Make your homemade crispy treats even more fun by putting them on a stick. These Rice Krispie Treat Pops are easy to decorate with chocolate, sprinkles, marshmallows, and more and are perfect for birthday parties, picnics, and bake sales.
Kids will love eating a crispy marshmallow cereal treat lollipop and I know a lot of adults that will too. What's not to love about a Rice Krispie Treat on a stick especially those made with our award-winning Rice Krispie Treats recipe?
Our treats have the perfect ratio of butter, marshmallows, and cereal.
They taste great plain or coated in chocolate and turning them into lollipops is super easy so let's get started.
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Ingredients
- butter - We recommend using salted European-style butter, like Irish Kerrygold, President, European-style Land-o-Lakes Extra Creamy Butter, or Plugra to give your treats the very best flavor. This butter has a higher butterfat content, is creamier, and has more flavor than American-made butter. The salt in the butter balances out the sweetness of the marshmallows but you can use unsalted butter if you prefer.
- marshmallows- Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows are our go-to brand of marshmallows. You can use mini or regular marshmallows to make these treats. If you use store-brand marshmallows like Kroger or Walmart brands, they tend to be stickier, you may need to add up to 1 cup of cereal to the recipe.
- crisp rice cereal - Use Kellogg's Rice Krispies for the very best flavor and texture.
- white candy melts - You will use melted white candy melts (or any other white compound chocolate/confectionery coating like Merckens or Ghirardelli melting wafers) to attach the sticks to the rice crispy treats.
- optional decorations - chocolate, white chocolate, candy melts, sprinkles, Crispearls, tiny dehydrated marshmallows, and more
See the recipe card for quantities.
Equipment
- extra-large mixing bowl - You want to use a bowl that allows you room to mix the cereal and marshmallows together.
- medium-large (3 or 4-quart) saucepan - I like using a non-stick pan so the marshmallows don't stick too badly.
- 9X13-inch baking pan - If you use a non-stick pan, you'll be able to easily remove the treats from the pan. A glass pan works fine too just be sure to grease it well with butter. You can also line the pan with non-stick tin foil. That makes it easy to lift out of the pan.
- silicone spatula - If you grease a silicone spatula (or Spoonula) with butter or baking spray, the cereal treat mixture won't stick. You can also use a wooden spoon but I'd grease it too.
Instructions
Start by making a batch of the Best Rice Krispie Treats. I prefer to melt the butter and marshmallows on the stove as I have more control over how they melt, but I also include instructions for the microwave below.
Grease an extra-large mixing bowl with butter. Pour 7 cups of Rice Krispies cereal into the bowl.
Place 6 tablespoons of butter in a medium-large saucepan over low heat and allow the butter to begin melting.
Pour 16 ounces of mini or regular marshmallows into the pan.
Toss the marshmallows with the melted butter.
Stir often until 75% of the marshmallows have melted.
Then, remove the pan from the heat and continue to stir until melted.
By allowing the residual heat in the pan to gently heat and melt the remaining marshmallows, your treats will be nicely chewy. When marshmallows get too hot they create hard treats.
If you prefer, you can melt the butter and marshmallows in the microwave.
Grease a microwave-safe mixing bowl with butter (this will keep the marshmallows from sticking too badly) then add the butter and marshmallows.
Heat on high heat for 1 minute. Then, let the bowl rest in the warm microwave for 3 minutes. Remove and stir until the marshmallows completely melt. If needed, heat for an additional 15 seconds, then stir until melted. Do not overheat or your treats will be hard.
Note how puffy the marshmallows become when heated in the microwave. Use a large bowl!
The melted marshmallows and butter should be smooth and creamy.
Scrape all of the marshmallows out of the pan and pour over the cereal.
We recommend pouring the marshmallows over the cereal instead of pouring the cereal into the warm pan. When cereal hits a warm pan the pieces start to soften. This makes your treats soft and stale-tasting.
By pouring the warm marshmallows over the cereal in an air-temperature bowl, you eliminate this problem. The marshmallows will begin to cool more quickly and the bowl is already cooler than the pan.
Stir until well blended.
You want all of the cereal to be evenly coated.
Gently spread the treat mixture into a well-buttered 9x13-inch pan. Set aside to cool for 45-60 minutes.
Turn the pan of treats upside down over a cutting board and allow them to fall out. Cut into 16 rectangles.
If you want nicely shaped rectangle treats, cut about ¼-inch off around the outside of the pan of treats before cutting them into rectangles.
Dip the tip of a sturdy paper straw or lollipop stick into melted white candy melts. Coat about 1 inch.
Then, insert the stick into the end of a Rice Krispie Treat. Do your best to ensure the stick is straight.
You can do the same with a popsicle stick. I love using popsicle sticks because they are flat.
Let the white chocolate harden for about 10 minutes before decorating or packaging your treats.
You can see how each of the sticks (lollipop sticks, sturdy paper straws, and popsicle sticks) look in the treats. Use whatever you have on hand or whatever will fit into your lollipop stand.
Substitutions
Our taste testers prefer the flavor of salted butter, particularly in this recipe, but unsalted butter will work fine too. If you can, use European-style or Irish butter for the best flavor.
You can also use coconut oil instead of salted butter if you prefer.
If you plan to dip your cereal treat lollipops into dark or milk chocolate or colored candy melts, you can dip the stick into the same chocolate instead of using white candy melts.
Variations
To make rainbow Rice Krispie Treat pops, drizzle melted white candy melts over the top of your treats, then immediately sprinkle on rainbow Crispearls (tiny candy-coated rice krispies), jimmies, or nonpareils.
I love using Crispearls because they taste great when added to a marshmallow crispy treat. Plus, they are colorful and look great on the treats.
Crispearls are also available in milk, dark, and white chocolate. They look great sprinkled on chocolate-dipped rice krispie treats on a stick.
To make these lollipops, dip the treat at an angle into a bowl of chocolate. Cover about half of your treat, then sprinkle on the Crispearls.
You can also spread chocolate over the top of your treats, then add dehydrated marshmallows or sprinkles.
To make them look even prettier, drizzle some more chocolate over the marshmallows. This also ensures that they stay in place.
If you plan to dip your treats into pure chocolate (made with cocoa butter), be sure to temper the chocolate (heat and cool it to exact temperatures). Learn more about the differences between pure chocolate and compound chocolate (also known as confectionery coating, candy melts, melting wafers, and almond bark) and how to melt and temper both types of chocolate in my Chocolate Making Tips guide over on my Hungry Happenings blog.
Check out our Chocolate-Dipped Rice Krispie Treats post for step-by-step instructions on dipping your treats into pure dark tempered chocolate.
Top tips
You can use mini or regular marshmallows. I like to use minis because they melt quickly but either will work fine. Be sure to check out our Marshmallow Chart for detailed information on measuring marshmallows.
Do not overheat the marshmallows! The sugar in the marshmallows will caramelize when heated too much and this will cause your treats to be hard.
Also, do not smash the cereal into the baking pan or you will compact the treats too much which will also make your treats too hard.
Storage
Store these lollipops in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
To keep them longer, you can freeze plain Rice Krispie Treat lollipops in an airtight container or zip-top bag for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen treats completely before dipping them in chocolate and decorating them with sprinkles.
If you freeze chocolate-dipped treats, be sure to add a piece of paper towel or cardboard inside your container. This will help to wick up any moisture. Also, be sure to take them out of the freezer, and let them thaw on the counter in the container. Do not open the container until they are completely thawed or they will become wet and sticky.
Related
You might also like these other fun rice crispy treat lollipops and cereal treat recipes.
If you head over to my Hungry Happenings blog, you'll find even more Rice Krispie Treat ideas. Here are just a few...
Recipe
Rice Krispie Treat Pops
Equipment
- 1 extra-large mixing bowl
- 1 medium-large saucepan
- 1 9x13-inch baking pan
- 16 lollipop sticks, sturdy paper straws, popsicle sticks
Ingredients
- 7 cups Rice Krispies Cereal (7 ounces)
- 6 tablespoons salted butter (use European-style butter for the best flavor)
- 16 ounces marshmallows
- 4 ounces white candy melts (see notes)
Optional Decorations
- 4-16 ounces compound chocolate (candy melts) or pure chocolate
- 2-8 tablespoons sprinkles, Crispearls, nonpareils, jimmies, dehydrated marshmallows, chopped nuts
Instructions
- Grease an extra-large mixing bowl, a 9x13-inch baking pan, and a silicone spatula or spoon with butter.
- Pour the Rice Krispies Cereal into the bowl and set aside.
- Cut the 6 tablespoons of butter into small pieces, place them in a medium-large saucepan, and set that over LOW heat on the stove.
- Allow the butter to begin melting then pour the marshmallows over top.
- Toss the butter and marshmallows together and allow the marshmallows to being melting.
- Stir often for 5-8 minutes until 75% of the marshmallows have melted, then remove the pan from the heat.
- Stir the marshmallows until they are completely melted and smooth.
- Pour the marshmallows over the bowl of cereal.
- Stir until the cereal is well coated with marshmallows.
- Pour the Rice Krispie treat mixture into a 9x13-inch pan and gently spread it into an even layer. Do not press too hard or your treats will be hard.
- Set the pan of cereal treats aside for about an hour to cool.
- Remove the treat from the pan and cut off ¼-inch around the outside edge. Then, cut into 16 rectangles.
- Place the 4 ounces of white candy melts in a small jar and heat it in the microwave for 15-second bursts of high power, stirring after each, until melted.
- Dip the tip of a lollipop stick, a sturdy paper straw, or a popsicle stick (about an inch) into the white chocolate.
- Immediately, insert the stick into one end of a Rice Krispie treat making sure the stick goes in straight.
- Set aside, and repeat, adding sticks to all of your treats.
- Let the white chocolate candy melts holding the sticks harden for about 10 minutes before decorating your lollipops.
- Use any remaining candy melts to decorate your treats or spread it out on a parchment paper-lined pan, chill in the freezer until hard, and save it for another use.
Optional decorations
- If desired, you can drizzle more of that white chocolate candy melts over a treat, then sprinkle on rainbow Crispearls, jimmies, or nonpareils.
- Or you can dip your treats into melted candy melts or melted and tempered pure chocolate before adding sprinkles, nuts, or marshmallows on top.
- See the step-by-step tutorial for more decorating ideas.
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