Oh, and what a treat they are! I first tried these at a class at the Natural Gourmet in New York City and thought they were wonderful. The beauty of this recipe is how flexible it is. You can make the crispy treats more chocolaty or if you really love peanut butter, just add more of that and less chocolate. The class instructor added as a side note that she sometimes adds coconut flakes. I thought that sounded like a great idea and I plan to try that next time. I’ve outlined the way I made these step by step below, but if you want to print the recipe, I’ve also included a one-page version at the bottom of the page.

Ingredients

The original recipe calls for:

creamy, salted peanut butter

unsweetened chocolate

agave syrup

crispy brown rice cereal

I ended up using:

1/2 cup unsweetened, salted peanut butter (whole foods brand)

1 cup dark chocolate, unsweetened chocolate chips (around 55% cocoa)

1-2 Tbsp light agave syrup (optional)

2 cups crispy brown rice cereal (Erewhon)

Procedure

First, place the peanut butter in a pot over medium heat. Stir as it melts. Add the chocolate and continue stirring until the chocolate is completely melted and incorporated into the peanut butter (see picture above). You can take the pot off the heat and continue stirring as the heat from the contents of the pot will melt the newly added chocolate. Do not let your peanut butter mixture burn.Now, this is where I started tasting to see if I liked the balance of flavors. I added about triple the amount of chocolate from what the original recipe had.Add the agave if you like it a little sweeter.Take the pot off the heat and add the rice crispy cereal. Stir to coat.

Using a clean spoon, drop the cereal into small piles or balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. I used a rectangular cake pan. Place the pan in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Once they have set in the freezer you can pull them off the parchment paper and place them in whatever container you like. Store them in the freezer or refrigerator.

When serving, they are best eaten as soon as you take them out of the refrigerator as they do get a little messy on your fingers. I do not remember the ones I tried in class melting so quickly in my hands, so it is possible the instructor did something a little different than what is written in her recipe.

This recipe is gluten, corn, and dairy-free and not lacking in any richness or flavor. If you want to make this for a gluten-sensitive person, make sure to read the ingredients on the rice cereal box. Some of them may say “wheat-free” but contain barley malt which does contain a small amount of gluten.