"Nutella" Krispy Treats

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Believe it or not, I was never really a fan of Nutella (I always preferred peanut butter!).  Nutella is too thin and runny, aka, too difficult to eat out of the jar with a spoon.  To me, it doesn't even go well with my two of my favorite foods: bread and jelly... perfect pairings for peanut butter!  But, 99.9% of the people on this earth love Nutella.  Heck, February 5th is even dedicated to it!  So I decided to make a recipe with "Nutella"  (yes, those are quotation marks)...  becauuuse, these krispy treats don't really contain Nutella, just all the ingredients and flavors of Nutella, like chocolate, hazelnut, vanilla, etc.  The only difference?  I tripled the chocolate flavor!

^^See the three layers?

The base, a chocolate hazelnut krispy treat.

The middle layer, a chewy, toffee-like chocolate fudge.

The topping, a thin layer of milk chocolate.

I found hazelnut butter at Whole Foods, it was even raw with no sugar, salt or oil added!  (That's a "win" if you ask me).
The second I got home I stirred it up and gave it a sample.  I never knew hazelnuts had such a strong, potent flavor!  Perfect for these krispy treats  :)

At first sight, all you see is chocolate.  At first taste, you taste both hazelnut and chocolate.

Sticky and sweet, warming and comforting, chocolatey and flavorful.

Soon, you are in "Nutella" bliss--bliss that doesn't involve breaking out the stretchy pants...

"Nutella" Krispy Treats:  [no bake, high protein, GF, vegan]
(makes 9 large treats)

   Krispy Treats:
       120g (4 cups) Crispy Brown Rice Cereal
       48g (1/2 cup) Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (GF if you like)
       13g (2 tbs) Ground Flaxseed
       1/4 tsp Salt

       210g (1/2 cup + 2 tbs) Brown Rice Syrup
       112g (1/2 cup) Natural Hazelnut Butter (no oil/sugar/salt added)
       1 tsp Vanilla Paste
       1 tsp Hazelnut Extract
       3/4 tsp Stevia Extract
       1/2 tsp Chocolate Extract (optional)
       1/2 tsp Butter Extract (optional)
       64g (2 scoops) Chocolate Protein Powder

   Toffee-Fudge Layer:
       28g (2 tbs) Coconut Oil
       4 tbs Unsweetened Soymilk
       80g (2+1/2 scoops) Chocolate Protein Powder

   Chocolate Layer:
       2oz Sugar Free Milk Chocolate (or chocolate of choice)

Directions:
1.  Line a brownie pan with parchment paper both ways.
2.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cereal, oats, flax and salt.
3.  In a large, microwave-safe bowl, stir together the rice syrup, nut butter, vanilla paste and extracts (not the protein powder yet!).  Microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring between each one, until mixture is runny.
4.  Slowly stir in the protein powder, spoonful by spoonful, until mixture is even.  Scoop this over the dry ingredients and fold together.  Scoop into the prepared pan and flatten.  Refrigerate while you complete the toffee fudge layer.
5.  In a medium bowl, stir together the coconut oil, soymilk and protein powder (it should be thick).  Spread this over the krispy treat base (you can spread this mixture initially by wrapping your fingers with plastic wrap and pressing the mixture to the edges of the pan, then flatten it with a rubber spatula).
6.  In a small, microwave-safe bowl, microwave the chocolate at 30-second intervals, stirring between each one, until melted.  Pour the chocolate over toffee-fudge layer.  Spread by gently jiggling the pan from left to right and front to back until it reaches the edges.  Refrigerate to firm then slice and serve!

Enjoy the intense chocolate flavor x 3... it is pure insanity decadence!