Sprinkle Rice Krispie Treats

These soft and chewy Rice Krispie Treats are loaded with colorful sprinkles.

Each easy-to-make marshmallow cereal treat can be made using jimmies, nonpareils, or rainbow chips (candy-coated mini chocolate chips) and they are all perfect desserts for a birthday party or holiday.

Do you love sprinkles? You know, those colorful candies that make any dessert more fun! 

Sprinkles come in many shapes and forms. My favorite candy-coated mini chocolate chips come in a rainbow of colors and taste great when mixed into our perfectly chewy Rice Krispie Treats. 

You may prefer the long skinny rainbow jimmies (also known as hundreds and thousands) or the tiny bead-shaped nonpareils.

No matter what type of sprinkles you like best, you can add them to gooey marshmallow cereal treats to add flavor, color, and crunch. You can find tips to make the very best treats on our Rice Krispie Treat FAQ page. 

Making rice crispy treats with sprinkles is so easy.

You can have a pan of treats filled with rainbow sprinkles made in about 10 minutes depending on how you melt your butter and marshmallows.

How to make sprinkles rice crispy treats?

you'll need:

SPRINKLES

• You can use jimmies, nonpareils, or rainbow chips (candy-coated mini chocolate chips) to make these treats.
• Use ½ cup of sprinkles. If you want your treats to be seriously loaded with sprinkles, add more!
• Make your treats for holidays by using holiday-colored sprinkles or shaped sprinkles. 
• We don't recommend you use any sprinkles that are too hard, like sugar pearls or dragees. 

RICE KRISPIES CEREAL

• You'll use 4 ⅔ cups of crisp rice cereal in this cereal treat recipe. 
• We recommend using the original Kellogg's Rice Krispies Cereal for the best flavor and texture. 
• See our taste test results where we compared a variety of cereals, here. 

BUTTER

• We have found that European-style salted butter provides the best flavor in our cereal treats recipes. You'll be amazed at the difference good butter will make in this recipe.
• In our taste test, we found that 4 tablespoons (¼ cup, ½ stick, 56.7 grams) of butter will give the treats the richest flavor. 
• We recommend using KeriGold or President Butter, but Kroger Private Selection French-style Butter is great too. 

MARSHMALLOWS

• You'll need 10 ounces of marshmallows.
• You can use either mini or traditional marshmallows. I prefer the mini marshmallows, as they melt really quickly.
• Always use the freshest marshmallows you have on hand. Fresh marshmallows make more delicately chewy treats. 
• If you can't find a 10-ounce bag of marshmallows you can usually use 40 regular-size OR 6 cups of mini marshmallows. Different brands of marshmallows do weigh different amounts, so it's always best to use the measurement listed in the nutrition label. 
• Check out our marshmallow conversion chart for more specifics. 

TOOLS YOU'LL NEED: 

• medium-large saucepan
• 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan 
• large mixing bowl
• silicone spatula or large mixing spoon
• butter or cooking spray to grease your pan, bowl, and spatula (I prefer the flavor of butter, but the non-stick spray works too.)

buy ingredients & supplies

You can find the ingredients and supplies to make these marshmallow cereal treats from Amazon. I earn a small commission for any sales when you use the links below at NO extra cost to you. 

Let's make some sprinkle cereal bars.

step 1 - Combine sprinkles and cereal in a bowl.

• Grease a large mixing bowl with butter or baking spray.
• Pour the Rice Krispies cereal into the bowl.
• Reserve 1-2 tablespoons of sprinkles and pour the rest over the cereal unless you are using the rainbow chips (candy-coated chocolate chips). Wait to sprinkle those in after you mix in the marshmallows. 

step 2 - Melt butter and marshmallows.

1. Begin to melt 4 tablespoons of European-style Salted Butter in a medium-large saucepan set over low heat.
2. Add 10 ounces of marshmallows.
3. Stir the marshmallows occasionally until about 75% have melted. 
4. Then remove the pan from the heat, and continue to stir, smashing the marshmallows, until they have all melted.
   • Removing the marshmallows before they all melt helps to keep them from getting too hot which can cause your treats to be too hard. 

I like to use the stovetop to melt my marshmallows and butter but if you would rather skip the stove, you can use our Microwave Rice Krispie Treats recipe instead. 

step 3 - pour marshmallows over cereal & sprinkles

• Pour the melted marshmallows over the cereal.
  • We have found pouring the melted butter and marshmallows over the cereal is better than adding the cereal to the hot pan. Oftentimes, when the cereal is added to the hot pan, the pieces of crisp rice get soft and the treats taste soggy and stale instead of crispy and fresh.  
  • If you are using the rainbow chips (candy-coated mini chocolate chips), let the mixture cool for five minutes before stirring in the chips. 

step 4 - Mix everything together.

• Stir the melted butter and marshmallows with the cereal and sprinkles just until combined. 
• The gooey marshmallows and cereal won't stick the bowl too much because it has been greased! That is another reason we like pouring the marshmallows over the cereal instead of adding the cereal to the pan. It's always much stickier when you add the cereal to the pan. 

step 5 - spread into a pan

1. Grease an 8-inch square pan with butter.
2. Gently spread the rainbow sprinkle crispy treat mixture into the pan. 
3. Press the remaining sprinkles over the top.
4. Cover and set aside for at least 30 minutes.  
5. Remove the treats from the pan and cut them into 16 squares.

How to store these sprinkles treats?

• Place them in an airtight container and leave them at room temperature for up to 5 days.
• Do not refrigerate your treats. They wick up moisture which makes refrigerated treats taste stale. 

Can I freeze them?

Yes, you can! Freezing does work as long as the treats are wrapped well. 

• If you want to freeze the treats, wrap them really well in non-stick tin foil or wax paper, then place them in a large zip-top bag, and place them in the freezer for up to three months.
• To thaw the treats, pull them out of the freezer and let them sit at room temperature in the packaging for at least an hour before opening the bag.

If you are using the candy-coated mini chocolate chips, add them after you have mixed the melted butter and marshmallows with the cereal. 

I let the cereal cool for about five minutes before adding the chips just to make sure they didn't melt. 

If you are using rainbow nonpareils to make your sprinkle Rice Krispie treats, you can toss the sprinkles in with the cereal or wait until after you've mixed in the marshmallows. Either way works fine. 

Just be sure to add lots of sprinkles on top of the rice crispy bars so they look really colorful. 

If you want to ramp up the flavor, you can add cake batter flavoring to your treats.

Grab the recipe to make these Cake Batter Funfetti Rice Krispie Treats, here. 

If you are making these sprinkle treats for a birthday, why not make them look like a birthday cake?

See how to make these Birthday Cake Rice Krispie Treats, here. 

Printable Recipe

Sprinkle Rice Krispie Treats

Beth Klosterboer

Soft and chewy Rice Krispie bars loaded with rainbow sprinkles (jimmies, nonpareils, or rainbow chips) make fun afternoon snacks or birthday party desserts.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 16

Calories 145 kcal

Equipment

• large mixing bowl
• medium skillet
• 8-inch or 9-inch square pan

Ingredients

  

• 4 ⅔ cups Rice Krispies Cereal
• ½ cup rainbow sprinkles
• 4 tablespoons European-style salted butter
• 10 ounces marshmallows

Instructions

 

• Grease a large mixing bowl and an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan with butter or cooking spray.
• Pour the cereal into the bowl.
• Reserve 1-2 tablespoons of the sprinkles and pour the rest into the cereal.
• Begin melting butter in a large saucepan set over low heat.
• Toss in the marshmallows.
• Continue to stir, occasionally, until about 75% of the marshmallows have melted.
• Remove the pan from the heat and continue to stir, smashing the marshmallows, until they melt completely.
• Pour the melted marshmallows over the cereal and stir until well blended.
• Gently spread into the square pan.
• Toss the remaining sprinkles over top.
• Press down on the top of the cereal treats to ensure the sprinkles are secure.
• Allow the treats to cool at least 30 minutes before cutting into 16 squares.

Notes

To use rainbow chips:

If using rainbow chips, wait until the marshmallow cereal treat mixture cools for 5 minutes before stirring them in.

Large batch ingredients: (9x13 pan)

• 7 cups crisp rice cereal
• ¾ cup sprinkles
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 16 ounces marshmallows
• 3 tablespoon sprinkles

To melt in the microwave:

• Heat butter and marshmallows on high power for 1 minute, then remove and stir.
• If needed, heat for 15-second increments, stirring vigorously after each, until melted.

Storage:

• Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
• To freeze, wrap well in non-stick tin foil or wax paper, then over-wrap in a zip-top bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for at least one hour before removing the treats from the bag.

Keyword cereal bars, cereal treats, marshmallows, rice krispie treats, sprinkles

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