These Halloween Rice Krispie treats are the perfect last-minute addition to your dessert line-up - Fast, easy, and made from just a few store-bought ingredients.
Halloween may be my favorite time of year, but it always ends up being one of the busiest - and somehow it just seems to slide right into the chaos of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
So if the thought of decorating the house, planning and/or making the kids' costumes, organizing the trick-or-treat group or Halloween party on top of everything else going on in your life has you thinking "Arggggh everything is happening all at once plz make it staaaaap", this post is for you.
These Halloween Rice Krispie treats are not only delicious (uuuummm, marshmallows anyone?), easy and made from just a few store-bought ingredients, but perfect for enlisting your kids' help to make.
Baking Halloween memories? These are the best kind.
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Ingredients
Below are a few tips and tricks (the good kind, I promise) for these treats. A full list of ingredients and their measurements is available in the recipe card.
- Butter: I recommend using room-temperature butter cut into pieces, which will reduce the splatter and ensure it melts evenly. For an elevated twist, try browned butter rice krispies.
- Marshmallows: Mini marshmallows work best because they melt evenly and faster than large ones.
- Rice Krispie cereal: Any crispy rice cereal will work well for this recipe. Honestly, any cereal makes for delicious dessert bars (as evidenced by these cinnamon toast crunch bars).
Watch the process
How to make Halloween Rice Krispies
First, make the rice krispie bars.
Melt butter over low-medium heat. Add the marshmallows and cook until melted.
Remove from heat, add the cereal and stir to coat.
Press into a 9" x 13" buttered dish.
Second, prepare the bars and candy melts.
Once firm, slice the rice krispies into rectangles of various sizes.
Place the candy melts over a bowl of simmering water, stirring until smooth.
Finally, decorate.
Dip the top of each rice krispie treat into the green candy melts and then into the black sprinkles.
Add two royal icing eyes and place on a cooling rack to set.
Melt a handful of black candy melts, pour into a piping bag, and pipe stitches onto your treats.
Allow to set completely before packaging.
Expert tips
- Cooking rice krispie treats: Make sure to cook your butter/marshmallows over low-medium heat and to remove them from the heat immediately once melted to avoid overcooked, hard bars.
- Keep your kitchen equipment/utensils free of water when melting the chocolate. Getting water in the melting/melted chocolate will cause it to seize.
- Using chocolate in place of candy melts: You can use white chocolate with green oil-based food coloring and dark chocolate with black food coloring to replace the candy melts.
- Don’t have a double boiler? You can melt your chocolate in the microwave using 10-second increments. Just be careful, it’s very easy to overcook chocolate this way.
- If the chocolate is too thick: You can thin it by adding a little bit of vegetable shortening. Stir a little bit in, stirring until it’s completely melted, and test to see if it’s the consistency you want. A little bit goes a long way.
Storage
Rice Krispie treats can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature and are best when eaten within three days.
Frequently asked questions
If you don't have marshmallows on hand or would prefer not to use marshmallows, peanut butter and honey (or maple syrup) make an excellent substitute. For a recipe of this size you'd need ¾ cup peanut butter and ¾ cup honey (or maple syrup).
Rice Krispie treats can harden as they go stale, but if they're fresh, overcooked marshmallows is the most likely culprit. Be sure to cook your marshmallows over medium (or even low) heat and immediately remove them from your stovetop once they've melted.
Did you know that the best Rice Krispie treats require a fresh bag of marshmallows? If you used an old bag, the stale marshmallows may have dried out just enough to keep your treats from sticking together.
No, Rice Krispie treats can be stored at room temperature, but if you need them to last more than a few days, you can freeze them. Wrap each square and freeze them for up to three months.
More last-minute Halloween treats
Don't have a lot of time on your hands? Here are a few of my favorite Halloween treats that can be made with a minimal amount of mostly store-bought ingredients.
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below! I regularly update these posts and feedback from wonderful readers like you help me improve them.
Recipe
Frankenstein Halloween Rice Krispie Treats
These Halloween Rice Krispie treats are fast, easy and made from just a few store bought ingredients.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Setting Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 6 cups rice krispie cereal
- One 10oz bag mini marshmallows
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 10 oz green candy melts
- 3 oz black candy melts
- Royal icing eyes
- Black jimmies sprinkles
Instructions
- Butter a 9" x 13" casserole dish.
- In a large pot over low-medium heat, melt the butter.
- Add the marshmallows and stir until smooth.
- Pour in the rice krispie cereal and, with a spatula, stir until the cereal is evenly coated with marshmallows.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared casserole dish and press until the rice krispies fill the dish and the top is flat.
- Allow to set for 30 minutes.
- Remove the cooled rice krispie treats from the dish and cut into rectangles of various sizes.
- Place a bowl over a small pot of boiling water and add the green candy melts to it.
- Stir until melted. If the chocolate is too thick for dipping, adding a teaspoon of vegetable shortening.
- Dip the top of each rice krispie treat into the green candy melts and then into the black jimmies sprinkles.
- Add two royal icing eyes.
- In a small bowl, melt the black candy melts in the microwave using 10 - 15 second increments.
- Pour into a piping bag and pipe stitches onto the treats.
- Allow to set completely before packaging.
Notes
- Cooking rice krispie treats: Make sure to cook your butter/marshmallows over medium heat and to remove them from the heat immediately once melted to avoid overcooked, hard bars.
- Keep your kitchen equipment/utensils free of water when melting the chocolate. Getting water in the melting/melted chocolate will cause it to seize.
- Using chocolate in place of candy melts: If you'd prefer to use chocolate in place of the candy melts, you can use white chocolate with green gel food coloring and dark chocolate with black gel food coloring to replace the green and black candy melts.
- Don’t have a double boiler? You can melt your chocolate in the microwave using 10 second increments. Just be careful, it’s very easy to over-cook chocolate this way.
- If the chocolate is too thick: You can thin it by adding a little bit of vegetable shortening. Stir a little bit in, stirring until it’s completely melted and test to see if it’s the consistency you want. A little bit goes a long way.
- Storage: Rice krispie treats can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature and are best when eaten within three days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 rice krispie bar
- Calories: 336
- Sugar: 37.8g
- Sodium: 177mg
- Fat: 13.3g
- Saturated Fat: 10.9g
- Carbohydrates: 52.7g
- Fiber: 0.1g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 10mg
Keywords: halloween rice krispie treats, halloween rice krispie treat recipe, easy halloween treats, halloween rice krispies, halloween rice crispy treats, halloween food ideas
Sue says
Super cute, easy and delicious !
★★★★★