Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats are a delicious spin on the familiar and favorite sweet treat you know and love. Great for after school treats or a potluck dessert, these peanut butter Rice Krispie bars are the perfect peanut butter fix for any occasion!
Reasons You’ll Love Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
Easy, easy, and EASY! – With a handful of pantry friendly ingredients and less than 30 minutes of your time, this simple recipe will be making hands sticky in no time.
No Bake – Keep the kitchen cool, no baking needed.
Fan Favorite Flavors – The classic combination of peanut butter, marshmallows and cereal will make you feel like you’re a kid again.
Customizable – You don’t have to stop at peanut butter! Feel free to stir in some fun ingredients like sprinkles, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, M&Ms, etc!
Kid Friendly – This is a great starter recipe for getting those kids in the kitchen and having something fun to do with the whole family!
Ingredients
This is a discussion about the ingredients. For the actual recipe with amounts, please see the recipe below.
- Mini Marshmallows – The mini marshmallows melt down quicker and easier than the giant ones, plus you’ll stir in some un-melted marshmallows at the end, and the mini ones will fold in easier.
- Creamy Peanut Butter – For this recipe, I recommend not using a “natural” variety of peanut butter. Go for the classic, thicker peanut butters that you can find in most grocery stores. Crispy peanut butter is a bit harder to work in, which is why creamy is the way to go.
- Rice Krispies – Any crispy rice cereal will work, but this recipe calls for the classic cereal brand you know and love.
- Flakey Salt – The Jacobsen or Maldon brands are a great option, but really any flakey salt works for this peanut butter rice krispies treats recipe. You can skip it, but it really gives that sweet and salty combo that makes flavors pop!
How to Make Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
This is a discussion about the recipe directions. For the actual recipe with amounts, please see the recipe below.
- Start by grabbing a 9×13 baking dish and spray it with your favorite non-stick spray. Make sure to cover the pan completely – get those corners! You can also line the pan with parchment paper if you prefer.
- In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter.
- Once melted, reduce the temperature to low heat and pour in 15 ounces (about 2 cups) of the mini marshmallows.
- Next, add the peanut butter. Begin to mix these together until the marshmallows and peanut butter are completely combined and melted into a paste-like consistency.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Once melted down, pour in the cereal. Fold in the cereal to the peanut butter mixture until it’s halfway combined, then stir in the remaining marshmallows. Fold this all together until the marshmallows are evenly distributed.
- Transfer the cereal mixture into the greased baking dish or prepared pan. Try not to press down too much on the mixture. Sprinkle the top with the flakey salt, and allow these bars to cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.
Recipe Tips
Storage – To keep your treats fresh, store in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days. These bars don’t need to be refrigerated.
Freezing – You can freeze a batch and thaw them later. Freezing will allow them to last for about a month and a half, letting you grab a perfect treat whenever you desire. That said, I’m a big believer that they are best served fresh.
Materials – You’ll need a pot, a 9×13 baking dish, and a spatula to stir!
Keep Them Soft – To prevent your crispy treats from getting hard after a day or two, store them with a slice of soft sandwich bread in the container. The Rice Krispies will absorb the moisture from the bread and will stay soft for days to come!
FAQs
It’s possible that if your Rice Krispie Treats came out hard, you left the mixture on the heat too long. Since the marshmallows have sugar in them, leaving it on the heat for a long period of time can cause the sugar to harden. To prevent this, make sure to remove it from the heat completely after melting down the marshmallows and peanut butter.
There may be a few reasons why! You either added too much butter, too many marshmallows, or you used a natural peanut butter with more liquid and oil in it causing the mixture to break down. If you get the measurements correct, you should have no problem!
It’s possible to use somewhat stale marshmallows for krispy treats if you’re trying to clean out your pantry. The only thing is depending on the staleness of the marshmallows, it may not melt down the way you want it to. I always recommend using the freshest ingredients possible in any recipe that you make!
More Delicious Recipes
If you love peanut butter as much as I do, you’ll want to try these other easy peanut butter filled recipes!
Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter (salted or unsalted)
- 20 ounces mini marshmallows
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (preferably not a "natural" variety)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
- Flakey salt (optional, but worth it!)
Instructions
- Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, or grease with butter. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat until melted, then reduce the heat to low and stir in 15 ounces of the marshmallows.
- Stir in the peanut butter. Stir continuously until the marshmallows and peanut butter melt completely. Remove from heat, then stir in the vanilla extract.
- Pour in the Rice Krispies cereal and stir until about halfway mixed. Then stir in the remaining marshmallows. Mix until the marshmallows are evenly distributed.
- Transfer the mixture to prepared dish. Make sure not to compress the mixture, which will lead to dense treats. Sprinkle a pinch of flaky salt evenly over the bars. Let set and cool for 30 minutes before cutting.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Meet Christi, Love From The Oven
I’m Christi I love sharing easy & delicious recipes that your family & friends will love. I’m a mom, baker, cookbook author and lover of sprinkles.
Does it make a thick or thin square