Christmas Rice Krispie Treats

Name: 🎄 Christmas Rice Krispie Treats
Total time: 28 min
Ingredients: 6 Tbsp salted butter; 1/4 tsp vanilla extract; 1/4 tsp almond extract; 12 oz marshmallows (regular sized); gel food coloring (red & green); 5 cups Rice Krispies cereal; cooking spray; 1 cup white vanilla candy melts; handful mini M&M's; holiday sprinkles (optional)

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Here's my totally unsolicited holiday advice: make these Christmas Rice Krispie Treats! Seriously, they're a guaranteed hit. Not only were they fun to make; we gave them out to friends and teachers, and everyone thought they were so cute. #winningatchristmas 🤣🎄🏆

festive array of holiday rice krispie treats on a serving tray

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🎉 Why Our Christmas Rice Krispie Treats are the Best
🛒 Supplies
🙋‍♀️ How to make a DIY Piping Bag?
📝 Steps to Make Candy Canes!
📝 Steps to Make Christmas Trees!
✔️ Expert Tips and Tricks
🎅 More Christmas Recipes
🎄 Christmas Rice Krispie Treats

If you're looking for more more holiday treats, we have you covered! Check out our 🦌Graham Cracker Reindeer, 🎅 Strawberry Santa Hats, & 🥨 Christmas Pretzels.

🎉 Why Our Christmas Rice Krispie Treats are the Best

Gooey, but sturdy! I played around with the ratio of butter-to-marshmallow-to-cereal until I achieved the perfect combo. There's enough marshmallow and butter to make the treats super gooey (like, you can see the marshmallow stretch when you pull them apart)! But there's also the right amount of Rice Krispies [RK] so the treats hold their form and won't fall apart.
No baking required! You get all the tradition and festive vibes of making holiday sugar cookies, but in wayyyyy less time!
Like a delicious science project! These holiday Rice Krispie treats are actually fun to make. It's kind of wild to see how the ingredients completely change form to make the final product.
Great for parties or gifts! Serve them at a holiday party, give them out as holiday gifts to your kids' teachers or your coworkers, OR just eat them at home!

candy cane rice krispie treats in a circle with xmas tree treats in the middle on a wooden tray

🛒 Supplies

This may look like you need a lot, but you really don't. Aside from the cookie cutters, I already had all the 'kitchen stuff' at home. And some of the ingredients are basic baking items (e.g. butter, vanilla extract, cooking spray) you likely have at home too.

Equipment

Some notes on these kitchen supplies (starting upper left, going clockwise):

casserole dish - we used a 9x13 casserole dish to spread out the RK mixture. But you could also use two 8" or 9" square/round pans. OR, in a pinch, you could even spread the RK mix onto greased parchment paper.
nonstick pot - I can't recommend nonstick enough! These treats are so sticky that they would be hard to get out of a regular pot.
small bowl - this is for melting the candy wafers (to decorate the RK treats). Just make sure the bowl is microwave-safe.
scissors & small Ziploc bags - these are for making your own DIY piping bag.
cookie cutters - we made candy canes and Xmas trees, BUT you could also make gingerbread men, angels, snowflakes, stars, snowman or reindeer.
parchment paper - wax paper also works.

Ingredients

Some notes on these ingredients (starting upper left, going clockwise):

Rice Krispies cereal - get a large box of RKs (pictured above) for this recipe. A regular sized box of RKs has 9 cups of cereal, and a large box of RKs (pictured above) has 12 cups of cereal. You need 10 cups of cereal for this recipe, if you want to make both candy canes and Xmas trees.
marshmallows - any size or brand is fine. Just make sure they're not stale. This marshmallow conversion chart helps if you already have opened bags at home and don't know if it's enough for the recipe. Quick tip: mini marshmallows melt faster.
candy melts - I would use vanilla flavored candy melts (aka melting wafers) from either Ghiradelli or Wilton.
cooking spray - don't skip this! RK treats are so sticky, and you'll need it.
mini M&M's - these are perfect for little Xmas tree ornaments.
gel food coloring - you can also use regular food dye, but I find gel gives a more vibrant color.
cookie cutters - we used a Xmas tree and candy cane.
butter - I recommend salted butter, for flavor.
extracts - we used a little bit of vanilla extract & almond extract, and you could also use coconut or even peppermint extract. But note that you can totally skip the extracts and the RK treats will still be good!
optional - holiday sprinkles (not pictured above). We used silver sprinkles on the candy canes.

🙋‍♀️ How to make a DIY Piping Bag?

It's beyond easy to make a DIY piping bag. All you need is a small Ziploc bag, scissors, and whatever liquid confection you're piping. Fill your bag with the liquid, tilting the bag slightly so the liquid pools mostly into one side. Then seal the bag and make a tiny snip off the bottom corner of the bag (on the side with no liquid). Now hold your bag over your RK treat and gently squeeze so the liquid streams out the hole.

📝 Steps to Make Candy Canes!

It takes roughly 28 minutes to make 12 candy canes: 15 mins for Steps 1-3 (making RK treats), and 13 mins for Steps 4-5 (shaping & decorating). To make both the candy canes and the Xmas trees, you need to increase the time and double the ingredients.

step 1 to make rice krispie treats - melting butter

STEP 1: In a medium pot on low heat, melt butter and stir in extracts.

step 2 to make rice krispie treats - adding marshmallows

STEP 2: Increase heat, add marshmallows, and melt together. Remove from heat, and mix in red food coloring.

step 3 to make rice krispie treats - forming treats in pan

STEP 3: Fold in Rice Krispies until fully mixed. Spread into a pre-greased dish. Let cool for 1-2 minutes.

step 4 to make rice krispie treats - making candy cane shapes with cookie cutter

STEP 4: Press candy cane cookie cutter into RK pan. Transfer candy canes to greased parchment paper.

step 5 to make rice krispie treats - piping melted chocolate onto candy canes topped with silver sprinkles

STEP 5: Decorate! Heat candy melts in microwave and transfer to plastic bag (with edge cut off). Pipe melted chocolate onto candy canes in striped pattern. Optional - add sprinkles!

white plate of candy cane rice krispie treats

FINAL LOOK: Behold your beautiful candy cane Christmas Rice Krispie treats!

📝 Steps to Make Christmas Trees!

It takes roughly 28 minutes to make 12 xmas trees: 15 mins for Steps 1-3 (making RK treats), and 13 mins for Steps 4-5 (shaping & decorating). To make both the candy canes and the Xmas trees, you need to increase the time and double the ingredients.

pot of melted butter and marshmallows with green food coloring

Repeat STEPS 1-2 from above, but with green food coloring this time.

forming xmas tree shapes out of rice krispie treat pan

Repeat STEPS 3-4 from above, but with a Christmas tree cookie cutter this time.

green xmas tree rice krispie treats laid out with decorations

DECORATE: Pipe on melted chocolate like stringed lights, and add mini M&M's like ornaments.

white plate of xmas tree themed rice krispie treats

FINAL LOOK: Now you have some pretty snazzy Christmas tree treats!

candy cane and xmas tree rice krispie treats arranged on a circular wood serving tray

✔️ Expert Tips and Tricks

🛑 IMPORTANT NOTE: our recipe is for one batch of RK treats (either 12 candy canes or 12 Xmas trees). To make both the candy canes and Xmas trees, you need to increase the time and double the ingredients.
If you don't have access to a stovetop, you can do all your cooking in the microwave, btw. Just make sure you use microwave-safe bowls and that you microwave in short spurts of time so nothing burns.
Our Christmas Rice Krispie treats are super sticky, so definitely use a nonstick pan if you can!
Use more food coloring than you think you need because when you add the RKs to your pan, the color gets diluted.
Make cooking spray (or butter) your anti-stick bestie while making these treats. Spray the casserole dish and parchment paper before adding the treats. It also helps to spray your utensils (e.g. the spatula or spoon that scoops the RK mixture out of the pan, and your cookie cutters). I even sprayed my fingers a couple times so I myself didn't stick to the treats.
When making cookies, you know how you keep re-rolling the dough to make more cookie shapes? Don't reform your RK mixture more than once. It gets a lot tougher, the more you handle it.
Add your sprinkles and M&M's to the RK treats while the melted chocolate piping is still gooey; otherwise, they won't stick on.
It could take up to 10 minutes for your piping to cool, FYI.
After your piping has cooled, remove the excess (that dripped off the sides of your treats) either by snapping it off with your fingers or cutting it off with scissors.

xmas tree rice krispie treats arranged flat in the shape on a tree with a gold star at the top

What kind of marshmallows should I use?

We use 12 ounces of regular sized marshmallows. Any brand is fine, just try to use fresh marshmallows. Older, stale marshmallows will make your RK treats tougher and dry out faster. Any size marshmallow is fine, but mini marshmallows will melt the fastest. This marshmallow conversion chart is helpful if you have two different sized marshmallows at home, or a bag that's already open (and you can't figure how much is left).

How should I store Rice Krispie treats?

Store your RK treats for up to 3-4 days in a bag or container that's properly sealed (so they don't dry out). If storing the RK treats in tupperware, place a layer of parchment paper at the bottom of the container and in between each layer of treats, so they don't stick together.