Wholesome Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Imagine taking a wholesome version of a Rice Krispies marshmallow treat and doing a mash-up with a healthy Reeses Peanut Butter Cup–and you get these peanut butter chocolate bars. The original recipe comes from the cookbook Levana Cooks Dairy-Free! (Skyhorse Publishing, 2007) by Levana Kirschenbaum.

I have made a few suggestions to replace some of the more refined sweeteners with their more wholesome sisters–I substitute agave syrup for corn syrup and Sucanat for white sugar. If you don’t have agave or Sucanat, you can play around with other liquid sweeteners and dry sweeteners–the recipe is pretty flexible.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup agave syrup
2 cups smooth peanut butter
1 cup Sucanat
1 cup pure cocoa powder
1/4 cup espresso, or very strong coffee
1/2 cup rum
10 cups organic crisped rice cereal
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (see note)
2 tablespoons oil

1. Place the agave syrup, peanut butter, Sucanat, cocoa, coffee, and rum in a large pot, and heat on a low flame until the mixture is smooth (this will take about five minutes).

2. Add the crisped rice and combine thoroughly, still on the flame, with a wooden spoon. Pour the mixture while still warm onto a large, well-greased 1-inch deep cookie sheet. Pat the mixture very firmly and uniformly. Refrigerate for one hour.

3. Melt the chocolate chips with the oil mixture in a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Spread evenly over the cooled mixture. Cool again about 1 hour.

4. Using a sharp knife, cut into 1 inch wide by 2-inch wide bars. Store refrigerated in an airtight tin.

NOTE: I like to use SunSpire chocolate chips–they are organic, vegan, and Fair Trade Certified.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Linda J.

12:10PM PDT on Oct 28, 2011

Sounds good!

send a green star

Stephanie C.

11:55PM PDT on Sep 10, 2010

Thanks again for another delicious recipe

Louis O.

1:03PM PDT on Jun 19, 2010

Darn this made me run to the kitchen!

Megan S.

3:00PM PDT on Jun 18, 2010

Thanks, I love peanut butter :)
Im too young for rum, and dont like expresso, and lack the right kind of cereal, but I'm sure I can figure something out :P

Cheryl D.

8:07AM PDT on Jun 3, 2010

Ann P: Can you go to a conversion chart on your computer? I tried litres to cups and it said 1 cup = .236588 litre. I also tried litres to ounces; there are 33.8140 ounces in 1 litre. I finally found that there is a conversion for US to UK Fluid Ounces. 1 US fluid ounce = 1.0408427 imperial fluid ounces. Yours are just a hair larger than ours. Now, here, dry measure 1 oz is the same as liquid measure 1 ounce when you are baking. Oz is the shortened form for ounce; ozs = ounces.
In US terminology, 1 cup can be expressed as 1 C.
1 cup = 8 ozs; 1/2 cup = 4 ozs; 1/4 cup = 2 ozs.
Then there are teaspoons (t) and Tablespoons (T). EACH oz = 2 tablespoons (2 T). Therefore, 1 cup = 16 T.
Oh, and 4 cups = 1 US quart.
If you want to cook US recipes, perhaps you could buy a US measuring set of cups and spoons? I'm sure Ebay would have them; but don't buy cheap. Sometimes, cheap ones do not have the correct measurement sizes. Tupperware can be trusted, tho. I hope this helps. :)

Michelle R.

9:51AM PDT on Mar 15, 2010

I'm hungry now.

Donna B.

5:57PM PST on Feb 13, 2010

Thanks, look delicious.

Charley H.

5:07PM PST on Feb 7, 2010

yum

Past Member .

8:57AM PST on Jan 30, 2010

Thanx for the post!!! Miss yummi bars since I went vegan, that one sounds extremely delicious. What is SUCANAT? (Never heard about it in South Africa). I would recommend apple juice as a rum substitute as well! More and more people live a non-alcohol life, which is great :)

Sylvia W.

8:09AM PST on Dec 19, 2009

Oh my, these sound scrumptious! Reeses are my downfall, so I have got to try these, though I'll have to substitute something for the rum - non-drinking household.