Crispy Chocolate Rice Cake Bars
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Published Oct 12, 2022, Updated May 05, 2023
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These crispy chocolate rice cake bars are made with only 6 simple ingredients and super easy to whip up. They’re crunchy, chocolatey and the perfect healthier treat for both adults and kids! Vegan + gluten-free.
Introducing your new favorite sweet treat: crispy chocolate rice cake bars! They’re basically a twist on my rice krispies, but with melted chocolate instead of the brown rice syrup. And let me tell you, they’re so delicious! I guarantee you’ll be hooked after just one bite!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s gluten-free and can easily be made vegan + nut-free.
- It’s completely customizable… feel free to make this recipe your own!
- You only need 6 main ingredients!
- It’s the perfect healthier treat for both adults and kids!
- It’s crunchy, crispy and chocolatey… what more could you want in a sweet treat?!
Ingredients Needed
- rice cakes – you’ll need 8 rice cakes crumbled up for this recipe. My favorite brand is the Lundberg Farms Lightly Salted Organic Brown Rice Cakes, but feel free to use your favorite brand/flavor.
- nut butter – use your favorite nut butter for this recipe! Almond, cashew, or peanut butter are all great options. Look for a brand with just two ingredients – nuts and salt. You don’t need the extra oil or sugar. If you need a nut-free option, tahini or sunflower seed butter would be great options.
- chocolate chips – make sure to grab dairy-free chocolate chips if you need this recipe to be vegan. I love Enjoy Life chocolate chips, which are vegan and allergen-friendly, but I also like Lily’s dark chocolate chips for a low sugar option.
- brown sugar – for some sweetness we’re just using 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar. I find that brown sugar brings a deep, caramel flavor to these bars. Coconut sugar would be a good substitute.
- mix-ins – this is where the fun happens! Feel free to add your favorite mix-ins to this recipe. Some ideas that I recommend are goji berries, chopped nuts, seeds, white chocolate chips, shredded coconut, cacao nibs and marshmallows.
- vanilla extract – a nice flavor enhancer.
- flaky sea salt – the flaky salt adds a really nice topping to these rice cake bars, but feel free to skip this if you don’t have any flaked sea salt on hand. My favorite brand is Maldon flaked sea salt.
- white chocolate chips – this is optional, but I highly recommend melting and drizzling some white chocolate on top of these bars. My favorite brand is Lily’s white chocolate chips. Skip this to keep this recipe vegan!
How to Make
In a large bowl, combine the crumbled rice cakes and mix-ins (nuts, white chocolate chips, etc.). Next, in a small bowl that’s microwave-safe, combine the nut butter, chocolate chips, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Microwave on high in 30-second intervals until it is melted and smooth. Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the rice crisp mixture and stir to combine. Transfer the mixture to an 8×8 freezer-safe dish that’s lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 30 minutes.
In another microwave-safe bowl, melt the white chocolate chips (if using) in 15-second intervals until smooth. Remove the bars from the freezer after 30 minutes and drizzle the melted white chocolate over them. Sprinkle the flaky sea salt on top and return the pan to the freezer for an additional 10 minutes to set. When ready, slice into squares and enjoy!
Best Rice Cakes to Use
The most nutritious rice cakes to purchase will be whole grain brown rice cakes. I like to use the Lundberg Farms Lightly Salted Organic Brown Rice Cakes for this recipe, but they also have a variety of flavors like salted caramel or cinnamon toast that would probably be delicious. Quaker Oats also has a wide variety of rice cake varieties to choose from like butter and chocolate.
Involve Your Kids
This recipe is super simple and doesn’t require any sharp knives or the stovetop; which makes it the perfect recipe to involve your kids in!
Get them in charge of measuring and mixing all the ingredients together. If you have older kids then they could help with melting the chocolate and cutting the bars to serve. Everyone will love these healthy and tasty ingredients, so don’t be surprised when you catch your kiddos portioning some ingredients into their mouth rather than the bowl! 😉
How to Store Leftovers
You can store these crispy chocolate rice cake bars in an airtight container for 3 days at room temperature, 5 days in the fridge or up to one month in the freezer.
More Healthy Treats to Try
- Vegan Rice Krispie Treats
- Easy Healthier Butterfingers
- Almond Joy Bars
- Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes
- Chocolate-Covered Snickers Stuffed Dates
- Homemade Samoas Cookies
- Frozen Cottage Cheese Bark
- Chocolate Almond Crispy Bites
- Healthy Lemon Bars
Be sure to check out the full collection of dessert recipes on EBF!
Crispy Chocolate Rice Cake Bars
Ingredients
- 8 rice cakes, crumbled
- ½ cup nut butter of choice
- 1 cup chocolate chips, dairy-free if vegan
- ½ cup mix-ins, see below for options
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, or coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Flaky sea salt, for topping
- ¼ cup white chocolate chips, melted (optional, for drizzling)
- Mix-in options: goji berries, chopped nuts, seeds, white chocolate chips, marshmallows
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the crumbled rice cakes and mix-ins.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the nut butter, chocolate chips, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Microwave on high in 30-second intervals until melted and smooth.
- Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the rice cake mixture and mix well to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to an 8×8 freezer-safe dish that’s lined with parchment. Freeze for 30 minutes.
- In another small microwave-safe bowl, melt the white chocolate chips (if using) in 15-second intervals until melted and smooth.
- Remove the bars from the freezer and drizzle with the melted white chocolate and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Transfer back to the freezer for 10 minutes to set. Cut into squares and store at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for up to 7 days, or in the freezer for up to one month.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These look so yummy! If I wanted to use puffed rice cereal instead of rice cakes, how many cups do you think I’d need?
Hi Lori – Puffed rice cereal should work, but I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure how much cereal should be used. I’d start with 3 cups and see if you need to add more. Let me know how these bars turn out for you if you make them!
These look so yummy! If I were to make these with puffed rice cereal, about how many cups do you think I’d need?
If you have a good scale, weigh 8 rice cakes and use the same amount of puffed rice?
This is a great idea as well!
Delicious! I used what I had in the cupboard and added some chopped pecans but did not add the white chocolate drizzle. Sprinkling with sea salt made these squares terrific!
What a great idea to sprinkle with some sea salt, I love the sweet and salty mix! I am happy you enjoyed this recipe, Joanna. Thank you so much for sharing your review + star rating, I really appreciate it!
Is it good if the chocolate rice cake is mixed with vanilla?
I’m sure that would be delicious!
I made this is and it is delicious! Did you do anything to the chocolate to help it smooth out? Mine never thinned out. It just got firmer and firmer as I microwaved it.
Hi Kelly – It is really important that you microwave it in short increments or else it will burn (which if it stayed think and clumpy that is most likely what happened). Your microwave could be a bit more high powered so I would start with 30 seconds and then maybe do 15-20 second increments to see if that helps. Hope this helps!
I made this today. However, I believe something went wrong. I used 1 cup of dark chocolate, almond butter, brown sugar & vanilla. Microwaved it in 30 second intervals until melted but it wasn’t like liquid that could be poured out. Please tell me, what did I do wrong.
I would recommend microwaving your chocolate in lower intervals, 10-15 seconds and stirring well in-between. Hope this helps!