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Made with puffed rice cereal, marshmallows, butter, and vibrant gel food coloring, this rainbow Rice Krispie treats recipe will make a colorful addition to picnics, parties, and Pride celebrations all summer long.
Why Make This Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats Recipe?
These layered rainbow Rice Krispie treats offer a multicolored twist on the classic marshmallow-and-cereal dessert, adding a splash of cheer to children’s birthday parties, school events, Pride Month celebrations, or any event celebrating diversity and inclusivity.
Made with just four ingredients, this easy-to-make Rice Krispie treats recipe comes together in about an hour, plus a little bit of additional time to allow the treats to cool before slicing. Nut-free as written, you can also make these rainbow treats gluten free by choosing a gluten free puffed rice cereal, such as Whole Foods Brown Rice Crisps.
How to Make Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats
To make this rainbow Rice Krispie treats recipe, begin by dividing the marshmallows, salted butter, and puffed rice cereal into six equally-sized portions.
One portion at a time, melt the butter in a medium saucepan, stir in the marshmallows, add a few drops of gel food coloring, and mix in the cereal. Then, just press the tinted layers into a square tin lined with baking parchment. Be sure to work backwards from purple to red—you want the red layer to end up on top!
After that, just allow your treats to cool for 30-60 minutes, slice into squares, and enjoy!
What Food Coloring Should I Use to Make Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats?
Gel food coloring (I prefer the Chefmaster brand) is a must for making these rainbow Rice Krispie treats.
For this batch, I used Christmas Red, Sunset Orange, Lemon Yellow, Leaf Green, Sky Blue, and Violet. Feel free to vary the shades. For instance, I sometimes like to use Chefmaster‘s Neon Brites line—the orange, green, and blue work nicely if you prefer brighter colors.
One tip: Use gel food coloring rather than the kind from the grocery store, or you’ll end up adding the better part of a bottle of water-based color, rather than a few drops of gel.
Rainbow Rice Krispie Treat Tips and Tricks
Do not skip the parchment tin preparation! Lining the tray with a criss-cross of parchment (see the recipe below for instructions) will prevent the treats from sticking to the metal. The parchment also creates a “sling” or “handles,” making it much easier to lift the slab from the tray and transfer it to a cutting board for slicing.
When adding the layers of marshmallpw-cereal mixture, press down gently with damp or oiled fingertips to distribute it evenly across the surface of the tin. Don’t press too firmly (packing the cereal into the tin will make the bars difficult to slice, and even more difficult to bite!) and don’t worry if you see some thin or patchy spots here and there.
You can add as much (or as little) gel food coloring as you’d like. You will need a decent amount to create very vibrant colors. For reference, I added 7-8 drops of food coloring (per layer) to achieve the colors shown here.
Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions
Rice Krispie treats definitely taste best on the day they’re made. You can store leftovers in an airtight container (layer the treats between parchment or wax paper to prevent sticking) at room temperature for a few days, but by day three you’ll notice that the treats have passed their freshness peak.
Other rainbow dessert recipes you might enjoy:
Rainbow Whoopie Pies
Slice and Bake Rainbow Heart Cookies
Chocolate Chip Rainbow Biscotti
Rainbow Rocky Road Slice
And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!
Print
Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats Recipe
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 16 2-inch squares 1x
Ingredients
90 grams salted butter (6 tablespoons), divided into 6 portions (15 grams, or 1 tablespoon per portion)
420 grams marshmallows (about 6 cups large marshmallows), divided into 6 portions (about 70 grams, or 9 marshmallows per portion)
210 grams puffed rice cereal (about 7 cups), divided into 6 portions (about 35 grams, or 1 cup per portion)
Gel food coloring: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple
Nonstick spray, for greasing tin and knife
Instructions
Line an 8 x 8-inch square tin with parchment, and spray generously with nonstick spray.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a medium saucepan. Melt the butter.
Stir in one 70 gram-portion of the marshmallows, and continue stirring until completely melted.
Remove from heat. Add the purple food coloring. (I used 8 drops.)
Stir in one 35 gram-portion of the puffed rice cereal, and continue stirring until well combined, with no dry cereal remaining.
Pour mixture onto prepared tin.
Press down with damp fingertips, distributing evenly across the surface of the tin. (Don’t press too firmly, and don’t worry if you see some thin spots here and there.)
Repeat the above steps, tinting the mixture with blue, green, yellow, orange, and red coloring.
Set pan aside and allow to cool at room temperature for at least one hour.
Using the parchment as handles, carefully lift the Rice Krispie treat slab from the tin. Transfer to a cutting board.
With a greased chef’s knife, slice into squares.
Serve immediately. Layer leftover treats between sheets of parchment and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.
- Category: Brownies and Traybakes
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Desserts