Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats are easy to make for a Halloween or Thanksgiving dessert! These pumpkin shaped rice krispie treats are the best!
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These Pumpkin Rice Krispies are the perfect Halloween treats for kids!
Simply made with the classic Rice Krispies cereal, marshmallows, and butter - this dessert takes only 15 minutes to make. Get creative and add your own decorations to suit your party's theme!
What I love most about Fall is all the fun and delicious desserts that can be made! Like these Halloween Cake Pops or Easy Caramel Popcorn!
Why You'll Love This Recipe For Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats
- Easy: Some of the easiest treats to make. Perfect for the kiddos, they can help too!
- Cheap: With ingredients you likely have on hand, this is a delicious, budget-friendly snack!
- Total Party Food: Need a treat for a kid's Halloween party? Or your own? Your guests will love these cute pumpkin treats.
Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats Recipe Ingredients
To make these rice krispie treats you'll need:
- Rice krispies cereal
- Mini marshmallows
- Salted butter
- Orange food coloring
- Green decorative frosting
- Pretzel sticks
How To Make Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats
Here's how to make pumpkin shaped rice krispie treats:
- In a large saucepan combine the marshmallows and butter and stir over medium heat until the ingredients have melted, stirring consistently.
- Add 4-5 drops of orange food coloring to the pot and stir until it has been fully incorporated.
- Add in your rice Krispies while continuing to stir the marshmallows and butter.
- Split the mixture into 6 equal sections and roll each one into a sphere and place them on a sheet pan.
- Place one pretzel in the middle of each sphere to give the appearance of a stem and use the decorative frosting to create a vine on each sphere.
- Allow to cool completely, serve, and enjoy!
Storing Easy Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats
Should You Refrigerate Rice Krispie Treats?: Rice krispie treats do not need to be refrigerated! They may, however, keep longer if stored in the fridge. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.
How Long Will Homemade Rice Krispie Treats Stay Fresh? Store rice krispie treats in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. To help maintain their chewiness, store them with a slice of bread.
Freezing: Yes! Before freezing make sure they've cooled completely. I'd recommend wrapping them each in wax paper and then storing them in an airtight container. This will prevent them from sticking and freezing together.
Substitutions for Pumpkin Rice Krispies Recipe:
Rice Krispies Cereal: We don't recommend substituting rice krispie cereal, if you'd like to use the chocolate cereal, that works well too!
Mini Marshmallows: Marshmallow fluff is a great alternative to whole marshmallows.
Salted Butter: Butter is essential to this recipe. We haven't tried it with dairy-free butter but it might work!
Orange Food Coloring: Using either gel or liquid food coloring will work. However, liquid food coloring is cheaper, easier to find, and mixes very well with melted marshmallows.
Green Decorative Frosting: You can find this premade in a tube at your local grocery store. Or mix up your own with white frosting and food coloring.
Pretzel Sticks: Get creative! Straight small sticks work well for simple stems. Use broken pieces of twisted pretzels to get different effects.
Tips & Variations for this Pumpkin Treats
- Chocolate: Swap out for chocolate rice krispie cereal for added color and flavor.
- Jack-O-Lanterns: Use black decorative frosting to make eyes and a mouth!
- Shapes: Not all pumpkins look the same, try tall ones, fat ones, and slanted ones. The options are endless.
Serving Pumpkin Shaped Rice Krispie Treats
How do they maintain shape at room temp when serving? If you are having trouble getting your rice Krispies to stay in their proper shape you may have to cut back on the butter by one or two tablespoons.
Alternatively, you may need to allow them to cool longer before you handle the mixture. It is important to place the treats in the fridge or freezer as soon as you are done decorating them so the rice Krispies are able to set properly and hold their shape.
Will they fall apart if left out too long? One of the main reasons rice krispies will fall apart is not using enough marshmallows and butter. Without those, they'll become dry and start to crumble. Be sure to store in an airtight container as well to avoid drying out.
Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats FAQs
A few reasons why your rice krispie treats may turn out hard. Measuring your ingredients correctly is always important, using too much rice krispie cereal can result in hard treats. Alternatively, cooking your marshmallow mixture on high heat will cause the sugars to harden. Cook the marshmallows on low-medium heat to ensure your treats stay chewy. Lastly, using fresh marshmallows will prevent hard treats. To soften hard rice krispie treats, store them with a slice of bread.
If you don’t have any marshmallows, marshmallow fluff can make a great substitute! According to the official Kraft website, you can substitute 4 cups of marshmallows for a 7 oz container of marshmallow fluff. Following that conversion, simply use one and a half containers for this recipe.
More Fall Treats You'll Love
- Halloween Cake Pops
- No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecakes
- Pumpkin Spice Cookies
- Easy Pumpkin Bars
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Cheesecake
Easy Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats
Ingredients
- 5 cups rice krispies cereal
- 10 oz mini marshmallows
- 8 tablespoons salted butter
- orange food coloring
- green decorative frosting
- 6 dipping pretzel sticks
Instructions
- In a large saucepan combine the marshmallows and butter and stir over medium heat until the ingredients have melted, stirring consistently.
- Add a 4-5 drops of orange food coloring (or more depending on the desired color) to the pot and stir until it has been fully incorporated.
- Add in your rice Krispies while continuing to stir the marshmallows and butter. Continue to stir until the rice Krispies are completely coated.
- Allow the rice Krispies to cool slightly and spray your hands with nonstick cooking spray. Split the mixture into 6 equal sections and roll each one into a sphere and place them on a sheet pan.
- Place one pretzel in the middle of each sphere to give the appearance of a stem and use the decorative frosting to create a vine on each sphere.
- Allow to cool completely, serve, and enjoy!
Kathy Sabatine
I just found your site and after checking it out, it is great. It is evident that you seem to have covered so many areas that could possibly raise questions. The pictures are your wonderful icing on the top of tasty and quick desserts.