Chocolate Chip Rice Krispie Treats

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Thick and chewy Rice Krispie Treats made with brown butter and loaded with semisweet chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. These Rice Krispie Treats are the perfect combo of a sweet marshmallow treat and a chocolate chip cookie!

How to make Chocolate Chip Rice Krispie Treats

Makes 12-16 Rice Krispie Squares

Ingredients You’ll Need:

• 1 1/2 cups (10 oz) of semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 (16oz) bag of mini marshmallows, divided
• 6 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal
• 1 stick (4oz) of unsalted butter, browned. Instructions below*.
• 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Prep the ingredients:

Freeze the chocolate chips. Pour the chocolate chips into a freezer safe bowl and store in the freezer while you make the treats.

Measure out your marshmallows and cereal. In a large bowl, measure out 6 cups of Rice Krispies cereal and set it aside. In a separate small bowl, measure out 2 cups of mini marshmallows and set those aside as well.

Prep the pan. Line the middle of a 13″ x 9″ baking pan with parchment paper. Allow some of the parchment to hang over the sides of the pan, making a sling. Give the paper and the pan a spritz with cooking spray.

Brown The Butter

Browning the butter is an extra step, but is totally worth it to make these treats taste like a batch of chocolate chip cookies!

If you don’t wish to brown the butter first, skip this step and just melt 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter with the marshmallows.

Here’s how to brown the butter:

I have a complete “How to make brown butter” post for step by step directions!

In a 2qt or larger saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter is melted and starts to bubble, turn the heat down to medium low.

Stir the butter constantly to prevent splatter. If the butter starts bubbling too furiously, lower the heat.

You’ll start to see the milk solids gathering at the bottom of the pot and clearer liquid rise above. After about 2-3 minutes (add an extra minute if cooking on an electric stovetop) the milk solids will have turned golden brown. Immediately remove the pot from the heat to prevent burning. The milk solids will continue to cook in the residual heat and turn a deep caramel color.

Time to make Rice Krispie Treats

Melt the mini marshmallows. Off heat, add the rest of the bag of mini marshmallows to the browned butter. Return the pan to the stovetop and heat over medium low heat until the mixture is melted and smooth, stirring constantly.

Once the marshmallows are completely melted, remove the pot from the heat.

Add the flavorings. Stir the vanilla and salt into the marshmallow mixture.

Get everything ready and mix the ingredients. Remove the chocolate chips from the freezer, grab the 2 cups of reserved marshmallows and have them ready to go.

Grab the large bowl of Rice Krispies and pour the brown butter marshmallow mixture over the top of the cereal. Working quickly, mix the goo into the Rice Krispies until everything is about three-quarters of the way combined. Add the 2 cups of reserved marshmallows and 1/2 cup of the frozen chocolate chips to the Rice Krispies bowl. Finish mixing everything together until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

FYI-the some of the chocolate chips will fall out into the bottom of the bowl, but that’s ok.

Layer the Rice Krispie Treats and chocolate chips. Scoop out half of the Rice Krispies Treat mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spread out the mixture slightly, but don’t press down at this time. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of frozen chocolate chips over the top of the Rice Krispies layer. Allow some of the chocolate chips to fall off the cereal treats into the pan.

If there are any chocolate chips sitting at the bottom of the mixing bowl, sprinkle those over the Rice Krispies layer too.

Scoop the second half of the Rice Krispies mixture over the first layer. Sprinkle evenly with 1/4 cup of frozen chocolate chips.

Press the mixture into the baking dish. Press the cereal mixture into the dish so that it’s even and compact. You can do this cleanly by spraying a piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray and setting it over the Rice Krispies mixture while you’re pressing. Sprinkle the pan with the last 1/4 cup of frozen chocolate chips and gently press them in to adhere. Use these chocolate chips to fill in any parts of the treats missing chocolate.

Let set and cut. Wrap the pan firmly in plastic wrap and let cool and set up for 1 hour. Once set, cut into 12 large squares or 16 rectangles for a smaller portion.

Storing Leftovers:

Transfer your Rice Krispie Treats to an airtight container or ziptop bag and store them at room temperature. You can also leave them in their baking dish, but make sure to wrap really well in plastic wrap.

These treats will keep for about 3-4 days.

Why did my Rice Krispie Treats come out hard?

If your treats come out hard, there could be a couple of reasons as to why that happened:

1. Not enough marshmallow goo! I’ve made the original recipe off the cereal box before and honestly, there were not enough marshmallows for me. BUT the recipe listed on the bag of mini marshmallows calls for a whopping 5 1/2 cups (10 oz) and this is the perfect amount for me. With that being said, this chocolate chip Rice Krispie treat recipe uses closer to 11-12 oz of marshmallows, so you can be assured these will be chewy to the max!
2. Marshmallows were melted too hot. Melting the marshmallows gradually over a lower heat will not only prevent burning, but it will keep the mixture from losing a lot of moisture and turning it into candy basically. Never allow the marshmallow mixture to boil or simmer!
3. The marshmallows were not fresh. Fresh marshmallows just melt better and they’re full of moisture, which helps to keep the treats from getting dry! If you do have some older marshmallows that need to get used up, use those to mix in with the chocolate chips. Use the fresh marshmallows for melting.
4. The treats weren’t stored properly. Air is the enemy. Store your treats in a super airtight container, ziptop bag, or wrapped really well in plastic wrap at room temp. Anything you can do to keep the air out will be your best chance for keeping these treats soft, chewy, and delicious.

Tips for success:

After several tests, here are my tips to keep your treats nice and clean, with evenly distributed chocolate chips and marshmallows throughout!

• Brown the butter! While this is not totally necessary, browning the butter adds nuttiness, and I think it helps make these Rice Krispie Treats taste like chocolate chip cookies!
• Freeze the chocolate chips. This keeps the chips from melting all throughout your treats.
• Add the chocolate chips and mini marshmallows after the treats have been mixed most of the way. This will help the chips and marshmallows keep their shape and keep them from melting into the treats.
• Alternate the layers of chocolate chips and cereal mixture. Layering the chocolate chips and the cereal is the best way to get all the chocolate incorporated into the Rice Krispie treats. When I tried to stir all the chips in at once, most of them ended up at the bottom of the mixing bowl.

Variations:

• Skip browning the butter and use regular unsalted butter instead. Reduce the amount to 5 tablespoons.
• Add a 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract to the marshmallow mixture to make mint chocolate chip Rice Krispie treats
• For peanut butter chocolate chip Rice Krispie treats, add 1 cup of peanut butter to the marshmallow mixture. Top with melted chocolate too! Instructions here.

Other Rice Krispie Treat Recipes:

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