Gluten and dairy free, these Coconut Puffed Rice Treats are super tasty and healthy but contain no marshmallow or refined white sugar!
Rice Krispie treats have long been a firm favourite childhood snack. I think the key to their generations of success is probably in their simplicity.
Crispy rice cereal and chocolate… it doesn’t get much easier than that! My fussy eater is a big fan and you know me, I always like to put a slightly healthier twist on things so here’s my own version!
Puffed Rice
First up I’ve swapped the Rice Krispies for this puffed brown rice. As cereals go Rice Krispies aren’t the worst in the world but they do contain some unnecessary sugar and salt (Rice Krispies are 10% sugar whereas the above brand of puffed rice is 0.7% sugar).
Puffed brown rice also contains three times the amount of fibre so nutritionally you are getting a lot more.
One thing worth mentioning however is that puffed rice is usually not as crispy as Rice Krispies. So your treats will have a slightly softer texture. So if crunch is important to you, it might be worth searching around for a more crispy brand of puffed rice!
Ingredients
Instead of chocolate and marshmallows, these treats are bound together with a combination of coconut oil, coconut cream and honey that honestly tastes like white chocolate. It’s amazing!
So not only are these rice snacks gluten free, but they are also refined sugar and dairy free too (just be sure to use dairy free chocolate for the drizzle).
Oh, the drizzle…. ok it isn’t entirely necessary but doesn’t everything taste a bit better with a drizzle of dark chocolate on top?!
So what do you think? Is this a recipe your kids might like to get involved in making?
If you liked my Healthy Coconut Crispy Rice Treats recipe, then please do leave me a comment and a star rating below. You can also share your pictures with me on Instagram. I always love to see your creations!
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Healthy Coconut Crispy Rice Treats
Prep Time: 5 mins- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Yield: 9 1x
Category: Snacks
Cuisine: European
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Gluten and dairy free, these Coconut Puffed Rice Treats are super tasty and healthy but contain no marshmallow or refined white sugar!
Ingredients
- 50g / ¼ cup coconut oil
- 3 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp coconut cream
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 80g / 3 cups puffed rice or rice krispie cereal
- ½ tsp desiccated coconut
- To top:
- ½ tsp desiccated coconut
- 25g / 1 oz dark chocolate
Instructions
- Melt the coconut oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the honey, coconut cream and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the puffed rice or rice krispies and the desiccated coconut and stir until everything is well combined.
- Line a baking dish with greaseproof paper. I used an 8 x 8 inch pan but you can use any size depending on how thick or thin you want the treats to be.
- Transfer the mixture into the pan and press down firmly with the back of the spoon in order to make the mixture as compact as possible. Sprinkle the remaining desiccated coconut on top. Cover the dish with tin foil and put it in the freezer for approximately an hour or until the mixture has firmed up.
- Once ready, melt the chocolate and drizzle it on top and cut into 9 square shaped treats.
- The treats will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
agnes says
thank you for the recipe! made this today with peanut butter and coconut oil, super easy. The trickiest parts I would say is pressing the mixture firmly & pack them as tight as possible. Otherwise it would crumble when slicing open. When I sliced them up, I also made a mistake of using a small knife. I then switched a sharp large knife to cut it. It was definitely easier. Very happy to find your recipe. thanks again 🙂
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Clare Wall says
Fabulous recipe. Always on the lookout for healthy treats for my small person and these are just the thing! Thanks!!
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Milly says
Hi, I’m looking for things to freeze for my daughter lunches. Will these freeze and defrost ok?
Ciara Attwell says
No I don’t think they should be frozen.
Kaydell says
This turned out really crumbly.
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Ida says
I just finished making it. Taste is delicious, but the rice didn’t set through ????
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Tina says
Same here. I redid it and I’ve doubled the ingredients now, bar the krispies of course, and it’s all back in the fridge, so fingers crossed
Ryll says
I just finished making these, and oh my goodness they are amazing! So glad I found your recipe, I did add come glazed cherries (they needed to be used up) and they turned out great! They taste a little christmas say now 🙂 thank you!
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Ciara Attwell says
Oh wow the glazed cherries sound like an amazing addition. So glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Vee says
Did you try lightly toasting the puffed rice in a pan? I think it MIGHT make them crispy (as long as you don’t mind a toasted colour I suppose).
Ciara Attwell says
No I don’t Vee, never thought of that. Genius!!!
Kay says
I’ve been looking for a recipe like this- no marshmallows and using coconut oil! Thanks! One question- can I substitute The coconut cream with something else?
Ciara Attwell says
Hi Kay, I haven’t tested the recipe with anything else so I couldn’t say for sure it it would still work the same. What did you want to replace it with?
Tammy Jo says
I used peanut butter instead of the coconut cream and they turned out delicious!
Ciara Attwell says
Ouuu yummy! I’ve been tinkering with a new recipe kinda like this one but using peanut butter. It tastes amazing doesn’t it!
Vanessa says
Thanks for the PB suggestion- I have no coconut cream and was searching the comments for alternatives! Got mine in the fridge to set… the kids will be stoked when they wake up from nap time!
Shelley W. says
Could you swap honey for stevia?
Ciara Attwell says
Sorry Shelley but I’m not familiar with stevia so I couldn’t say for sure. The honey works to sweeten the treats but also acts as a binder so the stevia would need to be similar to work.
Helena Wasilewski says
Looks fabulous, putting it together and cant wait to taste test. I do have a question about the amount of desiccated coconut, is it really supposed to be just ½ tsp that goes into the mix? thank you in advance.
Ciara Attwell says
Hi Helena, yep I used 1/2 tsp of desiccated coconut in the mix and another 1/2 tsp on top. The coconut oil and coconut cream already gives these a lovely coconuty flavour so I didn’t want to overpower it, especially when trying to feed them to the kids! But you can certainly add more desiccated coconut to the mix if you wish. x
Honest mum says
They are just gorgeous, healthy, beautiful to look at and eat, I want these right now, I actually feel like crying because it’s too late for me to make these as I’m about to go to sleep. Wail. Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
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Ciara Attwell says
Oh Vicki I’m sorry! Don’t want to make you cry!!!
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry says
Please can you post me 2 or 3 of these?
Ciara Attwell says
Ha ha, you are a week too late I’m afraid!!
Anita-Clare Field says
These look delicious, I loved puffed rice.
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Ciara Attwell says
Thank you!
Lucy @ BakingQueen74 says
My kids would LOVE to make this! Ive never seen the puffed rice before but it sounds really good, and the coconut/honey combo that tastes like white chocolate sounds divine. We will try this during Easter hols!
Ciara Attwell says
I got the puffed rice in Tesco. It’s on offer at the moment only £1! Hope you enjoy them! x
Emz says
These look SOOO good! Will be giving these a try x
Ciara Attwell says
Thank you. Enjoy!
Rachel says
I’m so glad I found this on #tasty Tuesday. I loved the pretty picture so v excited to also find such a delicious looking healthy recipe. Will definitely be trying these out!
Ciara Attwell says
Thank you Rachel. I hope you like them as much as we did!
Emma | Fork & Good says
You have no idea how much I love rice crispie treats. I once made a whole 12-inch birthday cake out of them for husband and then ate half of it. I wasn’t well after it, but it was sooooo worth it.
Shall be putting this on my to-make list.
Cheers 🙂
Ciara Attwell says
A whole cake? Oh my, that’s incredible!!
Diana says
This recipe looks wonderful! For some reason coconut oil is difficult to find here (in Jordan) but I love everything coconut<3
Ciara Attwell says
Thats a shame Diana. You can easily replace it with butter though.
Ceri says
Love the look of these. Mmm white chocolate over marshmallows any day. I think if I tried these with cacao butter instead of coconut oil they’d be even more white chocolate-esque!! Mmmm
Ciara Attwell says
YES to cacao butter. That would be immense!!!
HELEN says
these look & sound lovely – I’m a big fan of coconut but the kids aren’t keen..I keep hearing about puffed rice in weight watchers groups but I haven’t yet tried it. I didn’t realise rice crispies contained so much sugar!
Ciara Attwell says
I know, it’s crazy isn’t it Helen. You think the humble rice krispie looks so innocent!!
Nayna Kanabar (@citrusspiceuk) says
These look delectable and perfect for that teatime snack.
Ciara Attwell says
Thank Nayna. Perfect for teatime indeed!
Harriet Young says
What a good idea to use puffed brown rice rather than rice krispies! These look fab, and so much healthier too.
Ciara Attwell says
Thanks Harriet. They are so so good!