This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
These Christmas Rice Krispie Treats are great to make with kids. They are easy and fun to make, plus they look so festive for the holiday season!
These are one of the easiest Christmas cookies to make. If you are not a baker or just short on time, as many of us are at this time of the year…this is the recipe for you.
There is something about Rice Krispies Treats, isn’t there? Adults love them, kids love them…they are a hit all around. And adding a bit of chocolate to them with the M&M’s makes your chocolate lovers like them even more!
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works:
- You only need five ingredients to make these Christmas cookies!
- Very simple recipe.
- It is a kid-friendly recipe…kids can help with making these!
- They can be made in less than an hour.
Grocery Shopping List:
- unsalted butter
- one package of marshmallows
- Rice Krispies cereal
- mini M&M candy
- green food coloring
- white cookie icing (optional)
To tint the cereal mixture, you can use regular food coloring. However, for a more vibrant green, use something like Chefmaster food coloring. You just need a small amount for a beautiful, bright green color for your trees. The set comes in handy for other recipes like making cut out cookies for the holiday seasons.
How to make these treats:
Grease your 13×9 baking pan and set that aside.
In a medium to large sized pot, melt the butter over low heat. As the butter is just about melted, add in the marshmallows and stir with a large spoon or spatula.
Stir until the marshmallows are coated with the butter and the marshmallows are completely melted. Remove the pan from the heat once the marshmallows are completely melted.
It is best to add in the food coloring before the cereal. This way the color will mix in better with the marshmallow.
When adding the food coloring, it makes a difference which food coloring you choose to use when adding it to the marshmallow mixture…
- If you are using regular food coloring, start with 8-10 drops.
- When using the food coloring that I mentioned above, start with 4-5 drops.
If you want to make the color darker, add a couple of drops at a time and stir until you get the color you are looking for.
Once you have the marshmallow mixture colored, add in the Rice Krispie cereal, adding a couple of cups of cereal in at a time. It makes it much easier to combine the ingredients if you add a little bit of cereal in at a time.
Using a buttered spatula or large spoon, press the cereal into your pan evenly. Butter is super helpful when working with Rice Krispie Treats.
Recipe Tip: Buttering the spatula or spoon keeps the cereal and marshmallow mixture from sticking and makes the job a whole lot easier!
Butter your tree shaped cookie cutter and press down all the way on to the Rice Krispie treats.
Immediately remove the cookie cutter along with the Rice Krispie tree. If it sticks a little, use the spatula to help lift it out.
Place the trees on parchment paper so that they don’t stick to your counter or table. Gently press the mini M&M candy onto the trees and decorate. This part is great for kids to help out with!
Recipe Tip: It is best to do this step right away while they are still warm so that the M&M’s stick.
How to add the Icing to the trees:
This year, we added some white cookie icing to some of trees to make it look like there is snow on the them. This is optional and just gives the trees a different look.
To do this, just squeeze the icing out over the trees and do some curvy lines across the trees. This will give you a snowy look to your trees.
How many trees will you get? This depends on the size of your cookie cutter. My cookie cutter is abot 3″ and we typically get about 16 trees.
What if I have extra cereal mixture after cutting the trees? You can combine the rest of the mixture together with your hands (buttered hands is much easier), flatten it out and cut our more trees. If you have just a small amount left over, roll them into balls (add M&M’s if you would like to do that).
Recipe tips:
- Butter your spatula or spoon and your cookie cutter so the cereal mixture will not stick to them.
- When adding in the cereal, add in a couple of cups in at at time.
- After you cut out the trees, place them on parchment paper so they don’t stick the the counter. Plus, easier clean up!
- To use up the most of your Rice Krispie treats, cut the trees close to each other when cutting them out.
- Add the mini M&M’s right after they are cut so the M&M’s will stick easier.
- Rice Krispie Treats are best when eaten within two days of making them. If they are not as soft after a couple of days, you can soften them by placing them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds.
More cookie recipes for you:
Here are some of our favorite cookies to make during the holidays. Although, they taste great any day of the year! Try these Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, Easy Fudge (Christmas Wreath), Sugar Cookies, and Meringue Cookies.
If you’ve made this recipe, let me know how you liked it in the comments/ratings below. I love hearing from you!
You can also FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK OR PINTEREST for my recipes.
Christmas Rice Krispie Treats
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 package (10 ounce) marshmallows
- 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
- green food coloring
- mini M&M’s
- butter to grease pan, spatula and cookie cutter
- white cookie icing, optional
Instructions
- Grease the bottom and sides of your 13 x 9 pan with butter. Set aside the pan.
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat until it is just about melted. Add in the marshmallows Stir until the marshmallows are coated with the butter and completely melted. Remove pan from heat.
- Add in the green food coloring and stir until the coloring in mixed in well. If you are using regular food coloring, start with 8-10 drops. I like to use Chefmaster food coloring, which gives a more vibrant color. If you use this food coloring, start with 4-5 drops. If you want a darker green, add in a couple of drops of the coloring you are using at a time and stir. Repeat until you have your desired color.
- Add in the Rice Krispies cereal, two cups at a time, and stir well until evenly coated with the marshmallow mixture.
- Using a buttered spatula press the cereal mixture into your pan evenly.
- Grease the sides of your tree shaped cookie cutter with butter. Press down onto the Rice Krispies treats with the cookie cutter. Remove the trees from the pan while still in the cookie cutter and place them onto parchment paper. Gently press the mini M&M candy onto the trees and decorate.
- Repeat cutting out Christmas trees until you have used up all of the Rice Krispies mixture. Try to cut the trees close together to use up the most cereal mixture.
- Store them in a covered container for up to two days.
Notes
- Butter your spatula or spoon and your cookie cutter so the cereal mixture will not stick to them.
- When adding in the cereal, add in a couple of cups in at at time.
- After you cut out the trees, place them on parchment paper so they don’t stick the the counter. Plus, easier clean up!
- To use up the most of your Rice Krispie treats, cut the trees close to each other when cutting them out.
- Add the mini M&M’s right after they are cut so the M&M’s will stick easier.
- Rice Krispie Treats are best when eaten within two days of making them. If they are not as soft after a couple of days, you can soften them by placing them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds.
- How many trees you will get from this recipe depends on the size of your cookie cutter. My tree cookie cutter is about 3″ and we typically get 16 trees.
Nutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
Update Note: This recipe was originally posted earlier, but was published again in 2020 to include step by step directions and new photos.
I think I will use these in my classroom for a fun holiday party idea. Great idea!
That sounds like fun! Happy holidays Bridget!
Jeannie
Ahhh… Rice Krispie treats brings me back to my childhood. The colored Christmas trees are such a cute idea. My daughter loved helping to decorate these trees.
My family loves when I make this for them, so I make them every year! These are fun treats for the holidays and kids love them! Great recipe!🌲
Thanks Sabrina! Glad your family loves them! Hope you had a great holiday!
Jeannie