Peanut Butter Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

How to make

These treats are easy to make, but I have some tips for you in the post. Be sure to scroll down to the printable recipe card for full ingredient amounts and instructions.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the ingredients

Peanut butter: Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats are better with a salted regular peanut butter like Jif or Skippy. You can use a natural peanut butter if you prefer, but be sure to stir the peanut butter really well before using it, and know that it can separate a bit after making the treats. I think the treats are better with creamy peanut butter, but you can use a chunky peanut butter if you prefer.

Marshmallows: I prefer to use large marshmallows, as I think they have a better texture in the final treats. But if you want to use mini marshmallows, which will melt faster, use 6 and ¼ cups of mini marshmallows for this recipe. 1 cup of mini marshmallows is equal to 8 large ones. To use marshmallow cream, one 7 oz jar is equal to 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows.

The biggest trick I’ve learned in making rice crispy treats is to use fresh marshmallows. Fresh ones will give you a nice soft treat. Stale marshmallows will make the treats hard and less flavorful. Take a look at the bag when you buy them – are the marshmallows sticking together inside or are they individual and loose in the bag. Squeeze them a bit – are they soft or hard? You want the bag of soft loose marshmallows.

Rice Krispies is a trademarked product of The Kellogg Company, but you can make this recipe with any brand of crispy rice cereal you like. Though I do find that Kellogg’s creates the best quality treats.

Let’s get cooking

Get all of the ingredients ready. Measure out the marshmallows, the rice cereal, the chocolate chips, etc. and have them all ready to go. The process goes so quickly, it’s a great help to have everything prepared.

Prepare your pan by lining it with parchment paper then buttering it. This makes the bars easy to remove, and makes clean up a breeze. Yes, you can skip lining the pan if you want; it’s totally up to you.

This recipe makes nicely sized squares from a 9×13 pan. You could also make thicker bars in a 9×9 pan or an 8×8 pan.

Use a deep pot when making these treats, it helps keep the mess down and everything in the pan.

Melt the butter and peanut butter together over low heat while stirring gently. Don’t use a high heat, or the marshmallows will get hard.

Once the butter has melted, add in the marshmallows, and continue to stir until the marshmallows are just melted. Take the pot off the heat when just a few small pieces remain; the residual warmth will finish melting them without overcooking.

Stir in the Rice Krispies.

With buttered hands or a spatula, lightly press mixture into prepared pan, but don’t squish it too much. When I was a kid, my mom always had me stick my hand inside a plastic bag and butter the outside of the bag. This was to keep my hands nice and clean. You could also use parchment paper to press the treats down.

Make the chocolate topping

I wanted a thin layer of chocolate drizzle over the top to let the peanut butter flavor shine in these. If you want a thicker layer of chocolate over the top, use 4 ounces of chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon of coconut oil. Add the chocolate chips to a medium-sized heatproof bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals on medium power, stirring in between each interval.

Once almost melted, stir until smooth and stir in the coconut oil.

Drizzle the chocolate over the top of the bars and let harden at room temperature (about 2 hours). You can also add holiday sprinkles on top of the chocolate before it hardens to add a little festive charm. For a sophisticated adult flavor, sprinkle a bit of coarse salt over the top

Cut into squares using a sharp knife. You can warm the knife by running it under hot warm for a little while to help make clean cuts. Also, buttering the knife will help with clean cuts. You can cut them into however many squares you like – 16 bars, 12 larger bars, or 25 smaller bars. Or make triangle shapes that might look more like Christmas trees and decorate them with some green sugar sprinkles.

Troubleshooting

Your Krispie treats got hard. This is because the marshmallows were overcooked. Try lowering the heat when melting the marshmallows, and taking them off the heat when there are just a little bit of marshmallow lumps left in the mixture. The residual heat will continue to melt them. Also, stale marshmallows can contribute to hard treats; make sure your mallows are fresh. It could also be that you pushed too hard when placing them in the pan, remember not to crush the cereal.

Your treats don’t stick together. This is just because you need to press them down more firmly in the pan.

Can I make these in the microwave?

I prefer to use the stove top to make crispy treats, but, yes, these can be made in the microwave. Which actually makes them a great dorm hack or snack for small apartment living.

Add the butter, peanut butter, and marshmallows to a large microwave safe bowl, and heat on medium power for 1-minute intervals, stirring between each interval until it’s all melted.

Then stir in the Rice Krispies, and press the mixture into the pan, and allow to harden. Proceed with drizzling the chocolate over the top according o the recipe.

Clean up

As soon as you put the rice crispies mixture into the pan, soak the pot in hot water to make cleaning up easier. The hot water will melt the candy and clean-up is actually really easy.

Storage

Krispie Treats are best soon after they’re made. They are at their ooey gooey-est. But they can be kept on the counter in an airtight container, or cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap, for up to a week.

I don’t recommend refrigerating or freezing these bars, as the texture will suffer.

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