Enjoy the refreshing flavor of fresh strawberries in a crunchy, chewy, gooey cereal bar. These homemade Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats have a pretty pink color and are bursting with strawberry flavor. The easy no-bake treats are perfect for summer parties, Valentine's Day, baby showers, and more.
Strawberries + Rice Krispie Treats = Deliciously Amazing Dessert!
We now have created over 100 cereal treat recipes to share with you and this is by far one of my favorites! With every bite, you will taste a delicious combination of fresh-tasting strawberries, sweet vanilla-flavored marshmallows, rich and creamy butter, and crisp rice cereal.
The texture is perfectly crunchy and chewy because I started with our award-winning Rice Krispie Treat Recipe and simply stirred in freeze-dried strawberries.
I experimented with several different strawberry rice crispy recipes before landing on this one.
My experiments included using Kellogg's Strawberry Rice Krispies, strawberry-flavored marshmallows, strawberry extract, and even strawberry Jell-O. None of these treats had the fresh strawberry flavor that I wanted. They all tasted artificial and I knew I could do better.
Freeze-dried strawberries added the fresh flavor I was looking for and they were so easy to include in this recipe.
Freeze-dried strawberries are made from real strawberries that are dried until crunchy. They are dried at their peak of freshness so they have an intense strawberry flavor.
You can eat them straight out of the bag or you can toss them into a bowl of cereal and pour on some milk. The berries soften when hydrated.
But, my personal preference, is to use them to make these marshmallow cereal treats.
You can find pouches at most grocery stores and health food stores.
You can also order freeze-dried strawberries from Amazon.
You'll need approximately 2 ounces of the strawberries to make these treats so be sure to check the weight. If your pouches are a bit larger, don't worry about getting an exact measurement. Using a bit more than 2 ounces will be fine.
You can easily crush the dried strawberries using a food processor. Just pulse it until the strawberries are broken down into small pieces. Some will become powder, which is fine too.
You can also crush the strawberries using a mortar and pestle.
Or you can smash them (still in their pouch or in a large zip-top bag) using a meat mallet, a rolling pin, or the bottom of a skillet.
Now that the strawberries are crushed, you can now make your treats.
Ingredients:
- Rice Krispies Cereal
- freeze-dried strawberries
- salted butter - We recommend using European-style butter, like Kerrygold, for the best flavor.
- marshmallows - We recommend using Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallows. Be sure to check out our Marshmallow Conversion Chart for weights and measurements of various brands of marshmallows.
Instructions
Grease an extra-large mixing bowl with butter. Pour the Rice Krispies cereal into the bowl.
Place the butter in a medium-large saucepan over low heat and allow the butter to begin melting.
Pour the 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.
Reserve about 2 tablespoons of the larger pieces of strawberries, then pour the rest over the cereal
Mix the strawberry powder and cereal together. Then, pour the melted marshmallows over top.
Stir until well blended. You want all of the cereal to be evenly coated.
Gently spread the treat mixture into a well-buttered 8-inch or 9-inch pan.
Sprinkle the reserved strawberry pieces over the treats and press down to ensure they stick.
How to prepare my pan?
- I prefer to use a non-stick pan to make my cereal treats because even as gooey as they can be they won't stick much to a non-stick pan.
- To ensure the treats won't stick I like to butter the pan first.
- You can also spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray if you prefer.
- If you use a glass pan it will be essential that you butter or spray the pan.
- You can use an 8-inch or 9-inch pan with this recipe.
Can I use a 9"X13" inch pan?
- Yes, but you will need to adjust the quantities. See the notes in the recipe below for quantities.
Let the treats cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before cutting them into squares or rectangles.
Substitutions
You can use vegan butter or coconut oil in place of the butter. See our coconut oil Rice Krispie Treats for step-by-step instructions.
If you want vegan treats, be sure to check out our Vegan and Gluten-Free Rice Krispie Treats recipe. You can simply add the freeze-dried strawberries to that recipe.
Variations
If you love chocolate and strawberries, make a batch of our Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats and stir in the dried strawberry pieces or make Chocolate-Dipped Rice Krispie Treats using these rice krispie treats with strawberries.
You could also mix in some mini chocolate chips to get that same flavor combo. If you prefer white chocolate and strawberries, make our White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats and add the freeze-dried fruit.
You can even scoop out the strawberry cereal treat mixture onto chocolate-dipped ice cream cones. See the recipe and video tutorial to make these fun Rice Krispie Treat Ice Cream Cones here.
More Recipes
Storage
Store these strawberry treats in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Or, freeze them for up to 3 months. See our How To Freeze Rice Krispie Treats post for details.
Tips
- Do use crunchy freeze-dried strawberries. If they are soft when you remove them from the package, you won't be able to crush them into a powder.
- Do not overheat your marshmallows!!! If you do, your treats will be too hard.
- Do not compact the treats when pressing them into the pan. Once again, your treats will be too hard.
- Do use fresh marshmallows. Stale marshmallows may also make hard treats.
- Do pour the melted butter and marshmallows over a bowl of cereal and strawberries. If you add the cereal to a hot pan, the crisp rice can become soft and your treats will taste stale.
- For more tips and tricks for making perfect cereal treats be sure to check out our Cereal Treats FAQ page.
Video
Be sure to watch the video to see how easy it is to make these treats.
Recipe
Be sure to rate the recipe using the star rating system in the comment section below.
Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats
Equipment
- 8-inch non-stick pan
- large mixing bowl
- medium-large saucepan
Ingredients
- 4 ⅔ cups Rice Krispies Cereal
- 2 ounces freeze-dried strawberries, crushed into very small pieces or powder
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 10 ounces marshmallows
Instructions
- Grease an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan and a large mixing bowl with either butter or non-stick cooking spray.
- Pour 4 ⅔ cups crispy rice cereal and 2 ounces crushed strawberries in the large mixing bowl and set aside.
- Pour 4 tablespoons of European Salted Butter and 10 ounces mini or regular sized marshmallows into a medium-large saucepan.
- Set the pan over low heat and allow to melt, stirring often, until about 75% of the marshmallows are melted.
- Remove the pan from the heat and continue to stir until all the marshmallows melt.
- Pour the hot marshmallows over the strawberries and cereal.
- Stir until well blended.
- Gently press the cereal treats into the prepared pan.
- Let the treats cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into 16 squares.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Large Batch Recipe
To make these treats in a 9x13-inch pan, use these ingredients:- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 16 ounces marshmallows
- 7 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
- 3 ounces freeze-dried strawberries
Storage
Store your treats in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Or, package the treats in a single layer in a large zip-top bag, or wrap in tin foil, or wrap in wax paper and place in an airtight container, and freeze for up to 3 months.How to store cereal treats?
- Your cereal treats will taste best if eaten within the first few days but they will stay crispy and fresh for up to 10 days if stored properly in an airtight container or large zip-top bag.
- Do not refrigerate the treats as they may become soggy and soft.
- You can freeze them if you wrap them well in plastic wrap, over-wrap them in tin foil, then place them in a large zip-top bag. They'll keep for up to 3 months.
You might also like this other fun treat idea.
Donna Invac says
I was looking for a fun dessert for spring and I saw this on Pinterest. I am so glad I tried the recipe. The strawberry flavor was so nice and I love the pretty pink color. Everyone loved these unusual rice krispie treats.
Beth Klosterboer says
I'm so glad you clicked over from Pinterest and that you enjoyed this recipe!
Rhonda says
super easy to make but exponentially better than traditional rice krispy treats. I added white chocolate chips, crumbled freeze-dried strawberries & mini marshmallows after mixing the krispies & powdered strawberries together. So good!
Beth Klosterboer says
I love the idea of adding white chocolate chips to make a strawberries and cream treat. Sounds yummy! I'm so glad you liked the recipe.