Classic Rice Krispie Treats

5 from 12 votes

A perfect version of the classic rice krispie treat!

Prep Time10

Total Time9

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: bars

Calories: 226kcal

Lightly spray x 9x13 pan or line with with aluminum foil or parchment paper. You can use a smaller pan if you want thicker treats.
Melt butter in a very large pot on low heat.
Open one bag of marshmallows and reserve 2 cups of mini marshmallows. Set these aside. These will be stirred in later with the rice krispies.
When butter is melted, add the remaining marshmallows (1 whole bag, and what's left of the second bag). Stir with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon until melted.
Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract and salt.
Stir in remaining 2 cups mini marshmallows and rice krispies. This can be tricky to incorporate so do your best to stir it altogether!
Spread in pan (use a piece of saran wrap lightly sprayed with cooking spray OR spray your hand with cooking spray) and press into the pan.
Let rest for 1 hour. Cut into squares and enjoy.

Storage: Keep covered and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Freezing: I do not recommend freezing rice krispie treats. The texture is not the same after thawing.
Marshmallows- I like to stir in mini marshmallows with the rice krispies. So you can use one bag of large marshmallows and one bag of mini marshmallows or just use two bags of mini marshmallows. If you only have large marshmallows stir them in all at the beginning with the butter.
Butter - Salted butter can have varying amounts and might make these very salty in the end. Not what we want! So use unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter than reduce or omit the salt.
Pan size- I used a 9x13 pan but if you want thicker treats then simply use a smaller pan.
Cooking spray- These can be tricky to press down into the pan because of how sticky they are. So lightly spray a piece of plastic wrap and use that to press the mixture down into the pan OR spray your hand with cooking spray and press them down with your hand.
Do not press down too much - You do need to press them down somewhat but if you press down too much you could create a rice krispie treat that ends up too dense.