by Rice Krispies Treats are a classic, delicious, festive, kid approved marshmallowy goodness filled treat. So why search for a new dessert recipe when you can just dress up the classic version.
This multi-color layered look requires a little extra time (as you make three batches instead of one), 3x the ingredients, a deep pan and some food coloring (I prefer gel).
Multi-color layered Rice Krispies treats are an easy & inexpensive way to add to your dessert table for birthday parties, holidays, and other events. Change up the color scheme to match your event! Today, we made red, white and blue to celebrate the 4th of July holiday.
Rice Krispies Treat must haves:
1. a 9×13 deep pan with square corners. I’ve found the best is this Rectangular Cake Pan for making deep desserts with a nice square corner. This recipe fills this pan to the top creating a nice large brick.
2. a spoon (large or small) for dipping in water to smooth the sticky Krispies mixture into the pan.
Rice Krispies Treats Ingredients:
- 10 tablespoons of butter (or 1 stick and 2 tablespoons)
- 3 – 10oz packages of Jet-Puffed Marshmallows
- 1.5 – 12oz boxes of Rice Krispies Cereal (or 18 cups)
- red and blue food coloring gel (or colors of your choice)
DIRECTIONS:
Step 1: Coat/rub about one tablespoon of butter on the bottom and sides of the pan (this will help prevent sticking).
Step 2: Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan or pot over medium to low heat. Add 1 10oz package of marshmallows and stir. As marshmallows are melting, add blue food coloring (as many drops needed to get desired color). Stir until completely mixed and melted. Remove from heat.
Step 3: Add 6 cups of cereal and stir until the cereal is well coated.
Step 4: Quickly spread into your sprayed 9×13 cake pan. Using your wet, water dipped spoon, press mixture into corners and level out within the pan. The gooey mixture will not stick to a wet spoon. If your spoon gets sticky again, just dip in water and continue. Reminder- the harder you press, the denser your treat becomes. I prefer a light touch so the Krispies treats are still easy to bite into. The 3 layers will fill the cake pan to the top and maybe even a little over.
Step 5: Repeat Steps 2 through 4 using no food coloring (to create the white layer). Spread mixture and press onto the blue layer.
Step 6: Repeat Steps 2 through 4 using red food coloring. Spread mixture and press onto the plain layer.
I usually place the pan in the fridge for about 20 minutes prior to cutting into serving sizes to ensure the mixture has cooled and settled. Once cooled, run a knife around the pan edges to loosen. Flip the pan upside down on a cutting board and jiggle the giant Rice Krispies block out. Once on the cutting board you are free to cut into your desired pieces.
When bringing to a picnic, school function or party, I usually package each treat in a small plastic treat bag and tie it off with a cute ribbon. This recipe makes an incredible number of servings and is ideal for school bake sales.
For another great tweak to the classic Rice Krispies Treat recipe, check out our candy cane version here. As a family, making Rice Krispies Treats are a tradition. For camping, parties, movie nights, etc. We have done it all from sticking them with sticks and dipping them in chocolate to adding different ingredients such as cranberries and white chocolate. The options are absolutely endless! If you have an amazing recipe, I would love to make it, please comment below so we can connect!
