Fabulously crispy vegan rice krispie treats made with vegan marshmallows! Perfectly sweet and simple 4-ingredient recipe. Ready in 10 minutes!
So I’ve made some vegan rice krispie treats before, our vegan chocolate peanut butter rice krispie treats (yip, thats a loooong name)!
But when I made those I couldn’t get my hands on any vegan marshmallows.
So they’re made using an alternate – and super great – method, but using marshmallows for rice krispie treats is the way rice krispie treats are usually made.
So I always had it in my mind that when I got my hands on some vegan marshmallows I was going to make some more of these treaty treats!
So when I did manage to get hold of some vegan marshmallows I sort of went wild and bought like 15 bags of them! Only to forget about them and have them sit in the cupboard for months.
So imagine my horror when I remembered: oh yes, I wanted to make rice krispie treats and went happily skipping over to my marshmallow cupboard to find that a disaster had occurred (maybe when the marshmallows were delivered to me?). Moisture had got into some of the bags and I had to throw out like 13 bags of them.
I was left with JUST enough to make one batch of these babies! So I could not afford to get this wrong. I proceeded to watch around 2000 youtube videos of people making them, because I had just one shot to get these right.
And yes, what you are seeing below is not your eyes deceiving you, the only marshmallows that survived were marshmallow worms and fishes.
So my ‘process photos’ might be a little different to what you’re used to seeing! 
Nevermind, the shapes (and colors) of the marshmallows don’t matter, what matters is that these vegan rice krispie treats were a massive success. Whew!
This dessert comes together FAST. That’s another reason I don’t have all that many process photos to show you. It was just too quick, and since I only had one shot at this, I was super scared to delay any of the steps to get photos.
The only sweetness comes from the marshmallows so this is not an overly sweet dessert. It’s perfectly sweet, but even for people who are not that much of a sweet tooth, this should please the palate! And if you like a bit of crunch, then oh my, this is totally your dessert.
How To Make Vegan Rice Krispie Treats
You start off by melting some vegan butter, then you add the marshmallows and stir, stir, stir. They start melting immediately.
Keep stirring until the marshmallows have melted completely, then add some vanilla and stir in. Remove from the heat. Add a heap of rice krispies, stir them in until they’re all coated with the melted marshmallow mix and then transfer to a quarter sheet pan (mine is a 9×13) that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.
Take a sheet of parchment paper and put it on top of the rice krispies and use your hands to smooth and flatten it down and spread it into the corners of the sheet pan. The parchment paper is perfectly non-stick so your hands are protected from sticking to the rice krispies and it’s super easy to press down on it and smooth it down perfectly.
I have seen some people butter their hands and use their hands directly (the rice krispies are super sticky) but the parchment paper method worked sooo well that I highly recommend you do it that way.
Pink is perfect!
It was also a bit of a mystery what color I was going to end up with, because as you can see I had multiple colors of marshmallow going on there!
And during my massive foray into the world of youtube videos demonstrating rice krispie treats I only ever saw white marshmallows or pink and white marshmallows, never a total mixed bag of colors.
Luckily, pink won out and was the dominant color, rather than it turning into some weird in-between color or streaky mix, so that was quite pleasing.
How To Store Vegan Rice Krispie Treats
Keep them stored in a sealed container in the fridge and enjoy within 3 days.
More delicious vegan desserts?
- Chocolate Mint Crunch Cups
- Vegan Peanut Butter Bars
- Shortbread and Raisin Chocolate Tiffin
- Vegan Peppermint Patties
- Sea Salt Chocolate Peanut Clusters
- Vegan Crunch Bars
Vegan Rice Krispie Treats
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Vegan Butter (56g)
- 10.5 ounces Vegan Marshmallows (300g)
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 6 cups Rice Krispies (210g)
Instructions
- Spray a 9x13 quarter sheet baking tray with non-stick spray and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pot and then add the marshmallows.
- Stir vigorously until the marshmallows are completely melted and then add the vanilla.
- Remove from heat and add in the rice krispies and stir until coated with the marshmallow mix.
- Transfer to the prepared quarter sheet pan. Place a sheet of parchment paper over the top and use your hands to press it down and spread the rice krispies into the corners of the sheet pan and flatten it along the top.
- Remove the parchment paper and place the tray into the fridge for a few minutes to set.
- Cut into squares.
- Keep the rice krispie treats in the fridge in an airtight container and enjoy within 3 days.
Notes
- You don't have to use the name brand 'Rice Krispies' for this recipe, it's just the name of the dessert. You can use any brand of puffed rice cereal. Apparently in some countries the name brand Rice Krispies may not be vegan because of how the added Vitamin D is sourced, so just check for vegan friendliness or use a different brand of puffed rice cereal.
- The name brand Rice Krispies are also not gluten-free, so if you need this recipe to be gluten-free you can use a different puffed rice cereal that is gluten-free.
SO. GOOD. Thank you!!! I used Myioko’s butter and vanilla Dandie’s. I literally can not stop myself from eating them
These turned out perfectly! I left out the vanilla because I had vanilla flavored dandies. I was a bit worried there was too much cereal when I began to stir it into the marshmallow butter mixture but the measurements were spot on. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Awesome Julia! Thanks so much for sharing!
I have one major problem with this recipe, made this last night and my two housemates and I polished the whole thing off in less than 15 minutes! They just taste too good and I have a feeling these may become my staple calorie supply…
We only had to wait 20-25minutes for them to set, which is great as the chocolate Rice Krispie cakes I normally make take well over an hour and I’m usually too impatient to wait until they’re fully set. These are the best and the fact I can have my favourite childhood treat in less than 30 minutes is amazing!
The only thing I would do differently next time is not press the mixture down as firmly. I pressed the mixture into the pan a bit too much so the final result was very compact, think they’d be better a little ‘lighter’.
For UK readers I used Morrisons own brand Rice Krispies, Flora buttery and Holland and Barrett vegan marshmallows. These are honestly so delicious, they taste just like Kellogg’s squares bars! Thank goodness I don’t have a Holland and Barrett near me or else I’d be making these on the daily and get super fat!
Awesome! Thanks a million for sharing Fae!
This recipe was actually really good! The marshmallows get a little rubbery, and you have to mix very fast. It ended up turning out great, Though! Thank you so much <3
Thanks Aron! 🙂
Loved this vegan version!
Thanks Ally! 🙂
I came here looking for the recipe, not a life story and dozens of pictures of what I am trying to make. With the time it took me to find it, I could have made several batches of treats GIVE ME MY LIFE BACK THE TREATS WERE DELICIOUS THOUGH
Hi Martin, there is definitely never a life story on any of our recipes, only info about the recipe itself. But you are always welcome to use the ‘jump to recipe’ button if you’d rather not read the extra info about making the recipe. Glad you enjoyed the treats though! 🙂
I just made these with the Trader Joe’s marshmallows. They were so good! I increased the vegan butter (Earth Balance) slightly maybe about a tsp extra. I melted the butter completely before adding the marshmallows. I kept alternating between low and high heat. You don’t want the butter to boil or the marshmallows to brown. I just kept mixing and watching out for those two things. The second the marshmallows were in a big lump, I saw a little browning so I added the pre-measured cereal rapidly to the mixture. I mixed it all in my large, marble-coated non-stick wok. I think that helped with even cooking and mixing. I kept the heat on and just kept stirring until some of the cereal started to let a little toasty then I quickly pressed it into the oiled pan. I used a spatula and sometimes my fingers. Nothing stuck to my hands or the spatula. Thank you for providing me a little childhood nostalgia! Great recipe! I hope this comment helps anyone who had trouble.
Thanks so much for sharing your tips and the great review Lisa! 🙂
Hi, I’m wondering if you could tell me what the brand name is and what ingredients are in the vegan marshmallows you used because I have tried this recipe using both Dandies and Trader Joe’s brands and they both do not melt very uniformly, rather they melt partially but also have clumps which never melt completely. Thanks!
Hi Lisa, they were a South African brand (this is where we are based) called Unicorn I think.
What brand of marshmallows did you use? I’m loving the colors and looking to make a marshmallow log soon and want to get some color into it! ❤️
I used a local (South African) brand, so not sure if it would be relevant to you, also can’t remember the brand name!
I am South African too!! Now living in CA ???? my family is still in SA as they would be able to buy it from there!
Love how crispy it is and how sweet it is. Very easy to make!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
What brand of rice crispies did you use? The name brand Rice Krispies aren’t vegan because they have vitamin D3.
Hi Heather, you don’t have to use the name brand ‘Rice Krispies’ any puffed rice cereal that is vegan will do. All the best! 🙂
I made a version similar to this. I used coconut oil in place of vegan butter. I also added a 1/4 cup of lime juice. It helped offset the sweetness and was a real hit. I am looking forward to trying some more of your recipes!
That’s awesome, so glad to hear it was a hit! Thanks so much for sharing your adjustments, super helpful! 🙂
I tried these during the Christmas holidays and they turned out Fab! I used gluten free rice crispies and vegan butter/spread. It definitely was quick and very sticky but my goodness how amazing are these treats. I love the way the marshmallows look as they melt, it looks like pillows of soft clouds! I thought they’d be overly sweet but they’re not, just totally delicious. I melted a bar of dark chocolate and spread over the top before cutting up and it worked really well too. Definitely making these again. Really easy quick treats to make! Thanks for the recipe.
Wonderful to hear that Claire. And a dark chocolate topping would be so good on these! Thanks so much for the awesome review. 🙂
Hello Alison, I tried making these gluten free rice krispies, and failed. I used gluten free rice cereal and vegan marshmallows but regular kerrygold butter. And the marshmallows took forever to melt and when they did (after turning heat up to medium) it was like rubber, no way I could mix the cereal in with it… Any suggestions? Be more patient with low heat?
Oh no! Sorry to hear that. I also melted the marshmallows at fairly high heat, but what I found was that it was extremely fast – the butter/marshmallow mix melted really quickly and then the cereal had to go in really quickly. I don’t know why it was different for you or why it would have been slow to melt. Very odd. Sorry I don’t have any clue!
That’s ok, I’ll give it another try some time. Thank you soo much. Happy Holidays!
Hope it works out better next time! Happy holidays to you too. 🙂
I had the same issue. The marshmallows simply would not melt. They started to burn by the time I got them to enough of a point to even begin putting the Krispies in, and that was very difficult, and it came out very uneven. This is not an easy task to get right. I have enough ingredients for another attempt, so I am going to try to cut the marshmallows in VERY small pieces, and move very quickly.
Hi Eric, I did also find that I had to move fast, but I wonder if you have a pot with a heavy bottom? That should help to prevent them from burning before they have a chance to melt. Hope it works out better the second time around! 🙂