Browned Butter Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

Celebrate the season with these delicious pumpkin rice krispie treats made with browned butter. With the nutty flavor of the butter, and the perfect amount of pumpkin pie spice, these tasty treats are perfect for this time of year!

If you are into all things pumpkin, you’re going to love these pumpkin spice rice krispie treats. The trick with this recipe is browning the butter first, to give them a bit of a savory feel, and to use pumpkin spice extract for the perfect balance of flavor. Whip up a batch for a Halloween party or for a fun kid-friendly Thanksgiving dessert (although trust me, the adults will love too!). These pair perfectly with my spooky Halloween Charcuterie Board and these Spider Web Sugar Cookies.

Jump to:

• Why this easy recipe works
• Ingredients
• Step-by-step directions
• To make a dark or white chocolate drizzle
• Recipe tips and tricks
• Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

Why this easy recipe works

• Makes the classic rice krispie recipe a bit more sophisticated and special with browned butter and delectable pumpkin spice flavoring. This is not your kiddo’s rice krispie treats and the whole family will love them!
• Can be made a bit more kid friendly by forming the treats into cute little pumpkins, adding candy corn or coloring them with drops of orange food coloring.
• Great to make in batches for parties and gatherings.
• Still just as easy to make as the old fashioned rice krispie treat recipe!

Ingredients

• Rice krispie cereal
• Marshmallows – either the large ones or mini marshmallows
• Unsalted Butter – this recipe uses a bit more than the traditional recipe (a whole stick)
• Pumpkin spice extract – there are several brands that make extract, but I just went with the classic McCormick.
• Sea salt and pumpkin pie spice to sprinkle on top of each bar, as well as white chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips, melted and drizzled on top.

Step-by-step directions

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir often until butter starts to turn the slightest bit goldeny brown and smells a little nutty. This happens after about 3-5 minutes, and the butter goes from light yellow to golden almost instantly. The butter pictured here is as dark as you want to go – as I was taking the picture it turned a bit darker than I typically would like, but it still tasted great and worked! The point being is that plain butter turns into brown butter pretty fast!

Remove from the heat and stir in the marshmallows and about 2 teaspoons of extract if you just want a slight hint of pumpkin flavor. Go up to 4 teaspoons if you want an intense flavor. The residual heat from the pan should melt the marshmallows pretty well (I actually like it when a few larger chunks of marshmallow fluff remains). If you need to though, turn on the heat to low and stir till marshmallows are thoroughly melted.

Now carefully stir in the cereal with the melted marshmallows and butter mixture, and toss to coat well. Be careful as to not crush the cereal when mixing.

I like thick treats, so I used a smaller 8 inch square pan (like a brownie pan) to make my treats. But feel free to use a larger pan if you need to make thinner treats to feed more people. Coat whichever pan you are using with cooking spray or butter, or lay down a piece of wax paper, and begin to press the cereal treat mixture into the pan. I personally wait about 1 minute for the rice krispie mixture to cool enough to handle, then quickly set to work before the mix hardens too much.

Press into an even layer, and sprinkle with flaky sea salt and pumpkin pie spice if you so wish. Let set and then cut into even squares and serve.

To make a dark or white chocolate drizzle

If melting cholate on the stove top, create a double boiler by placing a bowl over a small pot of water, and heating on medium heat. Add ½ cup of chocolate chips to the bowl and stir till thoroughly melted.

To melt in the microwave, place chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30-45 seconds at a time, stirring in between, till melted through.

Drizzle chocolate on the bars by either spooning it all over, or placing the melted chocolate in a piping bag.

Recipe tips and tricks

• Spray a bit of cooking spray on your hands before pressing the rice krispie mix into the pan. This will make things a lot less messy!
• Fill large pot with a bit of dish soap and warm water and let soak for 10 minutes before washing out.
• Decorate the cereal bars with colored M&M’s or sprinkle with holiday sprinkles to make them more fun for fall festivities.
• If creating pumpkin-shaped rice krispie treats, make sure to add orange food coloring to the marshmallow mixture. Then take small amounts of the mix and mold into a pumpkin shape. For fun, place a pretzel stick in the top of the rice krispie treat pumpkins, and serve. Rice krispie pumpkins would be great for Halloween parties or as a thanksgiving treat.
• Store your pumpkin rice krispie treats in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

I hope you enjoy this fun treat and give the recipe a go! And if you do try it, please share your thoughts 🙂

Tried this recipe? Please leave a comment and/or rating, letting me know how you enjoyed it! Connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest, and never miss a post by signing up for my weekly newsletter!