Fall is the perfect time to make pumpkin-shaped Rice Krispie Treats. These orange Rice Krispie Treat Pumpkins are easy to make and look great plain or decorated with vines and leaves or jack-o-lantern faces.

Crafting round or oval pumpkins out of Rice Krispie Treats is super easy.

However, our delicious Rice Krispie Treat recipe makes really soft and chewy treats, which I absolutely love, but the texture is a bit too soft to sculpt.

So, I had to come up with a way to make the treats hold their shape a bit better without compromising their chewy texture.

My solution...

add Candy Melts!

Not only do the candy melts add a bit more structure to the treats, but they also add a nice vanilla flavor.
Oh, and candy melts come in a rainbow of colors too. You can use orange candy melts to make these pumpkins.
If you can't find orange candy melts (or Mercken's, Make'n Mold, or any other orange compound chocolate/confectionery coating wafers), you can use Nestle Premier White Morsels or Ghirardelli White Melting Wafers instead.

Food Coloring

The orange candy melts will give your treats a nice pale orange color. To make them a more vibrant orange, you'll want to add a few drops of orange food coloring.
If you don't have orange food coloring, you can stir a few drops of yellow food coloring with one drop of red coloring to get a nice orange.

Tootsie Roll Stems

Your pumpkins need stems and Tootie Rolls Midgees make great pumpkin stems.

Cut each candy in half to create two pumpkin stems.

Alternatives to the Tootsie Roll Pumpkin Stems:

Caramel Squares
- Cut a caramel square into 2 or 3 pieces then roll the caramel into a stem.
Caramel Logs (like Brach's Royals or Cow Tails)
- Cut them to create ¾ - 1-inch stems.
Pretzel Rods
- Break the ends off pretzel rods to use as stems.
- Add pretzel stems the day you plan to serve your pumpkin treats. The pretzels may become soft if the treats are stored in an airtight container.
Mike and Ike or green Dots Candies
- If you prefer green stems you can use either of these candies.
Homemade 2-ingredient Modeling Chocolate or Fondant
- You can not only create the pumpkin stems using modeling chocolate or fondant but you can also make the leaves, vines, or jack-o-lantern faces too.

Let's make pumpkins.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons salted butter, cut into slices
1 (10-ounce) bag mini marshmallows
1 cup (6 ounces) orange candy melts
orange food coloring
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Instructions:

Start by melting the butter over low heat on the stove in a medium-large saucepan.
Once the butter has melted stir in the marshmallows and orange candy melts.
Continue to heat, stirring often, until about 75% of the marshmallows have melted.
Then remove the pan from the stove and continue to stir vigorously, smashing down on the marshmallows until they are completely melted and smooth.
Stir in a few drops of orange food coloring.
Spray a large mixing bowl with baking spray and pour in the Rice Krispies cereal.
Pour the orange marshmallow mixture over top of cereal and stir until well blended.
Set the bowl aside for about 5 minutes until the cereal treat mixture is cool enough to handle.
Grease your hands well with butter or baking spray.
Scoop out eleven ½-cup size scoops of the cereal treat mixture and roll into balls.
Use a knife to create the vertical grooves around the pumpkins.
Cut your mini Tootsie Rolls in half and stick one piece, cut side down, in the center on the top of each pumpkin.
As you press the tootsie roll into the Rice Krispie Treat pumpkin the slits will open a little wider giving your pumpkin a nice realistic look.

Rice Krispie Treat Jack-O-Lanterns

Pipe black frosting Jack-O-Lantern faces onto the pumpkins.
- Pipe one triangle nose then add two triangle eyes and one smile.
- Alternatively, use black candy melts.
You can also roll out black modeling chocolate or fondant and cut out the facial features then attach them to the pumpkin using frosting, piping gel, candy melts, or marshmallow cream.

Pumpkins with Vines and Leaves

Color some frosting green then fill a pastry bag with the frosting.
Fit the bag with a small round pastry tip and pipe vines around the top of the pumpkin.
Fit the bag with a leaf pastry tip and pipe a few leaves onto the vines.

Be sure to watch the video to see how to make and decorate these Rice Krispie Treat Pumpkins.

You can find the items needed to make these pumpkin cereal treats from Amazon. I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you when you use the links in this post.

Kraft Jet Puffed Mini Marsh...Shop on Amazon

Kellogg's Rice Krispies Col...Shop on Amazon

Wilton Orange Candy Melts C...Shop on Amazon

Merckens Coating Wafers Mel...Shop on Amazon

Make'n Mold Orange Vanilla ...Shop on Amazon

Wilton Right Food Color Sys...Shop on Amazon

Tootsie Roll Midgees 6.29 O...Shop on Amazon

Chefmaster - Neon Liqua-Gel...Shop on Amazon

GOOTRADES 7 Piece Leaf Pipi...Shop on Amazon

Wilton 4-Piece Set, 0.8 x 2...Shop on Amazon

RECIPE

Rice Krispie Treat Pumpkins

Beth Klosterboer

Pumpkin-shaped Rice Krispie treats look great plain but can be decorated using frosting to look like Jack-O-Lanterns or pumpkins with vines and leaves.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 10

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 11

Calories 348 kcal

Ingredients

4 tablespoons salted butter cut into slices
1 (10 ounce bag) mini marshmallows
1 cup orange candy melts (= 6 ounces)
orange food coloring
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
6 Tootsie Roll Midgees

Instructions

Start by melting the butter over low heat on the stove in a medium-large saucepan.
Once the butter has melted stir in the marshmallows and orange candy melts.
Continue to heat, stirring often, until about 75% of the marshmallows have melted.
Then remove the pan from the stove and continue to stir vigorously, smashing down on the marshmallows until they are completely melted and smooth.
Stir in a few drops of orange food coloring.
Spray a large mixing bowl with baking spray and pour in the Rice Krispies cereal.
Pour the orange marshmallow mixture over top of cereal and stir until well blended.
Set the bowl aside for about 5 minutes until the cereal treat mixture is cool enough to handle.
Grease your hands well with butter or baking spray.
Scoop out eleven ½-cup size scoops of the cereal treat mixture and roll into balls.
Use a knife to create the vertical grooves around the pumpkins.
Cut your mini Tootsie Rolls in half and stick one piece, cut side down, in the center on the top of each pumpkin.
As you press the tootsie roll into the Rice Krispie Treat pumpkin the slits will open a little wider giving your pumpkin a nice realistic look.