Celebrate Thanksgiving by serving these fun Rice Krispie Turkey Legs for dessert. Each of these Thanksgiving Rice Krispie Treats combines crispy and crunchy turkey leg shaped marshmallow cereal treats with white chocolate dipped pretzel bones.
I'm guessing you have enjoyed cereal treats for most holidays but perhaps not for Thanksgiving.
When I think of Thanksgiving desserts, I picture all sorts of pies, pumpkin rolls, cheesecake, or apple crisp not Rice Krispie Treats.
However, they are universally loved and they can easily be decorated for any holiday or special occasion. For Thanksgiving, you can turn them into Pumpkin Pie, 3-D Pumpkins, or make these turkey legs.
Ingredients
- pretzel rods
- white chocolate or white candy melts
- mini marshmallows
- salted butter
- Rice Krispies Cereal
- parchment or wax paper
- baking sheets or cutting board
Melt white candy melts.
- Pour 16 ounces of white candy melts into a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high power for one minute.
- Remove and stir then heat for another 45 seconds.
- Stir again then heat for 30 seconds.
- Let the bowl rest in the microwave for a few minutes before stirring.
- If needed, heat for 15-second increments, stirring after each until melted.
How can I fix thick candy melts?
- If your candy melts are really thick it's best to add some Paramount Crystals or Wilton EZ Thin to thin it out.
- These items are solid pieces of the same fat that is used to make the candy melts and will thin out the thickened candy melts but will allow the candy melts to harden properly.
- In a pinch, you can add shortening or vegetable oil but your candy will not harden completely. Don't add too much or your candy will become spotty and taste greasy.
OR Melt and temper pure white chocolate.
- Reserve 4 ounces of the white chocolate then chop the remaining 12 ounces into very small pieces.
- Melt the 12 ounces of white chocolate in the microwave using 30-second bursts of power, stirring after each until melted and heated to 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
- To temper the chocolate, stir in the reserved 4-ounce chocolate bar.
- Continue to stir, checking the temperature of the white chocolate until it reaches 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Reheat, for 3-5 second increments until the chocolate reaches 88 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not go above that temperature.
Make pretzel bones.
- Break the pretzel rods in half.
- Dip the smooth tip of a pretzel rod in white chocolate or white candy melts.
- Shake the pretzel a few times to allow the excess chocolate to dip off.
- Set the pretzel rod on parchment paper or a wax paper-lined baking sheet.
- Immediately, while the chocolate is wet, attach two mini marshmallows together to create the end of each bone.
- Once you get 12 pretzel bones made, chill them for 3-5 minutes until the chocolate hardens.
Dip pretzel bones in white chocolate.
- Dip a pretzel into the white chocolate.
- Lift it out and allow the excess to drip off then set it on the baking sheet.
TIP:
- If you lift the white chocolate-dipped pretzel out of the bowl then you dip just the very tip back into the chocolate, then pull it out, then dip it again, then pull it out, and repeat a few times, this helps to remove the excess chocolate more evenly.
Make a batch of marshmallow crispy treats.
- Melt the butter in a medium-large saucepan set over low heat.
- Add the marshmallows and stir to coat with the butter and allow them to begin to melt.
- Stir, often until about 75% of the marshmallows are melted.
- Then remove the pan from the heat and stir until all of the marshmallows melt. This will ensure you have soft treats. If the marshmallows are overheated they will produce hard treats.
- Alternatively, you can heat your butter and marshmallows in the microwave for a minute on high power then stir vigorously until melted. Heat for additional 15-second bursts of power if needed but do not overheat.
- Pour the marshmallows over the rice crispy cereal and toss to coat.
- Then cover and let cool for at least 30 minutes. This will not only help to make the rice krispie treats cooler to handle but the marshmallows will firm up and won't be overly sticky.
Shape the rice crispy treat turkey legs.
- Pull off a handful of the cereal mixture and roll it into a ball.
- If the mixture is too sticky, you may need to allow it to cool a bit longer.
- Insert a white chocolate-dipped pretzel bone into a rice krispie treat ball and shape the treat around the pretzel to create the meat portion of the turkey leg.
Attach the treat to the pretzel bone.
- To ensure the treats stick to the pretzels you can "glue" them together using white chocolate.
- Gently remove the pretzel bone from the treat and dip the pretzel tip into the white chocolate then insert it back into the treat.
- This step is optional.
How to store your cereal treat turkey legs.
- Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
- You can package these crispy treat turkey legs in individual bags, tie them with a ribbon, and attach a name tag to use as table favors for Thanksgiving.
Video
Be sure to watch the video tutorial to see how easy it is to make these marshmallow cereal treat turkey legs.
Printable Recipe
Rice Krispie Turkey Legs
Turkey leg-shaped rice krispie treats with white chocolate dipped pretzel bones.
Equipment
- parchment or wax paper
- baking sheets or cutting board
Ingredients
- 6 pretzel rods
- 16 ounces melted white chocolate or melted and tempered white candy melts
- 16 ounces mini marshmallows
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 8 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
Instructions
- Break the pretzel rods in half.
- Dip the smooth tip of a pretzel rod in melted white candy melts or melted and tempered white chocolate.
- Shake the pretzel a few times to allow the excess chocolate to dip off.
- Set the pretzel rod on a parchment paper or a wax paper-lined baking sheet.
- Immediately, while the chocolate is wet, attach two mini marshmallows together to create the end of each bone.
- Once you get 12 pretzel bones made, chill them for 3-5 minutes until the chocolate hardens.
- Dip a pretzel bone into the white chocolate.
- Lift it out and allow the excess to drip off then set it on the baking sheet.
- Melt the butter in a medium-large saucepan set over low heat.
- Add the marshmallows and stir to coat with the butter and allow them to begin to melt.
- Stir, often until about 75% of the marshmallows are melted.
- Then remove the pan from the heat and stir until all of the marshmallows melt.
- Alternatively, you can heat your butter and marshmallows in the microwave for a minute on high power then stir vigorously until melted. Heat for additional 15-second bursts of power if needed but do not overheat.
- Pour the marshmallows over the rice crispy cereal and toss to coat.
- Then cover and let cool for at least 30 minutes.
- Pull off a handful of the cereal mixture and roll it into a ball.
- If the mixture is too sticky, you may need to allow it to cool a bit longer.
- Insert a white chocolate-dipped pretzel bone into a rice krispie treat ball and shape the treat around the pretzel to create the meat portion of the turkey leg.
- To ensure the treats stick to the pretzels you can "glue" them together using white chocolate.
- Gently remove the pretzel bone from the treat and dip the pretzel tip into the white chocolate then insert it back into the treat.
Notes
- Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
- You can package these crispy treat turkey legs in individual bags, tie them with a ribbon, and attach a name tag to use as table favors for Thanksgiving.
- You'll have some leftover white chocolate but you need the extra so that you have enough to dip all of your pretzel bones.
Originally published on November 2, 2020.
Enjoy making these fun treats.
You might also enjoy making these other Rice Krispie Treats for Thanksgiving...
Rice Krispie Treat Pumpkin Pie
Lilly says
how many stick of butter you use.
Beth Klosterboer says
Hi Lilly, You will use 6 tablespoons of butter which is equal to 75% of one stick of butter. Cut off 2 tablespoons of butter from one stick and save that or another use.