Gluten Free Black Sesame Rice Krispie Treats

Rice Krispie treats were one of those glorious childhood treats that always seemed safe – blue metalic wrapper krinkling as you unwrapped the marshmallow and crispy rice rectangle and bit into the impossibly soft, squishy, buttery, crispy mix of all those perfect ingredients. Until you were diagnosed with Celiac and realized that Kellogs, for some BIZARRE reason, just HAS to (still to this day) include malt flavor. Which happens to be made from barley, which happens to be one of the THREE grains you absolutely must avoid if you have Celiac. Now, apparently Kellogs released a gluten free version of their classic crispy rice cereal at some point in the last 17 years and I failed to hear about – possibly because they US release was limited (discontinued?) which is just another strike on Kellogs. OH WELL – we can make just-as-glorious “rice krispie’ treats without those signature rice crispies because honeslty it’s one of the easier breakfast cereals to make and find out there, so whatever generic/off-brand crispy rice (not puffed rice, that’s an entirely different thing and isn’t, as the name suggests, crispy – it’s puffy) you can find, use it.

These gluten free “rice krispie” treats are the grown up version of that childhood obsession: packed not only with browned butter, but black sesame powder and paste for a sophisticated, smooth, toasty, not-too-sweet, melt-in-your-mouth marshmallow crispy rice treat. These are the gluten free rice krispie treats you make for drinks with the girls or that dinner party/potluck you’ve been waiting to have (get your shots!), or for a casual but definitely-elevated lunch or birthday. They even LOOK great – that inky black glaze dotted with roasted black sesame seeds and a hint of salt to round of the nutty notes of the black sesame. And if you haven’t tried black sesame in baked goods before, now is the time – this is the easiest recipe you could ask for to give it a go. Black sesame is like the has-its-life-together, posh, wears-stilettos-and-dominates-board-rooms-like-it-was-born-to, older cousin to peanut butter, and if that doesn’t convince you I don’t know what will. This recipe has a couple of ingredients that may be tricky to find depending on where you live and what grocery stores are nearby, so here are links to the black sesame paste and the black sesame powder and just the roasted black sesame seeds that we love to use.

If this gets you hooked, try our black sesame and white chocolate layer cake, or look up the thousands of other black sesame baked goods/treats recipes out there – there’s a boatload waiting for you to try them! Once you’ve made this and that cake, we’re out of black sesame recipes but promise we’ll be working on a couple more this year at least. And then give these tahini chocolate chunk cookies a try (tahini being the carefree, wears-casual-sandals-and-goes-backpacking-every-summer cousin to black sesame paste – also made from sesame seeds but the white ones, hence the pale color), or just go full circle back to the baseball-playing, all-American, smiles-when-they-see-you peanut butter with these nutter butter lookalikes or these chocolate peanut butter cupcakes!

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5 from 2 votes

Gluten Free Black Sesame Crispy Rice Treats

These classic rice krispie treats (but gluten free!) are mixed with gorgeously-toasty, nutty black sesame!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Cooling time1 hour hr

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: bars, black sesame, browned butter, crispy rice, easy, gluten free, marshmallow, rice krispie treats, simple

Servings: 12 treats

Calories: 500kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• 9×9 inch square cake pan
• Parchment paper
• Large saucepan/pot

Ingredients

For the crispy rice treats:

• 1 1/2 Cups plus 1 Tbsp salted browned butter instructions below
• 20 oz plain mini marshmallows
• 2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 1/2 Cups crispy rice cereal (not puffed rice) about 9.5 oz
• 2 Tbsp black sesame paste
• 1/4 Cup black sesame powder

For the topping:

• 1 Cup sifted powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp black sesame paste
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2-4 Tbsp milk
• 2 Tbsp roasted black sesame seeds

Instructions

• First, lightly spray a 9×9 inch pan with cooking spray, then line with two overlapping pieces of parchment paper (so that the corners are sharp) and spray again with cooking spray, then set aside.
• Then start melting your butter in the large saucepan/pot over medium heat. Let butter fully melt, stirring with a spatula or wooden spoon occasionally, then continue to cook as the butter bubbles and starts to hiss. Let the butter cook, continuing to stir, while it hisses and spits (this is the water burning off) until the butter becomes silent (you'll know when you hear it) and starts to foam up. The browned milk solids should foam up in the center of the pan
• Immediately turn off heat and move the pot off the hot burner, then dump in all of the mini marshmallows and start stirring to melt the marshmallows. Once you've coated marshmallows in butter and they've started to melt, put the pot back on the burner and turn it on to low heat, while still stirring. It will take a minute or so of constant stirring for the marshmallows to completely melt and the butter to become incorporated into the marshmallow goop. Keep stirring until there is no visible butter pooling in the pan.
• Then turn off heat and stir in the salt, vanilla, black sesame paste, and black sesame powder (affiliate links to purchase), stirring until completely combined with the marshmallow goop. Finally, dump in the crispy rice cereal and stir (it will get more difficult) until all of the cereal is fully coated in marshmallow stuff. Then scrape the crispy rice treat stuff into your prepare pan and use your spoon or spatula to press the mixture flat and to all of the sides and corners. Then let sit at room temp for at least an hour to fully cool.
• Once treats have cooled, lift out of the pan onto a serving plate or cutting board. Then make your topping. In a small mixing bowl sift your powdered sugar, then add the black sesame paste and salt and 2 Tbsp of the milk, stirring until completely combined but stiff. Add more milk a Tbsp at a time until the glaze is easily pourable, then use a spoon, squeeze bottle, or piping bag to drizzle the glaze over the top of your crispy rice treats – as much as you'd like! Finally, sprinkle the roasted black sesame seeds (affiliate link to purchase) over the treats – they should stick to the glaze. Let glaze set for about 10 minutes before slicing the treats into whatever size bars you'd like, then serve! Keep at room temp in an airtight container for up to a week.

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your treats!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber