Special K Marshmallow Treats, or as I like to call them “Special Marshmallow Treats” is a recipe I first tried years ago while trying to use up what was left of a giant box of Special K and a bag of marshmallows I’d bought for no particular reason, I substituted Special K for the Rice Krispies in Rice Krispies Treats and made Special K Marshmallow Treats.
Substituting Special K for Rice Krispies
As mentioned, Special K Marshmallow Treats may not be the most innovative thing in the world, but in the past the only Special K Bars I’d made were the ones with peanut butter and corn syrup -you know, Scotcheroos! Finding out that Special K works well in regular marshmallow treats or Marshmallow Krispies Treats was kind of a revelation. I’d thought about it for a while, but had never actually tried it.
For those of you wondering what the measurements are, here’s the recipe. I like them kind of stiff so I use about 6 cups of Special K, but for those of you who like a gooey bar, use a little less. My only complaint about these are that they don’t cut quite as neatly as Rice Krispies Treats. Update: You can brown the butter, too!
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Recipe
Special K Marshmallow Treats
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 10.5 ounce bag of mini marshmallows
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 1/2 to 6 cups Special K
Instructions
- Line a 9 inch square pan with nonstick foil. Alternatively, line with regular foil and spray with cooking spray.
- In a large (3 quart), preferably non-stick saucepan or a slightly larger pot, melt the butter over medium heat. When it’s about halfway melted, add the salt and swirl it around.
- Add the marshmallows and stir over medium heat until they’re about halfway melted, then reduce heat slightly and continue stirring until they are fully melted.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Add the cereal (it will seem like a lot) and stir until fully mixed, then press into the pan and let cool completely.
- Lift from pan and cut into squares.
Notes
If you like a gooey and less stiff bar, use 5 cups of cereal instead of 6.
Anna
Cindy, thanks for trying the recipe! I haven’t made these in a while, so it was nice seeing your comment.
Cindy
Loved this! I bought the chocolatey Special K and ended up not caring for it with milk, so I thought some kind of quick treat would work. We had marshmallows left from a Halloween bonfire and it came together so easily! Made that cereal taste delicious and the chocolate bits were perfect in the treats! Thank you!
Anna
Hooray! Glad you liked them.
Sue
My box of special K had gotten a bit stale, so I roasted them in the oven for a few minutes, gently crushed them into smaller pieces by hand and proceeded with recipe. I was totally out of snacks (covid quarantine time) – they were wonderful!
Anna
Thanks Aimy! Glad you liked the Special K version.
Aimy
This recipe was amazing! It was super quick and easy to make and it tasted just like a regular Rice Krispie treat bar! 10/10 would make again
camber
I thought of doing this then googled and there it was, I love Special K ceral, and I used chocolate striped marshmallows and real butter melted to mix up my treats. It hit the spot for me but kinda took the healthy part of why I liked Special K out of the fun, it was fun and it worked but I like Special K better with just milk. Thank you for this post I really enjoyed reading it.
Karen
I used chocolate krispy cereal to make a Halloween treat. Then I added candy corn on top of each bar. I tred to make it look like a Jack-o-lantern face but the pieces weren’t big enough to use enough of the candy corn’s to really be effective. Never-the-less, the color contrasts were quite Halloweeny.
I don’t think it needed the vanilla since this was chocolate cereal but I added it anyway. I added about a tablespoon more of butter and then about a half cup more of marshmallows since I really like the creamy version of bars best. It turned out great. I do have to admit though, my older adult tastes have gotten away from this kind of bar!
Shelly
Perfect! I staring down the remains of 2 (why can’t they finish one before opening the other?) boxes of Special K. And just in time for sleepover round two. Thanks!
Karen
Oh, I have been trying to figure out something to make for the developmentally disabled adults I work with for Halloween. I have chocolate coco puff cereal and candy corn, so I think I’ll do Chocolate “rice krispy” treats for them. Thanks for the idea! LOL
Katrina
I have part of a box of Special K, but it’s the kind with chocolate chunks added. I’m sure that would still work! 🙂 I also just recently bought some of the mallows with Halloween shapes, like ghosts, bats, pumpkins. That would make a nice gray colored crispy treat. I need to just go through my baking cupboards and make a crazy crispy treat because there seems to be lots of things to get rid of. Like part of a bag of the Birthday Cake Oreos that the kids don’t really like the taste of.
Dani
I love how you just found special k and other ingredients and you can right away find a yummy way to turn that into a dessert!
Anna
Martha, I got stuck in a long line at the grocery store and the lady next to me was buying those Special K chips. I asked her how they were and she said they were really, really, good and that she wanted to try all the flavors. I almost bought some today, then realized I didn’t need any chips.
Martha in KS
I love the way you find uses for ingredients that are sitting around. I do the same thing – very little waste here. Speaking of Special K, today a co-worker shared some Special K Popcorn chips that taste like kettle corn. They’re really good & the calorie count is pretty reasonable – 120 calories for 28 chips. She said they’re in the cracker section.