Toasted Marshmallow Rice Krispies Treats – Everything you love about the classic but BETTER! With an almost s’mores vibe, these are an INSTANT hit with everyone! (Gluten free, dairy free)
Something about having little ones at home makes me so happy to re-live my childhood favorites with my kids. Watching old movies I loved, reading favorite books, and sharing favorite treats with Milo and Sophie for the first time is even better than my getting to experience it for the first time.
Watching our kids toast marshmallows for the first time was totally one of those things for me. Their wonder at watching the white marshmallow slowly brown, and their glee of swishing around an entirely too-large stick… it’s all so much fun.
Now that their big enough to appreciate it, I’ve also been trying to remake a lot of kids’ classics (gluten free, dairy free style) so they don’t have to miss out on any of those fun things you get to enjoy as a kid. These toasted marshmallow rice krispies treats are a perfect example. We took the best parts of roasted marshmallows and combined them with rice krispies treats. The end result is THE BEST crisp rice treat I’ve ever EVER had.
Magically, I don’t think these taste coconut-y. Instead, the toasty, caramelized marshmallow bits and a teensy pinch of sea salt come through to make a craveable, shareable treat we can’t get enough of.
I will warn you that they are ESPECIALLY delicious. Give them away or send them in lunches…ooooor eat them by yourself in the pantry when no one is paying attention. No judging here, friends.
NOTES ON THE RECIPE:
Work quickly and be prepared. These need to be assembled quickly, so don’t dawdle after pulling the marshmallows out of the oven. Have everything measured and ready BEFORE you put the marshmallows into the oven. The marshmallows toast REALLY quickly, so you need to watch them carefully. They’ll be done in 30 seconds to a minute or so. Really, truly.
Gluten Free? No problem. Make sure you buy certified gluten free crisp rice. We like Barbara’s crisp brown rice or Erewhon brand. I’ve ordered both from Amazon, but can usually find them for a better price ($3-4 per box) at Sprouts.
Vegan? I’ve tried these with Dandies (I’ve found them at Amazon, Sprouts, Whole Foods, World Market, etc.) and Trader Joe’s brand is vegan! They work great!
Not into Coconut Oil? You can use butter or vegan butter for these beauties if you prefer. Use the same amounts and just melt or soften the butter beforehand so it blends well into the end mixture.
Change it up. I love these straight up the best, but you CAN add a few chocolate chips on top for a s’mores feel, or sprinkle them with a little cinnamon-sugar for a churro effect. PLEASE DON’T HATE ME FOR SHARING THAT WITH YOU. You will never be able to stop eating them.
Like these? Don’t miss these other yummy classic desserts…
- The BEST Vegan Chocolate Pudding
- The BEST Vegan Chocolate Birthday Frosting
- The BEST EVER Gluten Free, Paleo-friendly Brownies
Toasted Marshmallow Krispies Treats (GF, DF, V)
- Yield: 16-20 1x
Ingredients
- 5 1/2 – 6 cups certified gluten free crisp rice cereal
- 1 (10oz) package marshmallows
- 4 Tbsp coconut oil
- pinch coarse salt
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- Line an 8×8 or 7×11 baking dish with parchment paper or spray with nonstick spray.
- Measure all ingredients and preheat the broiler (you’ll need to work quickly)
- Spread marshmallows out across the baking sheet and place under broiler for 1-3 minutes, or until toasted. If desired, try shaking or flipping over the marshmallows and return to the broiler for another 1-2 minutes to toast another side.
- Immediately place marshmallows in a large bowl with the coconut oil, and stir quickly to melt marshmallows. Stir in 5 1/2 cups rice cereal and continue stirring until cereal mixture is well coated with marshmallow mixture. If the mixture is a bit gooey, add the remaining 1/2 cup cereal.
- Press mixture into baking dish. For thinner treats, you can use a larger pan. Sprinkle with salt.
- Allow to cool and set, then cut into desired number of pieces. We can usually get 16-20 treats out of this recipe.
This is a genius idea. And now I’m at work on my lunch break craving a rice crispy treat. Yummy.
Ok I made these today and holy cow, they are the best rice krispie treats I’ve ever had! Good work woman.
We may or may not have made them an embarrassing number of times. They’re the best!
Just whipped up a batch of these and WOW!! Your recipe is fantastic! Many thanks!
So glad you liked them! We can’t get enough!
Made this, but I toasted a layer of mini marshmellows on the top. Looks so good, my family is in for a treat tonight.
Thanks for this recipe!
An extra layer of marshmallows sounds AMAZING!!!
Yum! I totally need to be making rice krispies more often! These look yummy!
Just made these and they are delicioussss. I also added a dash of vanilla extract, I figured it couldn’t hurt. The coconut flavor really adds depth!
Ooh, I bet the vanilla was delicious! I’ll have to try that!
I made these and it didn’t mix well. The oil kept the marshmellow from grabbing onto the cereal. It turned into globs of marshmallow with cereal falling off.
★★
Oh dear! It sounds like maybe your marshmallows didn’t heat through properly (or maybe they cooled too much before being mixed in). I’m sorry that happened! That’s never happened to me before.
So looking at the not mixing well comment, I planned ahead for this to be a problem. In part because my oven is over the hill, broiling temperature would take forever to achieve and I am attempting this recipe in July!
I used my toaster oven (rack in the normal position, not high like you normally would to broil) & broiled 2 sides of the marshmallows for about 2-3 minutes each, rotating the pan 2-3 times per side if they looked like they were getting really brown. They were gooey in the middle, BUT even though I had the coconut oil already melted in a glass mixing bowl over a pan of water, it still took A LOT of work to get the oil incorporated with the marshmallow and finally I had what appeared to be a big gob of marshmallow that I was afraid wasn’t going to mix in. Finally I just took the plunge and threw the cereal in.
For the record, I used 5.5 cups of the Trader Joe’s rice cereal and threw in a cup of plain M&M’s, because I gave myself bonus points for avoiding corn syrup. LOL! Normally I mix the M&Ms with the marshmallows first, but I was afraid that they would break up too much if it didn’t mix well. When the cereal seemed to start mixing in okay, then I was brave enough to toss them them in.
It did wind up distributing pretty well, but I had issues coating the last bit of the cereal and candy. Admittedly, I was probably a bit overzealous about the overall volume with the added candy.
So, I think if anyone else is having issues, that would be the plan of attack – use a double-boiler or hot water bath to get the marshmallows and oil to mix better before tossing the cereal in. With the traditional recipe you melt the fat and marshmallows together to incorporate them, so I just tried to use that method so I didn’t wind up with greasy cereal versus marshmallow gobs.
It set too fast for me to even think about the salt. I did sneak a bar out of the pan the second they would remotely hold together and the flavor seems good. I’m hoping it’s incorporated well so that I don’t run into a giant gob of marshmallow at some point (not a fan), but that is my issue, nobody else seems to mind.
★★★★
Dee – Thank you for your review and all your extra tips! 🙂
We used cacao crisps for this recipe…. Amazing!!! Thank you so much for the recipe
★★★★★
Ooh, I bet that was delicious!!!
This recipe was a comical disaster. I broiled the marshmallows, they started to puff up and were close to burning, so I pulled them out and added them to the bowl ASAP and then they still didn’t melt. Had to end up just putting them in a pot on the stove to melt them. And then the amount of cereal that I tried to mix in (5.5 cups) was way too much. I ended up having about a cup left over that wouldn’t mix in because there wasn’t enough marshmallow left. Definitely would not recommend this recipe.
★