Easy Christmas Tree Rice Krispie Treats (with Video!)
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Christmas tree Rice Krispie treats are SO simple to make and kids adore the fun shape and color. If you’re scrambling for a last minute holiday treat, these are it!
Last minute Christmas parties or school events… they happen to all of us. I’m not going to lie; this food blogger often defaults to Rice Krispie treats. They’re SO easy to make (ridiculously easy), they’re okay for my nut-free kids, and they’re relatively neat.
Meaning when my toddlers eat them, I won’t have to change their clothes. Or their teacher won’t have to spend 10 minutes cleaning up the table. And chairs. And floor.
I’ve seen a couple versions of Rice Krispie treat Christmas trees, but they’ve all been cone-shaped. These are way easier to make, and I’d argue they are just as cute. It’s as easy as dyeing them green, cutting them into triangles, and sticking a pretzel stick in them.
The hardest part is getting the pretzel stick to not break.
Seriously, that’s the hardest part. I think you can handle this. Gentle but firm pressure is the key to the pretzel sticks. If you break any, you have two options: a shorter tree trunk or a delicious pretzel snack.
I’d say this is a win-win situation, wouldn’t you?
If you can’t quite imagine how to cut the pan of Rice Krispie treats, I made this little graphic to help. You end up with a couple of half trees to use for quality control and taste testing. It’s still way easier (and way less waste) than cutting them with a cookie cutter.
Note: Yield will depend on how skinny you cut your trees. You should be able to cut 16-20 trees from one pan.
My kids adore these – they are absolutely obsessed. The cookies do turn the kids’ mouths green, but that’s part of the fun! They also turn other things green but maybe we won’t talk about that? Okay, good.
If you’ve got a few extra minutes on your hands and you really want to impress the other parents at the school Christmas party, give snowmen Oreo Pops a try. Another quick and easy holiday treat is cookies and cream fudge. Holiday Oreos give it a fun and festive color.
If you’re looking for more of a chocolate fix, try Christmas tree brownie bites. They start with a boxed brownie mix so making them is seriously easy.
These Santa hat brownies are pretty close to the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Okay – reindeer cupcakes definitely are putting up some strong competition for cutest holiday treat. Let’s just eat both and call it a tie, okay?
If you don’t have time to fuss over whimsical treats, good ol’ puppy chow (Muddy Buddies) is always a popular treat and so are plain Rice Krispie treats. Sprinkle them with multi-colored sprinkles and they look pretty festive. Rolo pretzels are festive and only take three ingredients (and about five minutes!).
Now there’s no excuse for not being that mom that brings darling treats into school. Well, besides kids, sleep, and general life craziness. Those are all fantastic excuses. But you can definitely handle these adorable Rice Krispie treat Christmas trees.
You can do it!
PS: This gel food coloring is the type I like to use.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 pkg. (10 oz.) marshmallows ( about 40 regular sized, or 4 cups mini marshmallows)
- green food coloring
- 6 cups Rice Krispies toasted rice cereal
- sprinkles
- 20 small pretzel sticks
Instructions
- Grease or spray a 9×13-inch pan and set aside.
- In a large pan, melt butter and marshmallows over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Once it almost smooth and melted, add green food coloring little by little until you achieve desired tree color. Once completely smooth and perfectly green, remove from heat and immediately stir in Rice Krispies. Continue to stir until all the cereal is coated.
- Press evenly into prepared pan (I always spray my hand with nonstick cooking spray to do this, but you can also use a piece of wax paper). Immediately sprinkle with sprinkles. Let cool for at least 30 minutes.
- Make a cut down the middle of the pan (the long way). Then, cut each of those rows into triangles (you should have 4 scraps leftover, one at each side of each row).
- Insert pretzel stick into bottom of triangles to form trunk.
Notes
- Normally, I advise pressing Rice Krispie treats into the pan very lightly. However, with these trees, press them in a little more firmly so they hold together well and keep their shape.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
I originally developed this recipe as a freelancer for Food Fanatic.
Rashida says
we will be making these soon, they look so colourful and yummy, Thankyou Rachel for your lovely receipes, Happy belated birthday to your beautiful boy, may God bless him with many more healthy happy years ahead
Rachel Gurk says
Thank you so much!
Ron says
They look fun! We’re making them with granddaughters soon.
Rachel Gurk says
I hope you guys have a blast!
Dawna Sodders says
I love making these.
It’s easy to use a toothpick to make a hole in the bottom before inserting the pretzel. Less breakage.
Merry Christmas!
Rachel Gurk says
Great tip, thanks!
Robin says
Thank you for sharing. It was so easy to make and came out exactly as you said. The video and diagram were very helpful and I think my grandchildren will like them.
Rachel Gurk says
So happy to hear it was helpful! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review.
Kelsi says
I am looking for a dairy and soy free recipe. Do you think I can replace the butter with coconut oil and it still turn out ok? I’m not making them into trees in March so I’m not worried about that part right now. Would you do an equal parts trade?
Rachel Gurk says
I haven’t tested that, but I think it might work!
Ashley says
Ive made rice krispies before but never in the shape of a tree! Suuper cute so i decided to give it go. I was confused by the instructions on when i need to poke the pretzel sticks in. Read the comments and did as told – tried to put in after cutting. Turns out its impossible!! I wish i had done it while it was still a little warm. Now my friends are gonna get trees with no trunk
Rachel Gurk says
Sorry to hear you had trouble! I usually wait…sometimes one here or there cracks but it usually goes just fine.
Rea says
Can you make these ahead of time and freeze them?
Rachel Gurk says
No, that will not work for this recipe, sorry! They’re super quick and easy to make, though! Try this recipe if you’re looking for something that freezes well.
denise says
so fun!
Rachel Gurk says
Aren’t they cute?
sana says
is there any warnings for the Christmas tree rice crispies.
Rachel Gurk says
Hi Sana! What type of warnings were you thinking about?
Christine says
These were a huge hit for my son’s Christmas party. Thank you for sharing yo your recipe and creativity with us.
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a comment, it means so much to me!
Kate says
Hi there Rachel! How long will they stay good? Can I make them one day before, without them getting to hard to chew on? Greetings from the Netherlands! :-)
Rachel Gurk says
You could make them the day before, but I wouldn’t do it any further in advance than that. Enjoy!