When it comes to lunchbox treats, party platters, bake sales, or just a quick weeknight dessert, nothing compares to rice krispie treats. These bars are dependable for ease and versatility as well as their ability to be allergy friendly too. This recipe includes our favorite tips for making the treats extra delicious, plus come tips to modify rice krispie treats to suit your family’s tastes.
At their most basic rice krispies are just 3 ingredients – cereal, marshmallows, and butter. Let’s walk through each of these ingredient, how you can modify each.
Cereal: yes, crispy rice cereal is the most ubiquitous, but you can use lots of other cereals to make a version of these treats. Stacie swears by cocoa crisp style cereal. Honey Grahams make a great s’mores-inspired bar (just add chocolate, we will get to that later in the post). You’ll need 9 cups, which about one whole 9-ounce box of cereal.
Kellogg’s Krispie rice cereal is not gluten-free (malt is a sweetener) but these are:
- Barbara’s Organic Brown Rice Crisps Cereal
- One Degree Brown Rice Crisps Cereal
- Nature’s Path Crispy Rice Cereal
- Aldi Crispy Rice
Marshmallows: While you can use any marshmallows you like, we really prefer the mini marshmallows! You can reserve a cup of them from melting step for added texture in the finished bars, plus they melt more quickly! We like Dandies brand as a vegan alternative to traditional marshmallows. You’ll need 2 (10-ounce) bags for our recipe
Butter: Beyond flavor, butter brings some much needed fat to break up with sweetness of these bars. We’ve had great success with lots of vegan butters in rice krispie treats, but you can also sub in half the amount of coconut oil, if needed. You’ll need 6 ounces or 3/4 cup or about 1.5 sticks butter.
Vanilla Extract and Salt: Listen, these are not technically required to make rice krispie treats but if you want these to taste like they came from the bakery, then yes, yes they are required. Make sure the vanilla goes in right at the end of mixing for best results.
Upgrades for The Ultimate Rice Krispie Treats
Cereal, marshmallows, and butter will get you basic rice krispie treats which everyone will love, but you know we’ve got a few more tricks up our sleeves too. These upgrades are like the choose your own adventure part of this recipe — pick and chose the ones that work best for you.
Browning the butter: Before you add the marshmallows to the pan, let the butter cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes or until it begins to smell nutty and brown. The resulting treats will have an almost butterscotch like flavor!
Add sweetened condensed milk: Adding just 1/4 cup of sweetened condensed milk to the marshmallow and butter mixture results in a softer rice krispie treat, even days after they are made.
Chocolate topping: Stacie may love cocoa krispie treats, but Meghan’s family loves these bars topped with melted chocolate and a generous handful of sprinkles. The chocolate can be added when the treats are cooling. About 1 cup of melted chocolate chips fits this pan perfect.
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Our Ultimate Rice Krispie Treat Recipe
Ingredients
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter
2 (10-ounce) bags mini marshmallows
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
heavy pinch salt
9 cups crispy rice cereal
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan — we like to use the butter wrapper but non-stick spray works well too. Set aside.
- Reserve 1 cup of marshmallows for adding at the end of cooking.
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a very large pot. You can cook the butter until just melted or cook for 4 to 5 additional minutes to brown the butter.
- Once melted, add the marshmallows. dd the sweetened condensed milk, if using. Stir the mixture until the marshmallows are completely melted.
- Remove from heat, then immediately stir in the vanilla extract and salt. Finally, fold in the cereal. Make sure each piece of cereal is coated with the marshmallow mixture.
- Transfer mixture into the prepared pan. Gently spread mixture to fit the pan.
- Allow treats to set for about 1 hour at room temperature or until cool to the touch.
- Top with melted chocolate and sprinkles, if using.
- Cover tightly if leaving out for more than a few hours.
- Cover and store leftover treats at room temperature for up to 3 days. To store, place in an airtight container, with sheets of parchment or wax paper between layers.