan chocolate-dipped rice krispie treats, there are plenty of options like orange, peppermint, coffee, etc.
• Spices: Another simple way to flavor the vegan rice krispie treats is with spices like cinnamon, chai spice, pumpkin pie spice, etc.
• Freeze-dried fruit: Like strawberries or raspberries (pair wonderfully with vegan chocolate chips).
• Chopped nuts: For added flavor and crunch.
• Vegan chocolate: There are several ways to introduce dairy-free chocolate into these bars. The first is to make vegan chocolate chip rice krispie treats. Alternatively, dairy-free chocolate-covered rice krispie treats are a favorite of mine, using vegan semi-sweet or even white chocolate.
• Natural food coloring: To mix into the marshmallow mixture.

For vegan chocolate-dipped rice krispie treats, I love to dip them only halfway in either vegan dark or white chocolate, sometimes with added extract in the plant-based chocolate for more flavor.

Decorating Rice Krispie Treats

Along with enjoying these dairy-free rice krispie treats as a simple treat, there are plenty of ways to decorate them to fit different themes and events, using:

• Vegan chocolate - white chocolate can be melted and left plain or colored/flavored
• Vegan candy melts
• Frosting
• Other candies—like vegan smarties, crushed candy canes (stuck with vegan melted chocolate)
• Crushed vegan cookies
• Vegan sprinkles

You can shape and decorate the homemade rice krispie treats to look like characters, animals, food items, fit color themes, etc.

How to Make Rice Krispie Treats?

Follow just a handful of simple steps to prepare these dairy-free rice krispie treats in just minutes!

• 1) First, melt the vegan butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat.

• 2) Once melted, add the vegan marshmallows and constantly stir for three minutes. Then, add the peppermint (if using) and water, and continue to stir until it’s melted. Then, remove the mixture from the heat.

Vegan marshmallows don’t melt like regular ones, so you may end up with some lumps. It should mostly melt down into a single mass, though.

• 3) Add the crispy rice cereal to the melted marshmallow mixture and stir to thoroughly combine.

• 4) Press the mixture firmly and evenly into a greased 9x9-inch pan and allow it to cool (for at least an hour).

It can help to use a layer of wax paper over the mixture when pressing it into the pan (using the bottom of a glass also helps). Alternatively, use a spatula lightly greased with oil.

• 5) Once cooled, use a sharp knife rubbed with a small amount of oil to cut the vegan rice krispie treats into bars (9 large, 12 small, or 16 bite-sized squares will work well). Enjoy!

FAQs

Top Recipe Tips and Notes

• For more gooey rice krispie treats: Add 3-4 tablespoons of vegan condensed milk (I like coconut condensed milk) to the vegan butter mixture and bring to a simmer before continuing with the recipe.
• For softer/harder bars: Adjusting the amount of crispy rice cereal is the best way to control this. Use less (about ½-1 cup less) for more gooey results, or add some extra for firmer bars.
• Avoid high heat: The key to melting the vegan marshmallows is to do it over low and slow temperatures. Otherwise, the bars may end up too hard. It’s also a good idea to use a heavy-bottomed pan.
• If your mallows don’t melt well: That’s fine. You’ll just have some chunkier pieces of mallow in the vegan rice krispie treats.

How to Make Ahead and Store?

You can store the vegan rice krispie treats in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the fridge for 4-5 days. If doing the latter, allow them to come to room temperature for a few minutes before enjoying.

Can You Freeze Rice Krispie Treats?

Vegan rice crispy treats freeze well and are great to keep stocked up for whenever you want a quick treat. Simply place them in an airtight container, in layers, separated by wax paper/parchment paper (to avoid sticking). Freeze them for up to 2 months.

When you want to enjoy one, just pop it onto the counter for about 15 minutes to thaw, and enjoy!

More Vegan Treats

• Raisin oatmeal cookies
• Easy vegan pumpkin muffins
• Peanut butter jelly thumbprint cookies
• Mini chocolate chip banana muffins
• Blueberry zucchini muffins
• Strawberry yogurt popsicles
• Soft gluten-free pumpkin cookies

If you try this easy vegan rice krispie treats recipe, I’d love to know what you think in the comments below. I’d also really appreciate a recipe card rating!

Photos by Alfonso Revilla