Cocoa Rice Krispie Treats
These Cocoa Rice Krispie Treats are ultra-soft, irresistibly gooey, and packed with rich chocolate flavor. Made with nutty brown butter, deep cocoa powder, marshmallow cream, and mini marshmallows in every bite.
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter salted or unsalted
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 7 ½ cups mini marshmallows divided (5 cups for melting with butter, 2 cups for adding in whole with cereal, and ½ cup for topping). I usually buy a 16 ounce bag of mini marshmallows but don't use the whole thing.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 7 ounces marshmallow cream
- 5 ½ cups Cocoa Krispies cereal
- 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Add the butter to a large pot set over medium heat. Melt, stirring frequently, until the butter turns golden brown and smells nutty. Remove from heat.
- Whisk in the cocoa powder and salt until fully combined and smooth.
- Set aside the mini marshmallows you’ll use later (2 cups for adding in whole with cereal and ½ cup for topping). Stir the remaining (5 cups) marshmallows and vanilla into the pot, mixing until mostly melted (a few small lumps are fine). If needed, place the pot back over low heat to help the marshmallows finish melting.
- Add the marshmallow cream and stir until the mixture is mostly smooth and creamy.
- Gently stir in the Cocoa Krispies cereal and the reserved mini marshmallows (2 cups) until evenly coated in the chocolate marshmallow mixture.
- Transfer the mixture to a greased 9×9-inch pan. Lightly grease your hands and gently press the mixture into an even layer—do not pack it down. Sprinkle with extra mini marshmallows (½ cup) and mini chocolate chips, if desired. Let cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Don’t overcook the marshmallows. When melting down the butter and marshmallows together you want to make sure that you are not overcooking the marshmallows. You want to marshmallows and butter to combine, but not completely liquify—a few marshmallow lumps are okay! When marshmallows melt down too much they begin to breakdown and you lose that classic, bouncy marshmallow texture.
Choose your cocoa carefully. The chocolate flavor in these cocoa kripsie bars is enhanced by adding cocoa powder to the mix. There are all kinds of cocoa powder and they can really change the flavor of your rice krispie treats.
The main cocoa powders you see are natural, dutch-processed, and black cocoa. Natural cocoa powder (this is like your classic Hershey’s cocoa powder) can have a sharper, slightly bitter chocolate flavor. Dutch-processed has a mellower, deep chocolate taste. Black cocoa is earthy, rich, and tastes like an Oreo cookie. There are no bad choices, but it will impact the flavor, so make your choice accordingly!
Use fresh marshmallows. If your marshmallows are old and dry, throw them out, your cocoa krispie treats will be hard and chewy too.
Don’t compact the cocoa rice krispie treats. It’s tempting to really push the gooey cereal mixture into the pan—don’t do it. Pressing the rice krispie mixture down too much results in denser and harder rice krispie treats. Instead, grease your hands, and gently press the mixture down into an even layer.
Nutrition
Serving: 1square | Calories: 213kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 216mg | Potassium: 36mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 572IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 2mg