Get the secret tips and tricks to making the most PERFECT Rice Krispies Treats recipe. From using fresh butter and marshmallows to adding vanilla extract, this is my favorite dessert.
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The BEST Rice Krispies Treat Recipe
There are thousands of recipes for making homemade krispie treats, and I’m putting it out there that my recipe is BEST. You may see some similar nowadays, but they all stem from my original add-ins.
- Only 4 ingredients
- Thick and chewy
- Vanilla flavor
- Perfect ratio of cereal to marshmallows
We love that this classic treat can be changed up using different cereals too!
- Chocolate– Cocoa Krispie Treats
- Fruity– Fruity Pebbles Treats
- S’mores– Golden Grahams Treats
- Cheerios– Cheerio Treats
The Original Rice Krispie Treats
Rice Krispie Treats have always been the key to my heart. Knowing how to make rice krispie treats has gotten me far in life.
- I love crispy treats so much that I’ve created over a dozen flavors….from Fluffernutter Krispie Treats to Cinnamon Roll Krispie Treats.
- I’ve even got these adorable TURKEY Krispie Treats and this Pumpkin Pie Rice Krispie Treat for Thanksgiving!
But, in the end, it’s the classic, original, homemade rice krispie treat that captures my taste buds.
The biggest question is how to spell it. Some people say Rice Crispy treat, Some say Crispy Rice, some say Rice Crispies. Either way, you get the point! This rice crispy treats recipe is the best!
Ingredients You Need
- Butter- use salted butter for this recipe. Just trust me! Don’t have any on hand? Use unsalted butter and a pinch of salt while melting. DO NOT use margarine.
- Marshmallows- you’ll need 9 cups of mini marshmallows, keeping about 1 cup aside to add in at the end!
- Rice Krispies Cereal- any brand of crispy rice cereal will work, just make sure it’s FRESH.
Aimee’s Secret Ingredient
Adding my homemade vanilla extract or any pure vanilla extract takes this recipe over the top. Or make it lemon flavored using our easy lemon rice krispie treat recipe.
How to Make Rice Krispie Treats
Making rice krispie treats is super easy. You’ll only need one pot and a spatula for stirring! Oh, and I love making mine in a 9-inch square pan, for thicker bars, but you can use a 13×9 if you prefer.
- Melt butter & marshmallows.
- Add vanilla, cereal, and remaining marshmallows to the mixture.
- Pour into dish to set! No need to use nonstick spray…but I do love a piece of parchment paper for easy cleanup and removal.
Quick Tips
- Use fresh marshmallows. Using stale marshmallows will result in stale treats. Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way.
- Brown the butter. Learn how to brown butter and make a batch of my flavorful brown butter rice krispie treats next!
- Add my secret ingredient. VANILLA EXTRACT. Not imitation vanilla, but PURE VANILLA extract. It makes a difference in creating the illusion that you’re using homemade marshmallows.
- Kelloggs is wrong. DO NOT press these bars into your pan firmly. Using your fingertips and gentlypress them in just until they are spread out. The harder you pack them in, the harder they are when it’s time to eat them!
- The trick to pressing them in your pan without sticking to your hands is to run your fingers in water. Dip in water, shake off the excess, and press. Voila. No sticking!
- Store in an airtight container for two days. If they last that long, I’d be shocked!
- Make these gluten free by choosing a crispy rice cereal labeled Gluten Free (and check your marshmallow labels too just in case).
Why are my rice krispie treats hard?
As mentioned above, you’ll get hard rice krispie treats a number of ways.
Using stale ingredients will results in stale, hard treats. So always use fresh marshmallows and fresh cereal too.
Avoid pressing your bars too firmly into the pan. The harder you press, the more firm the rice krispies treats will be.
Storing Leftovers
Rarely is this the case in my house, as we all know I can eat an entire pan of homemade rice krispie treats. But, should you find yourself with leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature. I usually just slide them into a ziploc bag.
Or you can freeze rice krispie treats. I was skeptical for a long time, and finally tried it out. I slide my leftovers into a ziploc freezer bag and placed them in the freezer.
Surprisingly, they thaw pretty quickly on the counter and they taste super fresh too!
More Rice Krispie Treat Flavors
Add in some flavored gelatin (or pudding mix) to the melted marshmallow for a unique twist! Cherry Krispie Treats!
Make Lucky Charms Treats for a St.Paddy’s Day dessert idea.
- For best results, name brand cereal stays fresher longer and can hold up to the melted butter and marshmallows better
- Always start with fresh marshmallows. If you use stale marshmallows in hopes that melting them will give you good results, you’ll be disappointed!
- More mix-ins: fold in some m&m’s or Reese’s peanut butter cups for a delicious dessert idea.
Best Rice Krispie Treats
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Rice Krispie Treats Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoons salted butter
- 16 ounce bag mini marshmallows divided
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 cups rice krispies cereal
Instructions
- Line a 9-inch square baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add in all but 1 cup of the marshmallows. Reduce heat to low and continue stirring until completely melted.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Add the cereal and the remaining 1 cup of marshmallows and gently stir until combined.
- Pour into the prepared baking dish. Press GENTLY with your fingertips just until completely spread out (the harder you pack them in, the harder they are to eat).
- Allow to set, about 1 hour. Cut and enjoy!
Notes
- How many marshmallows do I need? One 16 ounce bag of marshmallows is about 8-9 cups. You’ll melt all but one cup of the marshmallows in the butter, reserving the last cup for adding with the cereal.
- Line a 9-inch square baking dish with parchment paper. This way you don’t have to worry about extra butter on your fingertips, or the other extreme of your bars sticking to the pan! Use binder clips to help the parchment paper stay in place.
- Use fresh marshmallows. Seriously, they make a difference. Don’t grab that bag that’s been in your pantry for months and months thinking it will be okay since you are melting them. It won’t be okay.
- Add my secret ingredient. VANILLA EXTRACT. Not imitation vanilla, but PURE VANILLA extract. It makes a difference in creating the illusion that you’re using homemade marshmallows.
- DO NOT (I repeat) DO NOT press these bars into your pan firmly. Using your fingertips, GENTLY press them in just until they are spread out. The harder you pack them in, the harder they are when it’s time to eat them!
- The trick to pressing them in your pan without sticking to your hands is to run your fingers in water, shake off the excess, and press. Voila. No sticking!
- Store in an airtight container for two days. If they last that long, I’d be shocked!
- Make these gluten free by choosing a crispy rice cereal labeled Gluten Free (and check your marshmallow labels too just in case).
- Can you freeze rice krispie treats? YES! I slide them on a parchment paper lined sheet into a ziploc freezer bag. Thaw on counter until soft again!
Video
Nutrition
Original Rice Krispie Treats recipe with all the tips and tricks for making them thick and chewy!
I haven’t made these in years. Tonight, my daughter and I made a double recipe for her 3rd grade class picnic tomorrow. We made an extra recipe for our house, too! They are delicious and we had fun making them! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
So glad you and your daughter enjoyed them (and made them together)!
Have someone in my family that has to be dairy free. Does anyone know if non dairy butter works? Hate to waste ingredients.
It should work. Any kind of butter works for your tastes. Even cannabutter 😉
I’m making a batch with cannabutter today to give away at work next week. Gave cookies away last week❤️
Can I use avocado oil or Olive oil instead of butter? Not supposed to eat cholesterol. I read not to use margarine but can’t use salted butter. Thank you.
I would not use oil in place of the butter.
The rice crispy treats, not too hard to make, they’re good but nothing special about them LOL
Make them with coco pebbles… bangin!
I made them with fruity pebbles and white chocolate
This recipe is different than the one on the box (more butter, marshmallows and vanilla) and they’re seriously the best!!
Thanks for posting! I’m planning to make this. For step 5 when allowing to set, should it be covered or uncovered for that hour?
If you know it’s only going to be an hour or two, uncovered is fine. If it will be longer than a couple hours, go ahead a place a piece of saran wrap over the top.
Thank you for posting! I made them but don’t think I did it right. When you add in the cereal and other cup of marshmallows, are you supposed to stir? I thought that the butter would drip down or something but i had several sections that were still dry. What did I do wrong?
Also- i tried to cut them into shapes and they were so sticky they I couldn’t get them out of the cookie cutter okay. Tips?
Sandra, try spraying your cutters with Pam cooking spray, same with the spatula ..
If using this recipe to make the peeps pops, what size of pan would you use and would you double it?
I would do a 13×9 for a regular size batch (cause you’ll want them thinner to put the peep on them). And if you double the recipe you could probably just use a 15×10 pan!
Loved this recipe! I took them to a dinner party and they were gone.
Happy to hear this!
Hi Aimee! I am prepping and cooking for mothersday next weekend, will these treats stay good for 5 to 6 days in the airtight container? Do you know?
They definitely lose their freshness. I would make as close to mother’s day as possible.
For mine I didn’t have mini marshmallows so I just did a 12 oz bag of the regular sized ones and followed the recipe after that. They turned out perfect so don’t over stress over getting it completely right! It’s a fun treat and your supposed to have fun with it! Thank you for the recipe!!
I just made these tonight and they’re absolutely delicious!! I’ve been searching online for the perfect rice krispie treat recipe for months and have probably tried a couple dozen different recipes. Not one of them has even come close to your recipe, these are far superior to every one I’ve tried. Kudos!! The ratios are perfect, IMO.
My husband and I were eating them out of the pan with spoons before they even had a chance to cool. Lol
I browned my butter and I also add a teaspoon of kosher salt when I add the vanilla. And I reserve 2 cups of marshmallow to add into the cereal, instead of just one. They turned out absolutely perfect! Soooo gooey and buttery and Krispy! So delicious! Thank you so much for adding your recipe.
About how thick are these when you use a 9″ pan? I’m making and cutting with a sun cookie cutter for my daughter’s 1st birthday take home treat and trying to math how many batches to make. Thanks!
If you plan on cutting into shapes, I would use a 13×9 dish.
This has been the most entertaining comments thread I’ve ever read on a recipe lol… also this recipe is BOMB-delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Absolutely easy to do with your instructions my daughter is going to be thrilled to pass this out to her friends for Valentines thank you so much for this amazing recipe and for your time
So I take you can’t use marshmallow cream?
Can’t wait to try this recipe!
10 oz bag or about 50
I wish someone would reply because I only have large marshmallows also
It’s not rocket science if the recipe calls for 16oz of mini marshmallows just measure 16oz of large ones and you will have what u need
Rude
1 reg m = 13 mini m. 8 reg m = 1 cup 16 oz bag = 8 cups. 10.5 oz bag = 5 1/2 cups. 50 mini = 1/2 cup mini. 64 Reg= 16 oz bag 7 oz marshmallow creme = 1 and 1/2 cups. 4 reg = 1 oz. These should help you convert differences between weight and volume. Don’t Substitute margarine for butter – the water content between then is different. Hope this helps.
It’s actually more a question, can you double this recipe when making it and put it in a 13 x 9 pan? I’d appreciate your help because I’m planning to make it this Tuesday to give to neighbors on Thursday. Please help?
Yes you can!
We followed the recipe and they were a hit! Definitely making again!
I hate to tell you but I have used vanilla in my recipe for years. And they last maybe 15 minutes after I cut them and this was with 3 girls eating them. I haven’t tried putting marshmallows in the cereal, I’ll have to give that a try when I make them for my grandkids. They tell their mom that grandma’s are better.
Thank you
Have a great day and God bless
Yes! I’ve always done mine like this and always get compliments–most people smash them way too hard…but I’ve never tried adding a cup of marshmallows at the end! One other thing I do differently (passed down in my family): we use Tia Maria or Kahlua instead of vanilla….YUM!
All I have is large marshmallows, ratio?
I followed this recipe EXACTLY and they came out too sticky. I think your ratio of Marshmallow to cereal is off…
They are meant to be sticky, not dry and hard 🙂 If you prefer, you can always add more cereal.
It’s not rocket science if the recipe calls for 16oz of mini marshmallows just measure 16oz of large ones and you will have what u need
I made with fruit loops and they’re grrrrreat😅
I always use this recipe, but I brown the butter until its a deep golden and double the amount I also always make sure I use Land o Lakes unsalted! It gives it such a unique flavor. There’s something about Land o Lakes that makes a huge difference, even the smell is stronger. If Im making rice krispies, I’m making them as unhealthy as possible! Lol
So many complainers in these comments. I’m curious how they found the recipe they weren’t looking for, and why they took the time to read through and scroll all the way to the bottom to leave a comment.
Anyways… the recipe was well written and precise. It’s always nice to see how people make a classic treat. We all do it a little differently!
😆I agree with your comments lol
I accidentally browned my butter the last time we made these and they tasted even better so now I do it on purpose. They are so good. Thank you.
It’s missing the step that says to stir after adding the cereal to the melted marshmallows. Maybe it’s not rocket science to you, but others can’t cook and that’s why they’re on here looking for a simple recipe for rice crispy squares. I don’t know squat about cooking anything and needed thar extra step to be spelled out.
I mean, usually saying “add in” should suffice?