Tahini rose rice crispy treats

(gf, vegan)

If you search for a quick no-bake snack, you may stop searching because I HIGHLY recommend you give these a try ASAP! These Tahini rose rice crispy treats are gluten free, vegan, nut free and higher in protein as well!

Ok. So, for a while now these recipes for crispy rice treats kept popping up on my Pinterest feed. I have to admit, I there has never been a strong connection between rice crispy treats and childhood for me. Because I have actually never really tried them before! I am sure I had a taste of them at any point in my life. Otherwise I couldn’t explain for which reason I can recall how they would taste…

ANYWAYS. Ever since these recipes kept showing up, I was so keen to try making rice crispy treats at home. But if you know me, you know that I like to experiment with things and give recipes my own touch. AND you should know that I LOVE Tahini. I know, I know, some people genuinely dislike it for its slightly bitter taste. I used to be one of these people. But over the years I have found a brand I really enjoy (which I would recommend to anyone who has not made friends with tahini yet- try all the different brands you can find!). Once you have figured out a good Tahini, play a little around with it, I can confess it *might* turn into a love story. Or at least a friendship.

Jump to:

• (gf, vegan)
• Ingredients
• Substitutions
• Storage
• Tips
• If you like this recipe…
• Let’s get started!
• Tahini rose rice crispy treats (gluten free, vegan)
• Comments

Ingredients

Here is a list of everything you need to make the Tahini rose rice crispy treats. You don’t need any special extra equipment, the trickiest part might be getting your hands on some rose water, but for that matter see “Tips”!

• PUFFED RICE/ CRISPY BROWN RICE CEREAL: I would reccomend you to use  crispy rice cereal or any other “crispy” grain over puffed grains, as the puffed grain version will get a bit more soggy than crispy. There are some good options out there, I even saw soya crispies which would be great if you want them to be extra high in protein. Otherwise, puffed grains will do fine, so you can still make these if they are the only alternative available for you.
• VANILLA PLANT PROTEIN POWDER: is a great way to add some extra protein and a little more sweetness. However, I know that not everyone might use protein powder on a regular basis which is why I included an option without the protein powder. Just see “substitutions” to find out what you can replace it with.
• TAHINI: is pretty much the base for our crispy rice bars. Use a light variety to avoid any unpleasant bitter flavor. Also, you we want to get the smoothest possible version as we need a bit of Tahini for our chocolate topping (to keep it a little softer).
• MAPLE SYRUP: for sweetness. You can also use another liquid sweetener of choice, just have a look at the “substitutions” section.
• ROSE WATER: adds a subtle but lovely “rose” note to the bars.
• PLANT MILK: You can use any plant milk you like! I used soy, but oat, almond, cashew…all are fine.
• DARK CHOCOLATE: to add a delicious finish to the bars. I love sprinkling some extra salt flakes and rose petals as decoration on top, however that is totally optional (but I highly recommend it!)
• SALT FLAKES: optional, for sprinkling on top.
• ROSE PETALS: optional, for decoration.

See recipe card for quantities.

Substitutions

You can make the following swaps to make the Tahini rice crispy treats work:

• Vanilla Plant Protein powder – instead of the protein powder you can use a mix of vanilla pudding powder (or the same amount of cornstarch mixed with tiny bit of vanilla) combined with any granulated sweetener of choice, like coconut sugar, brown sugar, etc.
• Maple syrup – you can go for any other liquid sweetener of choice, but I would recommend (vegan) honey or rice syrup.
• Puffed rice/ crispy rice cereal – Ok, so in case there is no way you can find any puffed rice, try to use another puffed grain like spelt (if you can eat gluten), quinoa or millet.

Storage

Once your bars are cut and ready to eat, you can store them in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. To keep them for longer, you can also freeze them for about a month. I prefer keeping my snacks in the freezer, because I love frozen things :)))

1. A question you may ask yourself is: Sounds great, but where can I get ROSE WATER? I know that this is an ingredient not every conventional supermarket chain might carry, depending on where you live. At best, you have access to a market that sells middle eastern specialities.
2. Try to find CRISPY RICE CEREALS. I made the bars you see on this page with puffed rice and while they still taste absolutely delicious, the consistency is a bit more on the “soggy” than super crispy side. There are also soya crispies available in some countries, which would be a great option if you want to make the Tahini rose rice crispy treats even higher in protein.
3. Once the base for the bars is ready, press it AS FIRMLY AS YOU CAN into the tin. This is really important to make sure they stick together and don’t fall apart. It may help if you use a smaller form that fits into your tin and covers the base, then press down as good as thoroughly as you can!

If you like this recipe…

If you are already excited to try these, here are a few more recipes you may like to try the following ones as well:

• strawberry and rhubarb cheesecake crumble bars
• fudgy mint chocolate and cheesecake swirl brownies (with a secret ingredient!)
• peanut butter cookie dough cups
• Apple crumble protein popsicles

Let’s get started!

All right, then lets get started, shall we?

ALL THE BEST