Almond Butter Rice Crispy Bars with Smoked Sea Salt

almond butter rice crispy bars

If we’re anything alike, you see the words “rice crisps” and “almond butter” and you automatically think BREAKFAST. Then you try to reason that maybe these bars are actually pretty healthy, since it uses brown rice crisps and even it has chocolate, it’s dark chocolate, so you know, anti-oxidants and stuff.

This is the same kind of logic that has me saying,  “hey it has zucchini and carrots? it’s a salad” or “it has oatmeal and almond butter? let’s eat it for breakfast” or “it’s mini? let’s roll the sides in bacon.”

This means it’s time for another round of dessert for breakfast with these Almond Butter Rice Crispy Bars with Smoked Sea Salt.

In real adult non-silly life, these bars are definitely dessert bars. There’s a hidden ingredient that lends a sweet creaminess to it (white chocolate) and the smoked sea salt on top lends a sophisticated and savory note that cuts through all the richness.

But what kind of life would it be if we can’t be silly every now and then and eat cake and other sweet treats for breakfast?

salted almond butter rice crispy bars

Life is short so I say let’s just go for it and not worry about cutting bars into perfect squares.

Let’s not worry about mistakenly popping the baking pan into the freezer instead of the fridge, resulting in a rock-hard chocolate top. Let’s not worry about compulsively shaving the sides of each bar so that it’s even and then scraping up those bits of shaved almond butter rice crispy crumbles to be furtively eaten. Let’s not worry about using too much smoked sea salt, because between the vanilla almond butter, honey, white chocolate, and dark chocolate, there’s plenty of sweetness that needs offsetting.

The rice crispy base and chocolate will eventually soften in room temperature, making it easier to cut and bite into them. Bars don’t need to be perfect square or rectangles. And people really like salty and sweet together.

almond butter rice crispy bars with smoked sea salt

Even though these bars are not exactly high on the healthy foods list (they are gluten-free though, for those with special diets), I think they still make for fantastic post-workout fuel. A mid-day snack. An after-dinner treat. They’re dessert bars and it’s easy to customize: use peanut butter or any other favorite nut butter. Use regular rice crisps, or even cornflakes. Omit the chocolate if you must. You can disregard the smoked sea salt, too, but I urge you not to (you can swing regular sea salt instead). It’s no-bake recipe, only one bowl needed, and only takes minutes to make. For breakfast or not.

Yield: 16 squares

Almond Butter Rice Crispy Bars with Smoked Sea Salt

Ingredients

1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cup almond butter (I used Justin's Vanilla Almond Butter)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
4 cups brown rice crisps
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 teaspoon smoked sea salt (or any other flaky salt)

Directions

  1. Line an 8x8 inch baking pan with foil, parchment paper, or wax paper, and prep with baking spray or melted butter.
  2. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine honey, almond butter, and white chocolate chips. Heat on full power for 1 minute, then remove and stir. Everything would have started to melt but you’ll still have some lumps. Heat again in 30-second intervals and stir until the mixture turns smooth. I heated everything for a total of 2 1/2 minutes.
  3. Place brown rice crisps in a large mixing bowl, and pour almond butter mixture in, tossing and mixing until well combined. Scrape into baking pan and press down with a wooden spoon to compress and even out.
  4. In a microwave-safe bowl, add dark chocolate chips. Heat on full power for 1 minute, then remove and stir. Heat again in 30-second intervals and stir until smooth and glossy.
  5.  Pour dark chocolate on top of rice crispy mixture, using a spatula to smooth out. Sprinkle with smoked sea salt. Chill in the fridge for an hour or so before cutting into squares.

almond butter rice krispy treats with dark chocolate and sea salt

If you’d like actual breakfast recipes, try Zucchini Carrot Banana BreadBaked Eggs with Chorizo, or Overnight Chia Oatmeal.

   

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