Do you eat when you’re tired? Sometimes the body says, “give me energy” and instead of resting, we stuff calories into our mouths. Make sense, but only if you’re not listening. My calorific snack of choice is peanut butter, straight from the jar. Four years ago, when I was in the first trimester of pregnancy, a highly intuitive friend guessed that I was pregnant, purely from how much peanut butter I was consuming at the time! Nowadays, I’m constantly exhausted. I’m told it’s the normal state of affairs for the parents of young children.
It makes sense, then that I was dreaming up all manner of peanut butter flavoured snacks the other day. I wanted to make something like buck-eyes, but healthy. And then realised that school was going back soon and it would need to be nut-free if it was going to go into my son’s lunch box the following week. So peanut butter became tahini, mixed with oats and rice bubbles (sound familiar?), and soon we had some crunchy tahini oat bites on the table. You know if your son names them “crumbly balls” that you’ve still got some work to do!
With some further tweaking those oat bites became Rice Krispie Treats, because as much as I love my Chocolate & Tahini No-Bake Muesli Bars, I am aware that the ingredient list is rather long. I was aiming for something simpler that a tired and busy mum would have the time and energy to make. Here we have it, then: An easy, no-bake, nut-free snack that is short on ingredients and long on flavours. Make them now, so that when you are in dire need of an emergency snack, you can reach for these instead of the peanut butter jar.
Salted Tahini Caramel Rice Krispie Treats {vegan, gf}
A simple, healthy, nut-free snack to help hit those emergency cravings on the head!
Makes 16
Ingredients
4 cups puffed rice cereal
¼ cup hulled tahini (sesame seed paste)*
½ cup rice malt syrup**
50g (¼ cup) finely chopped dried dates (optional)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon sea salt (more to taste)
100g dairy-free chocolate, for drizzle
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
Method
Grease and line a 20cm (8-inch) square baking tray with baking paper, allowing a 3cm overhang on two opposite sides.
Add sesame seeds to a small, dry pan and heat slowly, stirring, until golden brown and toasted. This can happen quite suddenly, so do not turn away! Once toasted, remove from heat and set aside. Measure rice puffs into a large mixing bowl.
Meanwhile, measure rice malt syrup, tahini and oil into a small, heavy-based saucepan. Add dates and simmer over low heat, stirring constantly until the dates start to break down and the caramel becomes darker and slightly thickened (about 5 mins). Remove from heat and stir through the vanilla extract and salt, to taste.
Add syrup mixture to rice cereal and work quickly to mix until all ingredients are well coated. Tip into prepared baking tray and press down with a spatula (or your hands) until it is tightly packed.
Refrigerate until firm and then remove from tin using baking paper handles. Cut into squares with a sharp knife. Melt chocolate with oil in a double boiler or in short bursts in the microwave, and spoon into a small, snack-sized zip-lock bag. Snip off a tiny bit of one corner, and use this to drizzle the rice krispie treats with melted chocolate. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and store in refrigerator until ready to eat.
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #sweettucker.
Notes
Adapted from my Chocolate & Tahini No-Bake Muesli Bars
*Peanut butter is an excellent substitute, if nuts are not an issue
**You can use honey instead, if preferred.