These white chocolate pumpkin spice rice krispie treats take the classic marshmallow treats and give them a fall spin with pumpkin pie spices. Cut into cute pumpkin shapes, these rice krispie treats are dipped in white chocolate and topped with sprinkles for a festive holiday treat.
Easy Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats make the cutest Halloween or Thanksgiving dessert!
Rice cereal treats are one of those things that I know are good, but I tend to forget just how good they actually are until I make a batch and proceed to eat the entire batch because I can’t get enough of the marshmallow goodness.
Plus, they’re so simple to make from scratch, and even this cute pumpkin spice version (that does require a couple of extra steps, because they are cut out into cute pumpkin shapes) is such an easy recipe. And as we know from my Lucky Charms Rice Krispie Treats, I’m a sucker for anything cute!
To make this rice cereal treat fall flavored, we add in a healthy dose of pumpkin pie spice: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Then we dip in white chocolate, because white chocolate pairs really well with warm cinnamon spices. And to make things extra cutesy, we add sprinkles (because sprinkles really do make everything better. True story.)
While I love to whip these pumpkin spice marshmallow cereal treats with white chocolate all season long, they make a really fun and easy Halloween rice krispie treat, especially if you use black and orange sprinkles! Of course, you can use any kind of fall sprinkle to make this a perfect fall dessert for Thanksgiving too.
My favorite thing about these White Chocolate Pumpkin Rice Krispies Treats:
- Extra Marshmallows: I’m a big believer that you can’t have too many marshmallows when it comes to rice crispy treats. My favorite thing to do is add extra whole marshmallows to the cereal treats right before spreading them in the pan. You can also use pumpkin spice marshmallows too!
- Spice: We use pumpkin spice, which gives a lot of the flavors of pumpkin without using pumpkin puree. I’ve tried a few rice krispie treats with pumpkin puree and found I really didn’t love the texture. Using pumpkin spice gives the seasonal flavor without ruining the texture.
- White Chocolate: I love white chocolate—a lot. But I will absolutely tell you that when it comes to using white chocolate, it needs to be a high quality white chocolate baking bar rather than white chocolate chips. The chips often have different additives, which not only change the flavor, but also make it difficult to melt. Alternatively, you can use vanilla almond bark or vanilla candy coating (Ghirardelli makes a really good vanilla candy coating).
Ingredients:
- Crispy Rice Cereal: You can use any crispy rice cereal you like. My favorite, obviously, is Rice Krispies, but you can use any kind you like.
- Marshmallows: Mini marshmallows are best, because they melt a little more evenly than the big ones. Plus, I use the 16oz bag, which gives an extra 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups of leftover marshmallows to add to the rice krispie treats before putting them in the pan.
- Unsalted Butter
- Vanilla Extract
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Nutmeg
- Ground Ginger
- Ground Cloves
- White Chocolate: As mentioned earlier, use a really good white chocolate bar or use vanilla almond bark. Both of these will melt easier in the microwave than white chocolate chips.
- Sprinkles: You can use any type of sprinkles you like—since this is a fall recipe, I opted for some black and orange Halloween sprinkles.
How To Make These Pumpkin Pie Spice Rice Krispie Treats:
This is a brief overview of how to make white chocolate dipped pumpkin spice rice cereal treats. The full recipe with a printable option is down below.
- Melt: In a large pot or large saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Once the unsalted butter is melted, add in the mini marshmallows and continue to stir until they are completely melted.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: Remove the marshmallow mixture from the heat and stir in vanilla extract and ground pumpkin spices until combined.
- Cereal: Then, add in rice cereal and extra marshmallows. Stir until combined.
- Pan: Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper (or wax paper) and press the rice crispy treats into the pan in an even layer.
- Pro Tip: Wet your hands with warm water and then press the cereal mixture into the pan. The warm water prevents the cereal mixture from sticking to your hands. You could also spray your hands with baking spray, but warm water is my favorite way to do it.
- Set: Allow the bars to set up 10 minutes. Then, using a pumpkin cookie cutter, cut out individual pumpkin shaped rice krispie treats. And, after you cut out the first batch of pumpkin rice krispie treats, press the remaining rice krispies together in a flat square and cut out more shapes.
- Pro Tip: Dip the pumpkin cookie cutter in warm water before pressing into the cereal treats. This will help prevent the marshmallow treats from sticking to the cookie cutter.
- Chill: Let the pumpkin shaped cereal treats sit in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before dipping in white chocolate. They will be firmer and easier to dip.
- White Chocolate: In the microwave or a double broiler, melt white chocolate until smooth. Dip each marshmallow rice krispie treat halfway into the melted white chocolate, then place on parchment paper to set. Add the sprinkles on top of the white chocolate before it sets.
Storage Tips:
You can store Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispies in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge.
Pan Size:
- I like to use a 9×13 inch baking dish lined with parchment paper or tin foil. This is generally the right thickness for a cookie cutter.
- However, if you do not want to turn these into pumpkin shapes, you can use a 9×9 square pan for thick rice krispie treats.
Pumpkin Cookie Cutter:
You can also use any size cookie cutter you have—a standard size should make about 10-12 pumpkin shaped rice krispy treats. Or, you can use another fall cookie cutter, like an acorn or a leaf!
Variations:
- White Chocolate: If you don’t love white chocolate, you can use regular chocolate or dark chocolate.
- Marshmallows: I love using classic mini marshmallows but you can use different kinds of marshmallows, like colorful ones or flavored ones. Sometimes you can find pumpkin spice marshmallows, and they would be great in these pumpkin spice rice krispies!
- Shape: You definitely don’t have to use a cookie cutter for these. You can just cut them into squares if you prefer.
- Cinnamon Chips: Cinnamon chips can be hard to find, but they are often available this time of year and these pumpkin rice krispies treats pair so well with them! Or you can add caramel chips or even peanut butter chips.
Other Cute Halloween Treats To Make:
Best Baking Tips:
- More Marshmallows: I think the best way to make pumpkin rice krispies is with extra marshmallows! I love adding in whole mini marshmallows when adding in the crispy rice cereal. It’s nice to have that whole marshmallow texture.
- Warm Water: Wet your hands with warm water and then press the marshmallow treats into the pan. The warm water prevents your hands from sticking to the treats. Additionally, dip your cookie cutter in warm water before cutting into the treats.
- Texture: If you want really gooey rice krispie treats, don’t “pack” them into the pan. Press lightly to form them into an even bar shape, but don’t press so hard they get packed together too much. If you like a really chewy one, then press into the pan until they feel really packed in there!
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: If you want to use pumpkin pie spice specifically, use 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon + 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice.
- Sprinkles: Use any kind of fall sprinkles to make these cute Halloween Rice Krispies!
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 7 cups mini marshmallows (about one 16 oz bag)
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 cups rice cereal (like rice krispies)
- 12 oz white chocolate or vanilla almond bark
- Fall sprinkles
- Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper or wax paper.* Set aside.
- In a large pot or saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter.
- Once melted, add in 5 1/2 cups of mini marshmallows, and stir over med-low heat until just melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.
- Add in the vanilla extract and pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger), and mix until well combined.
- Finally, add in the rice cereal and remaining 1 1/2 cups of mini marshmallows. Mix until combined.
- Gently press the pumpkin spice rice krisipie treats into your prepared baking dish into an even layer.**
- Pro Tip: Wet your hands or a rubber spatula with warm water and then press the rice krispie treats into the pan. This prevents the treats from sticking to your hands (or spatula).
- Allow the cereal marshmallow treats to set in the pan for about 10 minutes.
- Next, remove the rice krispies from the pan (so it’s easier to cut them with the cookie cutter). Dip the cookie cutter in warm water and then cut out as many pumpkins as you can, placing the pumpkin shaped treats on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Press any remaining rice krispies together to form a square and cut out more pumpkin shapes. Repeat this until you can’t anymore.***
- Place the pumpkin spice rice krispies in the fridge for about 20 minutes. This will firm them up a bit so that they are easier to dip in the chocolate.
- Melt the white chocolate or almond bark in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring after each hit in the microwave.
- Dip each rice krispie about halfway into the white chocolate and then place back on the parchment lined baking sheet.
- Add the sprinkles before the chocolate sets.
- Allow the chocolate to set about 10-15 minutes before eating.
- You can leave them at room temperature or refrigerate them.
*9x13 is the perfect thickness for a cookie cutter. If you plan to just cut the rice krispies into squares, you can also use a 9x9 square pan.
**If you press the treats too hard into the pan, they will be very tough and chewy so you want to press gently.
***Depending upon the size of your pumpkin cookie cutter, you will be able to make about 12-14 pumpkin shaped rice krispie treats.
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