Don’t be fooled by the title, these rice crispy treats are the real deal. After one bite, these ooey gooey, dried cherry and chocolate-infused squares will not only fulfill your childhood dreams of the ultimate rice crispy, but it will also send you into dessert heaven.
While I’ll admit, these aren’t the healthiest of vegan desserts, they are not what you might think when you envision vegan food. In fact, they taste just as good, if not better, than some of it’s non-vegan rice crispy treat counterparts. I even omitted the vegan butter and replaced it by only using coconut oil as the oil in the recipe to make it a slightly better for you treat!
There is something special about the rice crispy treat that has made it endure as the easy dessert of choice for decades. However, I didn’t just want to settle on a plain version when I could spice it up and make my own spin on the classic. And how can you go wrong with adding cherries, pumpkin seeds and chocolate to sticky-sweet marshmallow filling? I made these in no time — just grab some coconut oil, vegan marshmallows and trail mix ingredients and you are set!
Even my mom, who is not vegan, tasted these and exclaimed, “These are so good! They taste just as good as regular ones!” That almost burnt campfire marshmallow flavor is really subtle from the marshmallows and the puffed rice I used. Along with the trail mix ingredients I added in, these treats bring some serious camping vibes that are perfect on these nice spring days.
Granola Rice Crispy Treats
1 10 ounce bag of vegan marshmallows (I used Dandies brand)
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1-2 cups puffed rice
⅓ cup dried cherries
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp vegan chocolate chips
¼ tsp cinnamon
Directions:

1. On low heat, stir the marshmallows and coconut oil until fluffy and smooth.
2. Turn off the heat and add one cup of the rice cereal, the cherries, pumpkin seeds and cinnamon to the marshmallow mixture and stir. Be sure not to add too much of the ingredients to the marshmallow because that will make it dry. Add the remainder of the puffed rice in small increments as well as the chocolate chips until you get your desired consistency.
3. Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper and spoon the mixture into the pan. Flatten out and cut into squares. Store it covered at room temperature. Enjoy!