Chocolate peanut butter crispy rice treats

I meant to take a picture of these and post about them right after I made them but as you can see, they were devoured pretty quickly. I couldn't come up with a  better picture than this- sorry! These tasty treats are super easy to make and a real crowd pleaser. The recipe comes from Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet. She recommends taking them on trips with you (they're really filling and are a much better alternative to processed desserts and snacks) and we took some on our really long hike last weekend- a very nice hiking fuel as well! They taste like chocolate peanut butter rice crispy treats- the ones you had as a kid. They're ooey and gooey and taste marshmallowy without any marshmallows. 

I tweaked the original recipe a bit, just to satisfy my own tastes but go buy the book and get the original recipe and its modifications.

Ingredients:

1 box brown rice crisps cereal (check the gluten free section of your grocery store if you can't find them in the regular cereal aisle
1 3/4 cup brown rice syrup
3/4 cup peanut butter (I use Justin's - a local for us and a great product!)
1/4 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened

1. Pour the cereal out into a large bowl and set aside.

2. In a small to medium sized saucepan, heat rice syrup over low heat until it gets melty. Stir in the peanut butter and mix with a spoon over the heat until it melts together. Add the cocoa powder and stir until this is incorporated.

3. Remove from heat and pour over the cereal. Mix together until evenly coated. Press mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish, wetting your hands or the spoon to help press it down and flatten it out so it doesn't stick to your hands or the spoon.

4. Chill in the fridge for an hour before cutting and serving.