These simple, deliciously gooey Unicorn Rice Krispie Treats are sure to be a huge hit with your kids! They are quick and easy to prepare, plus the ingredients don't cost a lot which makes it a great budget-friendly treat for your kids!
16ozFresh Mini Marshmallows(divided into two bowls - one bowl with 7 cups, one bowl with 1 and 1/2 cups)
3/4tspVanilla Extract
1/4tspAlmond Extract(optional)
1/2tspKosher Salt
8cupsRice Krispie Cereal (or similar cereal)
For The Topping:
2x 12ozWhite Cake Frosting Cans
Pink Food Coloring
Blue Food Coloring
Sprinkles
Instructions
Directions For The Squares
Place a Dutch Oven or large, heavy bottom pot on the stove. Preheat the pot for 2 minutes using low heat.
Once your pot is pre-heated, add the butter. Stir to allow the butter to melt evenly, approximately 5 minutes.
Around the 5-minute mark, the butter will start to sizzle and foam. Brown the butter to a light golden brown. If a small dark bit begins to form, remove the pot from heat immediately.
Add marshmallows, vanilla extract, optional almond extract, and salt.
Stir until marshmallows melt completely.
Slowly fold the cereal into the melted marshmallow mixture until evenly distributed.
Sprinkle the remaining marshmallows into your mixture and fold carefully allowing the fresh marshmallows to be evenly mixed within the previously melted mixture.
Line your 8x8 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Transfer the mixture into your baking pan one scoop at a time. Start in the center, and place mounds of the mixture around the inside of the pan until full.
Placing a scrap of parchment paper between your hand and the mixture, gently press into the pan, but do not push down too hard. Pushing down hard would result in a tough and dense Rice Krispie Treat.
Rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. (Avoid placing this in the refrigerator to cool, the sudden temperature drop will harden the sugar and impact the texture.)
Directions For Decorating
Once the Rice Krispie treats are cooled, remove the block from the baking pan by lifting up the edges of the parchment paper and placing the parchment paper and Rice Krispie block onto your countertop. If you did not use parchment paper, do your best to remove the Rice Krispie treat from the pan, keeping it in one piece, and place it onto a large plate or cooling rack.
Prepare your unicorn frosting colors. In this case, I kept one tub plain white and portioned the other tub into two equal parts. You can use one part to be dyed with blue food coloring, and the other part to be dyed with pink food coloring.
Using an offset spatula, dollop white frosting onto the center of the treat and push and swirl the frosting until fully covered with lovely, whispy textures.
Using a fork, scoop up about a tablespoon of the colored frosting to dollop onto the white frosting surface. Do this multiple times with your first color, leaving enough space for the white to show through.
Repeat this step for the next color, allowing some dollops to touch and others to have white space in between.
Using a clean fork, marble the colors together by slowly dragging the fork in small circular motions around the surface of the frosting. Watch as purple ribbons will naturally occur as the colors slightly run together. Just be careful not to go too fast you might accidentally lose the swirling color effect.
Take a pinch of your favorite sprinkles for the finishing touch, and have fun! Pro tip: drop them from just below your chin level to ensure even distribution.
Using a knife, cut the Rice Krispie treat into 9 smaller, equal sized pieces.
Notes
This recipe comes together very quickly. Applying too much heat too fast is one reason Rice Krispie Treats can sometimes harden very quickly. Follow these steps exactly for the best,chewy, soft, Unicorn Rice Krispie Treats.