Brown Butter Vanilla Rice Krispie Treats

These Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats are thick, chewy, and SO full of flavor. If you love standard Rice Krispie Treats, you’ll love this elevated version that’s still simple but elevates some of the ingredients with a few tweaks – and, quite frankly, knocks it out of the park.

I humbly (or not-so-humbly) proclaim that these are THE BEST Rice Krispie Treats. I’m smitten.

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The Story Behind the Recipe

Our daughter is a bonafide Theater Kid™, which I think is so cool! I wish I’d gotten into theater growing up. What a great way to build confidence, express yourself, learn teamwork, and just have a ton of fun!

Last spring, she was in a local community theater play in which the parents pitched in for all kinds of different roles in order to make it happen. Before last year, I had no idea what went into a play – from all that goes into the production side to stage management to set design to prop acquisition to what I ended up helping with: concessions!

Myself and another mom dreamed up some fun themed treats, including a couple of types of Rice Krispie treats (which, if you’re ever doing theater concessions or looking for bake sale ideas, these Rice Krispie treats are something I highly recommend – they’re easy to make ahead of time, cheap to make, and they sell like hotcakes!)

I made a chocolate Rice Krispie treat that I was pretty proud of, and maybe I’ll share that recipe here someday, but mostly what that whole experience did was reignite my love for Rice Krispie treats (and ignited a love for community theater! This week, I’m baking and donating brown butter chocolate chip cookies for another production, and I’m excited to share that recipe here soon, too!)

Anyway, pretty soon, I was setting out to make what, in my mind, is the ultimate Rice Krispie treat. These Brown Butter Vanilla Rice Krispie Treats are basically your classic Rice Krispie treat, but heightened. And oh, are they heightened.

First, I brown the butter before adding the marshmallows. I’m in a bit of browning-butter phase right now – it just adds the best nutty, caramel flavor. Then, I go to town with the vanilla, using both extract and vanilla beans. Yummmm.

Next, I use a bit more marshmallows than the traditional recipe calls for. I didn’t want them too gooey, but I also didn’t want them to be dry, because there’s not much worse than a dry Rice Krispie treat, am I right?

Then, I press them into an 8×8 pan instead of the standard 9×13, because I like a tall Rice Krispie Treat.

Finally, I finish them with a light sprinkle of flaky sea salt. Because hello. Sweet and salty? Always delicious!

Why You’ll Love These Rice Krispie Treats

Still super easy! I love that marshmallow treats can give you such bang for your buck. They’re universally loved but so quick and easy to put together. This recipe calls for a couple of additional steps like browning the butter first, but it’s SO worth a little extra effort, and they’re still super easy overall.

So vanilla-y and full of flavor. I use both vanilla extract AND the seeds from a vanilla bean to maximize the vanilla flavor. I know that using vanilla bean seeds is a bit fussy and they can be expensive, so if you don’t have any, don’t fret! They’ll still be delicious. And that brown butter adds a toasty, nutty flavor note that’s SO good. I love the sprinkle of sea salt, too. Sweet and salty always hits.

Tested and perfected recipe. I made several iterations of this Rice Krispie treat before I settled on the final recipe. I learned that stale marshmallows don’t work well because they take too long to melt, and I worked until I found the exact right ratio of browned butter to marshmallows to Rice Krispies. I came up with the perfect quantity for an 8×8 pan that results in tall (but not crazy tall) Rice Krispie Treats, and I use exactly one 12 ounce bag of marshmallows (I try really hard to not have leftover ingredients when I create recipes). AND I tasted every single iteration, because I’m super self-sacrificing like that. All for you.

Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treat Recipe Ingredients

Butter – But don’t just melt it, brown it! Browning butter essentially consists of cooking it until the milk solids get toasted and caramelized, adding incredible flavor. But be careful! The butter can go from toasty and perfect to burned in seconds. I like to start with unsalted butter so that I can better control the overall salt content in baking recipes.

Marshmallows – You’ll want one 12-ounce bag, or about 55 large marshmallows. If you’re swapping in mini marshmallow, stick with a 12-ounce bag (but sorry, I’m not counting how many mini marshmallows it will take! But it will be about 7 1/4 cups of marshmallows. Note that marshmallows do contain gelatin, which is NOT a vegetarian ingredient. If this concerns you, swap in a vegan marshmallow like Dandies.

Kosher salt & flaky sea salt – Kosher salt goes into the Rice Krispie Treats, and flaky sea salt is for topping the finished marshmallow bars (if you want).

Pure vanilla extract – I like to buy mine at Costco for the best price.

Vanilla bean – This is probably the fussiest part of the recipe, but I love the payoff. The vanilla flecks add a richer vanilla flavor and it’s always impressive to have vanilla flecks in your recipe! I like to buy my vanilla beans at Trader Joe’s, where they sell two to a pack for a reasonable price.

Rice Krispies – Your standard puffed rice cereal. You’ll use about half of a standard-size box.

Adaptations/Variations

White Chocolate Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats: Once they’ve cooled somewhat, melt some white chocolate and drizzle it over the top for a fancy effect.

Truly vegetarian Rice Krispie Treats: Swap in vegan marshmallows like Dandies.

Vegan/dairy-free Rice Krispie Treats: Swap in vegan butter AND vegan marshmallows.

How to Make Them

In a large pot (very large!), brown your butter by cooking it on medium heat then letting it cook until the milk solids turn brown.

Turn your heat to low and add the marshmallows. Cook, stirring, until smooth.

Stir in the kosher salt, vanilla bean seeds, and vanilla extract.

Stir in the Rice Krispies.

Pour the Rice Krispies into an 8×8 pan that’s lined with parchment paper.

Press down gently but firmly with a spatula or with your clean hands (spray them with non-stick cooking spray to help keep the treats from sticking).

Let cool, then cut into squares.

Tips for Success

For the marshmallows, fresher is better. I’ve tried using stale marshmallows and they take much longer to melt, which lowers the moisture content in the marshmallows and increases the heat, ultimately leading to a dryer Rice Krispie treat.

Traditional marshmallows are not strictly vegetarian! They have gelatin in them, which is an animal product. I personally don’t mind eating gelatin in some products, so I’m find with them. But if this is a concern of yours, I suggest grabbing vegan marshmallows such as Dandies, which are delicious!

I hope these Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats become your go-to marshmallow bar recipe like they have mine! They’re thick, chewy, full-of-flavor, and everything a Rice Krispie treat should be – plus a little bit more.

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