Easy Christmas Tree Rice Krispies Treats
Turn a traditional snack into festive fun with these Easy Christmas Tree Rice Krispies Treats! Get that gorgeous green with matcha powder or food coloring, then decorate like a tree. They’re easy to make, family-friendly, and delicious!
- Total Time50 minutes
- Yield10 trees 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 ounces mini marshmallows (about 2 cups)
- 1-2 teaspoons matcha powder, sifted OR 6-12 drops green food coloring
- 3.5 ounces Rice Krispies puffed rice cereal (about 3 1/2 cups)
- flaky sea salt (optional)
- 1.5 ounces white chocolate (melting wafers or chips)
- decorations: holiday sprinkles, mini m&ms, nonpareils, crushed freeze-dried strawberries, whatever you have on hand
Instructions
- Prep & heat: Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper or a double layer of plastic wrap, leaving a couple inches of overhang around the edges. In a medium saucepan over low heat, add the butter and mini marshmallows, stirring constantly, until melted together into a completely smooth mixture.
- Add coloring: Turn off the heat. Add the matcha powder or green food coloring and stir until it has turned a uniform green. The amount you add will dictate the final color. Here are the coloring options I tested:
- 2 teaspoons matcha powder: This method has the most vivid green color and a nice matcha flavor.
- 1 teaspoon matcha powder: This has a decent green color and a mild matcha taste that is balanced out with white chocolate.
- green gel food coloring: This makes a light green color, and tastes like a regular Rice Krispies Treat. Different food coloring brands will give different shades of colors!
- Add cereal & press: Pour in the puffed cereal, and stir until it’s well coated. It may take a minute or two of stirring to coat all the cereal. Check the bottom of the pan to make sure you’ve mixed it all in. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and smooth down the top, pressing with the back of your spatula to flatten. Be sure to get it into the corners and press well. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Melt chocolate: Meanwhile, place the white chocolate in a double boiler or on a warmer in a heat safe container to melt, stirring occasionally. If using white chocolate chips, you may need to add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil to get a drizzling consistency. Melting wafers will work on their own.
- Cut into trees: Place the block of chilled Rice Krispie Treats on a cutting board. Use a large sharp chef’s knife to cut the block down the middle. Then, cut each rectangular block into tree-shaped triangles by alternating cutting directions. You should get 5 trees from each block, plus two half-sized tree scraps from each end. These are treats for the cook! Check the cutting diagram photo if needed.
- Decorate: Using a spoon, drizzle lines of white chocolate across each tree to mimic garlands or tinsel. You can be as neat or quick as you want. Sprinkle over your decorations before the chocolate sets. Again, you can be as neat or quick with the decorations as you want. To help the chocolate set more quickly, you can place the trees in the fridge again, but it’s not required.
- Store: Store decorated trees in a container with lid on the counter and enjoy within 3 days for best quality.
Notes
Decorating party: The cut trees can be made ahead of time and included in a cookie decorating style party. You can make more batches at once if you have extra pans to press them into.
Nutrition information estimated with My Fitness Pal.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Sweets
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tree
- Calories: 141
- Fat: 6g
- Carbohydrates: 21g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 1g