Rice krispie treats were one of my favorite snacks growing up. I loved that mixture of crispy rice cereal and sticky and sweet marshmallows. Over time, my tastes shifted and I no longer enjoyed eating incredibly sweet snacks. While my nostalgia for rice krispie treats remained, I don’t particularly like store-bought ones anymore.
Over the years, I started developing rice krispie treats recipes that are less sweet and play with interesting flavors, like these pumpkin spice rice krispie treats and a version with furikake and rice crackers. These black sesame rice krispie treats is my latest addition to that mini collection of recipes. To make this black sesame version, I combined melted marshmallows with black sesame paste. The nutty and bitter flavors of the paste balances the intense sweetness of the marshmallows very well.
When testing the recipe, I felt the treats with black sesame paste alone tasted a bit flat, like something was missing. So I crushed freeze-dried raspberries and mixed them in with the cereal. The raspberries made such a big difference! I loved how the tartness of the berries brightened the bitter notes of the black sesame paste. My recipe tasters also agreed that the version with freeze-dried raspberries is the best!
INGREDIENT NOTES FOR BLACK SESAME RICE KRISPIE TREATS
BLACK SESAME PASTE
For this recipe, I used my homemade black sesame paste and mixed it into the melted marshmallows. My recipe yields a pretty large quantity of paste, so you’ll have a lot left over. You can use some of it in my orange & black sesame cookies (a HUGE favorite among my friends) or orange & black sesame granola! You can also freeze the paste if you can’t finish it in a few weeks. If you don’t want to make your own, you can buy black sesame pastes, like the one produced by Rooted Fare.
FREEZE-DRIED RASPBERRIES
Freeze-dried raspberries can be a bit tricky to find, though I can usually find them at Trader Joe’s or Target. They are worth seeking out because the intense tart flavor of the raspberries is fantastic in desserts. Besides these black sesame rice krispie treats, you can use freeze-dried raspberries to make these raspberry chocolate oatmeal cookies.
When you buy a bag of freeze-dried raspberries, you’ll likely get a mix of raspberry powder and broken raspberries (see photo above, left). Under most circumstances, it’s probably annoying to get so many broken pieces in a bag. However, that’s exactly what we want for this recipe. Sort out the whole berries and lightly break them up with your fingers, until they are about the same size as the cereal (see photo above, right).
If you have a hard time sourcing freeze-dried raspberries, feel free to substitute them with freeze-dried strawberries instead. Crush the strawberries until they’re about the size of the cereal. I generally like using a mortar and pestle for this. You can also place the berries in the bag, seal and lay the bag flat, and use a rolling pin or kitchen mallet to crush the strawberries.
HOW LONG DO THE RICE KRISPIE TREATS LAST?
The texture of the treats are the best the day they are made. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Black Sesame Rice Krispie Treats
Ingredients
- oil for greasing pan
- 1 (35g) package of freeze dried raspberries, can sub with freeze dried strawberries
- 6 cups (170g) rice krispie cereal , or any crispy rice cereal
- 1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter
- 4 1/3 cups (200g) mini marshmallows, (see note)
- 3 tablespoons (55g) black sesame paste
Equipment
- 8×8-inch baking pan
- parchment paper
Instructions
- Grease an 8×8-inch baking pan with oil and line it with parchment paper. Cut another small piece of parchment paper. You’ll be using this to pack down the cereal and marshmallow mixture into the pan later.
- Pour the cereal into a large mixing bowl.
- Empty the bag of freeze-dried raspberries onto a plate. You’ll likely have a mixture of whole raspberries, crushed raspberries, and powder. Sort out the whole raspberries. Use your fingers (or pestle and mortar) to gently break up the raspberries into tiny pieces, about the same size as the cereal.
- Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of the freeze-dried raspberries and set it aside. Pour the remaining crushed raspberries into the bowl with the cereal and toss together.
- Grab a large pot. You’ll be mixing the melted marshmallows and cereal together in this pot, so make sure your pot is large enough to do that. I used a large Dutch oven.
- Melt the butter in the pot over medium heat. Once melted, reduce the heat to low (as low as possible) and add the marshmallows. Use a silicone spatula to stir the marshmallows until they’ve melted completely and you have a silky smooth mixture. Add the black sesame paste to the pot and stir until incorporated.
- Turn off the heat. Pour the cereal and raspberries into the pot. Use the silicone spatula to fold the melted marshmallows into the cereal mixture. I like using a silicone spatula because the cereal won’t stick to it. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot frequently, as the black sesame and marshmallow mixture tends to get stuck there.
- Immediately transfer the cereal and marshmallows to the lined baking pan. I like using 2 large flipping spatulas to grab the cereal mixture and transfer it to the pan in batches.
- Lay the small piece of parchment paper over the rice krispie treats and press down to pack down the treats into the baking pan. Try spreading the mixture evenly throughout the pan. Scatter the reserved tablespoon of freeze-dried raspberries over the top to give the treats a pop of red color. Place the parchment paper square over the treats again and gently pack the raspberries into the treats.
- Let the rice krispie treats cool in the pan for 20 to 30 minutes. You’ll be able to cut the treats more cleanly if you let the marshmallow mixture cool.
- Hold onto the parchment paper and remove the entire block of rice krispie treats. Cut into 16 squares. The texture of the treats are the best the day they are made. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
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