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A childhood favorite you never outgrow—this Rice Krispie Treat recipe gets a few simple upgrades for even more gooey, buttery goodness.
I’m always hesitant to say a recipe is the “best ever,” especially for a dessert like Rice Krispie Treats that everyone knows and loves. But once you’ve tinkered with a recipe for weeks—asking your kids, their friends, and anyone who passes through your house to sample different versions—you can say it’s the best with some confidence. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the original back-of-the-box Rice Krispie treat recipe, but it can be made so much better with almost no effort.
Here’s how: I use more butter and brown it for a deeper, nuttier flavor, add extra marshmallows and fold some in at the end for gooey pockets throughout, and finish with vanilla and a little salt to balance the sweetness. The result is everything I want in a Rice Krispie treat: buttery, gooey, chewy, and crisp without being hard.
“These really are the BEST rice krispie treats! Moist, delicious, and full of gooey marshmallow goodness!”
What You’ll Need To Make Rice Krispie Treats
- Butter: Using more than the classic recipe makes the treats richer and softer, and browning it adds a deep, nutty flavor.
- Mini marshmallows: I use two bags and reserve some to fold in at the end, creating gooey pockets throughout the treats.
- Rice Krispies: The classic choice, though another crispy rice cereal will work, too. Make sure the cereal is fresh for the best crunch.
- Vanilla & salt: Vanilla rounds out the flavor, while salt balances all that sweetness and brings out the flavor of the browned butter.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Rice Krispie Treats
Brown the butter: Melt the butter over medium heat and continue cooking until it turns golden brown and smells nutty. A light-colored pot makes it much easier to see the color change. Watch carefully toward the end—once the milk solids begin to brown, they can burn quickly.
Add the marshmallows: Stir in most of the marshmallows and cook just until completely melted, then remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.
Add the cereal and reserved marshmallows: Fold in the Rice Krispies until evenly coated, then add the reserved marshmallows. They’ll soften slightly from the heat but won’t melt completely, leaving gooey pockets throughout the treats.
Press into the pan: Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and press it into an even layer without compacting it too firmly (the butter wrappers come in handy here). A light hand keeps the treats tender and chewy rather than dense and hard. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.
Cut into squares: Lift the treats out of the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares and serve. You can store the treats in an airtight container at room temperature for several days days or freeze them for longer storage.
Video Tutorial
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Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- Two (10-oz) bags mini marshmallows, divided
- ¾ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8½ cups Rice Krispies or crispy rice cereal (see note)
Instructions
- Line a 9 x 13-in (23 x 33-cm) pan with heavy duty aluminum foil and lightly grease with softened butter. Set aside 2 cups (110 g) of the marshmallows.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, preferably with a light bottom so you can monitor the color, melt the butter over medium heat (save the butter wrappers; you’ll use them later for pressing the mixture into the pan). Swirl the pan occasionally to be sure the butter is cooking evenly.
- As the butter melts, it will begin to bubble and foam, and the color will progress from bright yellow to golden to, finally, a toasty-brown. Once you smell that nutty brown butter aroma, take the pan off the heat. (You’ll see little bits of golden brown sediment forming; that’s okay. However, if the sediment looks almost black, go ahead and pass the butter through a fine sieve to strain it out, then return the brown butter to the pan.)
- Off the heat, add the remaining marshmallows, vanilla, and salt.
- Place the pot back over medium heat and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until the marshmallows are completely melted. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cereal. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir until evenly combined.
- Add the reserved marshmallows and stir until they are softened and partially melted. Don’t overmix; you want pockets of goo. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and, using the butter wrapper or damp fingers, press the mixture gently into an even layer in the prepared baking pan. Let cool at room temperature for at least an hour.
- Use the foil overhang to lift the treats onto a cutting board, then use a serrated bread knife to cut into squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you’re following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Amazing!! So delicious. Can’t stop eating them!!
Are you trying to say around 3 to 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract? Not three-fourths of a teaspoon? I noticed the same thing with the salt, is it half of a teaspoon or 1 to 2 teaspoons of salt?
Hi Molly, Those are fractions – so three-fourths of a teaspoon of vanilla and a half teaspoon of salt.
I made these with red, white and blue Rice Krispies. They looked great and tasted wonderful! I am now using this recipe all the time. Thank you!
So disappointed with this. Followed all directions and not enough marshmallows!!
Sorry to hear you had a problem with the recipe, Rose! Did you make any adjustments to the amounts of the other ingredients?
I can’t believe you didn’t have enough marshmallows. I followed the recipe to the letter and mine are soooooooo marshmallowy! (Not complaining!)
Amazingly delicious!!!
I made this recipe for a xmas party at work and they were a huge hit, I received compliments all day!
Fantastic!!!! So chewy and delicious. I’ve been making these wrong for so many years. My husband and children LOVE this recipe. And it’s so easy. Can wait to deliver them around the neighborhood!
Jenn, I want to send a batch of your Rice Krispie treats to some soldiers oversea. Do you think I can make the recipie as is and ship them? Thank you!
Hi Lu, while these are pretty sturdy, I don’t think they’ll be all that fresh by the time they get to the soldiers. Some other options that may work are any of my biscotti recipes (these chocolate biscotti and really well-liked), or Toffee Almond Sandies. Hope that helps (and what a nice thing to do at the holidays)!
Thanks Jen! Ha, I was just thinking about your chocolate biscotti!
Very good
I hardly ever write reviews, but had too. Hands down, BEST EVER recipe!! Made for child’s bake sale and he was so happy that they sold out and he heard so many kids saying how good they were.
I too, hardly ever write reviews, but had to for this one! They’re delicious!
Great reviews, so I tried this. Never made rice crispy treats before, but I’d heard it was super easy. AND I bake. Not just regular baking, but gluten free, as well. Completely from scratch.
Well, I followed the directions, but the butter–on med-high–never browned. It was on about 8 minutes. The sound changed, the smell got the nuttiness. I went for another minute…still no browning. So I pulled it off and added the marshmallows, salt, vanilla. On low, after several minutes, it barely melted. I turned it up higher and higher. Finally, after probably 10 minutes and getting up to medium heat, it became a mass of marshmallow, floating in butter. No matter how I stirred, it just never combined. After another 2-3 minutes of absolutely no change or combining, I figured I’d better start mixing in the cereal. It was a total disaster. Butter coating the bowl(Aside from a deep stock pot, I didn’t have a pot big enough for the whole mixture, so I transferred to a huge mixing bowl) crispies refusing to combine and just sliding all over the place. Complete F-ing disaster. With crispies crunching under my feet, I said “screw it” and turned the entire mixture out onto a huge cutting board and did my best to knead the crispies into the completely unmixed mixture of molten mallows and slippery butter, without burning myself or completely smashing the crispies. I finally gave it no choice but to combine and in the end it tasted ok, and looks fine, but I worked on that for more like 45 minutes and then spent another 45 cleaning up the kitchen. So, can you please tell me… what went wrong. Why didn’t the butter and marshmallow, salt, vanilla mixture never combine?
Thank you,
Zoya
Hi Zoya, sorry to hear this was a bit of an ordeal for you! Did you by chance use margarine or a butter substitute? That might account for the problem with the ingredients combining.
What did you use for this Recipe-Butter or Margarine??? And can I ask what brand it was?? I am going to try to make this and what them to turn out Great like yours….every time I had made them they turn out hard as a brick after they set up😪 Thank You!!
Hi Jennifer, I use regular store-brand butter; nothing fancy. Did this recipe come out hard for you? If so, happy to try to help troubleshoot!