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No more dried out rice krispie treats! These Christmas Rice Krispie Treats are an upgraded no bake holiday treat with festive add-ins, and a base recipe that makes perfectly ooey-gooey, soft and chewy rice krispie treats.
Christmas Rice Krispies
These Christmas Rice Krispie Treats are so fun to make and easy to make for the holiday season.
They take your basic marshmallow Rice Krispie treat and turn it into a festive dessert that everyone loves by adding Christmas M&Ms and sprinkles. So not only do you have the crunchy cereal and gooey marshmallows but there’s now chocolate in every bite too.
I love how simple this classic recipe is to make. Just melt the marshmallows with butter, coat the cereal, add the M&Ms and sprinkles, and press it into the baking dish. Wait an hour, slice, serve and enjoy.
Rice Krispie treats always remind me of my childhood so these are a bit of a nostalgic treat for me – and it’s no surprise that kids absolutely love these. Maybe even as much as they love our rice krispie s’mores bars dupe!
This easy treat is the perfect, cute Christmas dessert for a holiday party, cookie exchange, school events or cookie tray. It’s sure to bring holiday spirit with those green and red M&Ms and candy sprinkles.
Why You’ll Love Our Christmas Rice Krispie Treats Recipe
Truly, what’s NOT to love about these Christmas Rice Krispies treats?!
- 10 minutes of prep. No, that’s not a typo. Homemade crispy treats require just 10 minutes of hands-on prep time.
- 7 ingredients. Marshmallows, Rice Krispie cereal, Christmas M&Ms, sprinkles, and a few pantry staples are all you need.
- No baking required. That’s my favorite part. I can whip up a batch or two of these holiday Rice Krispie treats without warming up the kitchen.
- Loved by all. Kid, adult…it doesn’t matter. Everyone is a fan of these krispy treats. They make great lunchbox snacks too!
Rice Krispie Christmas Treats Ingredients
Just 7 ingredients are required to make this perfect holiday treat. See the recipe card below for measurements.
- Unsalted butter
- Mini marshmallows – It’s important to use mini marshmallows as regular-sized marshmallows take too long to melt.
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Rice Krispies – The name brand is what I used but there are off-brands available that work great.
- Christmas M&Ms
- Christmas sprinkles
Easy Variations on Holiday Rice Krispie Treats
Here are a few easy variations for this no bake Christmas Tree Rice Krispie Treats. Use a cookie cutter or simply cut the Rice Krispies into triangles to make Christmas trees. You can even have fun decorating them like a tree!
Grinch Rice Krispies. Add a few drops of green gel food coloring and red heart sprinkles to give these a Grinch theme.
Food coloring. Dye the melted marshmallow mixture green or red with gel food coloring for a more festive, fun holiday treat.
Candy canes. Add crushed candy canes to the cereal bars for a minty twist.
Melted chocolate. Drizzle white chocolate chips or green candy melts over the top.
Make them for any holiday. You can make these homemade Rice Krispie treats for any occasion by simply swapping out the colors of the M&Ms and sprinkles. Try orange and black for Halloween, pastel colors for Easter, etc. Or check out my Easter Egg Rice Krispies and Pumpkin Rice Krispies for more themed treats.
How to Make Christmas Rice Krispie Treats
Your homemade Rice Krispie treats are just a few easy steps away. You’ll need just 10 minutes or so to prepare them, though you will have to wait an hour before diving in!
- Measure the marshmallows. You’ll need 8 cups for one part of the recipe and 2 cups for later.
- Prepare the baking dish. Line your baking dish with parchment paper, wax paper or grease it well with butter.
- Melt the marshmallows. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and 8 cups of the mini marshmallows over low heat. Stir until melted, then add the salt and vanilla extract.
- Add the cereal. Mix in the Rice Krispy cereal along with the remaining marshmallows.
- Add the Christmas cheer. Stir in the Christmas M&Ms and sprinkles. Mix with a large spoon or spatula until combined.
- Transfer to the baking dish. Gently press the marshmallow and cereal mixture into the baking dish.
- Garnish. Press additional M&Ms and sprinkles on top for holiday cheer, if desired.
- Slice and enjoy. Allow the holiday Rice Krispie treats to set for about an hour, then slice these delicious treats into squares and enjoy.
Christmas Rice Krispie Treats Recipe Tips
Here are a few tips for the best holiday Rice Krispie treats.
- Avoid over-mixing. Stir the marshmallow mixture until the cereal mixture is well-coated but don’t over-mix to ensure you end up with a fluffy texture.
- Add in extra marshmallows. Our recipe tells you to add in 2 cups of marshmallows after you mix the melted mixture with the cereal. This increases the ratio of marshmallow to cereal and results in the gooey-ist cereal treats!
- Don’t press them too much. While you want to gently press the cereal mixture into the pan, know that the more you press them, the less fluffy and gooey your holiday Rice Krispie treats will be. It really depends on personal preference but if you like them airy and fluffy, only press them down a bit.
- Wet your hands when touching the mixture. To prevent all of the marshmallow goodness from sticking to your fingers, wet them just a bit with water before you start pressing down on the mixture.
How to Store Leftovers
Leftover rice krispie treats should be stored in an airtight container or ziplock bag at room temperature. If you’ll be enjoying them within a day or two, there’s no need to individually wrap them.
However, they will stay fresh for 5-7 days if you tightly wrap each holiday Rice Krispie treat in plastic wrap before placing it in the airtight container.
Holiday Rice Krispies FAQs
This tends to happen if you melt the marshmallows over too high heat. It takes away a lot of the gooey chewiness when it comes to the marshmallows. So just take the extra few minutes to melt them at a lower temperature.
You probably added too much butter. This can also happen if you try to make these with marshmallow fluff instead of melting your own marshmallows.
Try spraying your knife or pizza cutter with some cooking spray, which will allow it to slide through the sticky marshmallow.
You’ll need to wait just an hour before diving into your holiday rice krispie squares!
I don’t recommend using old marshmallows for rice krispie treats. Old marshmallows can be dried out and don’t melt well. Instead of a soft, gooey texture, they melt into a tough, chewy, glob.
More Christmas Treats
- Eggnog Ice Cream
- Melted Snowman Bark
- Chocolate Cherry Cookies
- No Bake Eggnog Pie
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Rice Krispie Christmas Treats
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter, 1/2 cup
- 10 cups mini marshmallows, divided, this is about two 10 oz bags
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 cups Rice Krispies cereal
- 1 cup Christmas M&Ms
- 1 tablespoon Christmas sprinkles
Instructions
- Measure out 10 cups of mini marshmallows. Then set 2 cups aside for later.
- Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper. You can skip the parchment paper and grease your pan with butter if you prefer.
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter and 8 cups of mini marshmallows over medium-low heat. Stir until melted. then stir in the salt and vanilla extract.
- Mix in the rice krispies and additional 2 cups of marshmallows, stir until completely coated.
- Add in the Christmas M&Ms and Christmas sprinkles, mixing until combined.
- Transfer the mixture to the baking dish. Gently press the rice krispies into the pan. The more you press them down, they become more dense and not quite as airy and gooey. Pro tip: use slightly wet hands when pressing them, this helps to prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands.
- Press additional M&Ms and sprinkles on the top if you want.
- Allow them to set, about 1 hour. Then slice with a sharp knife into squares and enjoy.
If you are using the regular Big marshmallows could you say how many you should use instead of the mini marshmallows Thanks
Hi PK! I quickly googled this, here’s what I found. 1 Regular Marshmallow = 13 Mini Marshmallows. 5 Regular Marshmallows = 1/2 cup.
Recipe says 1 stick of butter 1 cup
1 stick butter is 1/2 cup so is it really 1 stick of butter?? Or 2 sticks to make a cup? Thank you!
Good catch!! It’s 1 stick, so 1/2 cup butter. I fixed it!
Very festive and everyone loved them.