These crispy and chewy Apple Jacks Marshmallow Treats are easy to make using just 4 ingredients. And this delicious no-bake dessert has hints of vanilla, cinnamon, and apple flavors and is colorful and fun.
My goal of making marshmallow cereal treats using every kid’s cereal on the market has been so much fun.
To date, I’ve really enjoyed making Frosted Flakes Treats, Fruit Loops Cereal Bars, Fruity Pebbles Marshmallow Cereal Treats, Reese’s Puffs Cereal Treats, and Cap’n Crunch Cereal Treats, and more.
Today, I blended Apple Jacks with melted butter and marshmallows to make these delicious no-bake treats.
The cereal already has a nice hint of cinnamon flavor but I wanted to enhance it so I added a sprinkling of cinnamon to the melted marshmallows and butter.
If you want to boost the apple flavor you could even add some bits of dried apple to the recipe like I did when I made the Cinnamon Apple Rice Krispie Treats.
To make these Apple Jacks treats, I started by melting butter and marshmallows. To give the cereal bars the very best flavor I used European-style salted butter.
Cereal treats made using European butter will have a richer flavor and creamier texture.
Compare European Butter and American Butter
- European butter and has a higher butterfat content than American butter, which is higher in water.
- Butter made in Europe must have a minimum butterfat content of 82% while butter made in America only needs to have 80%. While that may not seem significant, when you melt the butter to make your treats, more water will be evaporated from American butter leaving you with less butterfat, which means less flavor.
Salted vs Unsalted Butter
- We like the flavor that salted butter adds to the treats. Salted butter balances the sweetness of the marshmallows and sugar-coated cereal.
- If you do not have salted butter, just use unsalted butter. We don’t recommend sprinkling salt into the melted marshmallows as it doesn’t completely melt leaving pockets of salt throughout the treats.
Favorite Butter
- Our taste testers enjoyed the flavor of President Butter, Kerrygold Butter, and Kroger Private Selection Creamy French-Style Butter the best.
Marshmallows
- When we created the very first recipe for this website, we had over 20 people taste test over 20 versions of the traditional Rice Krispie Treat recipe and found that tasters preferred the delicate vanilla flavor and texture of Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows in their treats over store-brand marshmallows. We used Kraft marshmallows because they are readily available in most stores throughout the states.
- We found store-brand marshmallows to be stickier and more difficult to blend with the cereal.
- If you use store-brand marshmallows (like Kroger and Walmart) add more cereal (1/2 – 1 cup extra) so that our treats won’t be overly sticky.
How many cups of marshmallows?
Oddly enough, every brand of marshmallows is different. Some are heavier and denser than others.
That’s why we suggest buying 10-ounce bags of marshmallows or weighing out 10 ounces of marshmallows.
If you don’t have a scale you can measure them using standard US cups.
I personally prefer using mini marshmallows because they melt more quickly, but you can use the standard-size marshmallows if you prefer.
Mini Marshmallows:
- Each cup of mini marshmallows weighs approximately 1.67 ounces.
- A 10-ounce bag contains 6 cups of mini marshmallows.
- A 16-ounce bag contains 9 2/3 cups of mini marshmallows.
NOTE:
- For some reason, Kellogg’s original Rice Krispie Treat recipe says there are 4 cups of mini marshmallows in a 10-ounce bag. We’ve weighed and measured this many times and there are definitely 6 cups in 10 ounces.
Standard (large) Marshmallows:
- Each large marshmallow is approximately 0.24 ounces.
- 7-8 marshmallows = 1 cup of mini marshmallows
- There are approximately 40-48 marshmallows in a 10-ounce bag.
- There are approximately 64-70 marshmallows in a 16-ounce bag.
- Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows are lighter than some other brands. If using them you’ll need 40 marshmallows for a recipe calling for 10 ounces and 64 for a 16-ounce recipe.
Let’s make Apple Jacks Cereal Bars
You’ll need:
- Apple Jacks cereal
- European-style salted butter
- Kraft jet puffed marshmallows
- cinnamon
Instructions:
- Grease an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan with butter or nonstick baking spray.
- Grease the inside of a large mixing bowl with butter or non-stick baking spray then pour in the 6 cups of Apple Jacks cereal.
- Set the bowl aside until needed.
Stove-top recipe:
- Begin to melt 4 tablespoons of European-style salted butter in a medium saucepan set over low heat.
Then stir in 10 ounces of marshmallows and allow them to soften, stirring often, until about 75% have melted. - Remove the marshmallows from the heat and stir, smashing them, until they are completely melted.
- If you remove the pan from the heat when the marshmallows are not fully melted the residual heat will continue to melt them.
- NOTE: If marshmallows are overheated the sugar will begin to crystalize which in turn will create hard treats.
- Stir in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. You can also add 1 cup of finely chopped dried apples here if you want to really boost the apple flavor in your treats.
- Pour the marshmallow mixture over the cereal and toss to coat evenly.
- Spread the cereal mixture into your prepared pan.
- Press down gently to flatten the mixture into an even layer.
- Then set the pan aside for at least 1 hour in order for the Apple Jacks treats to cool before cutting into 16 squares.
Microwave recipe:
- Combine 4 tablespoons of European-style salted butter and 10 ounces marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl.
- Heat on high power for 1 minute then remove and stir until the melted butter blends with the marshmallows.
- Keep stirring until the marshmallows melt.
- If needed, reheat for 15-second increments, stirring after each until the marshmallows are fully melted.
- Once again, you do not want to overheat the marshmallows!
- Stir in 1 teaspoon cinnamon (and dried apples, if using).
- Pour over a bowl filled with 6 cups of Apple Jacks cereal and stir until the cereal becomes well blended with the marshmallows.
- Spread the cereal mixture into a prepared pan.
- Give the cereal treats time to cool before cutting.
These treats made in an 8 or 9-inch square pan are nice and thick. If you want thinner treats you can spread the cereal mixture into a larger pan or you can use the recipe listed below to make a larger batch of the cereal treats in a 9X13-inch pan.
Large Batch Recipe Ingredients:
If you want to make a larger batch of the cereal treats in a 9X13-inch pan, use the ingredients listed below.
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 16 ounces marshmallows
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 9 cups Apple Jacks Cereal
Printable Recipe
Apple Jacks Marshmallow Treats
Equipment
- 8-inch or 9-inch square pan
Ingredients
- 6 cups Apple Jacks cereal
- 4 tablespoons European-style salted butter
- 10 ounces Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Grease an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan, a large mixing bowl, and a rubber spatula with butter or nonstick baking spray.
- Pour 6 cups of Apple Jacks Cereal into the bowl.
- Set the bowl aside until needed.
- Melt 4 tablespoons of European-style salted butter in a medium saucepan set over low heat.
- Stir in 10 ounces of marshmallows and allow them to soften, stirring often, until about 75% have melted.
- Remove the marshmallows from the heat and stir, smashing them, until they are completely melted.
- Stir in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Pour the marshmallow mixture over the cereal and toss to coat evenly.
- Spread into an even layer in your prepared pan.
- Set aside for at least 1 hour to cool before cutting into 16 squares.
Notes
Storaging your cereal treats:
- These treats are best served the day they are made but will stay nice and fresh if stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week and possibly longer. I ate my final treat on day 7 and it was still crispy and delicious!
- If you’d like to make these treats in advance you may freeze them.
- See our Rice Krispie Treat FAQ for information regarding freezing and storage.
More Cereal Treat Recipes:
You might also like these other cereal treat recipes:
Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal Bars
See all of our Kid’s Cereal Treat recipes, here.
Did you make this recipe and think it was great or do have any questions? Leave a comment below and don't forget to rate the recipe using the star rating system.
We love creating easy Rice Krispie Treats recipes to share with you and hope you find our tips and instructions helpful.
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