Rice Krispies Treats

Treat squares

Rice Krispies Treats prior to being cut into single-serving bars

Rice Krispies Treats (also called Rice Krispies squares, bars or cakes) are a sweet dessert or snack made from Rice Krispies, melted butter or margarine, and melted marshmallows. Sometimes marshmallows and/or cereal that is seasonal is used to make these treats holiday-specific. While they can be made at home, they can be purchased in stores, usually packaged under the Rice Krispies brand.

Rice Krispies Treats were invented in the 1920s or 1930s by Mildred Day and the staff at the Kellogg Company home economics department as a fund raiser for Camp Fire Girls.

There are many variations to the treat -- adding caramel instead of marshmallows, adding condensed milk to the mixture before adding the Rice Krispies, using corn syrup and peanut butter, adding chocolate chips, nuts, flavoring agents, M&M's and others. Chocolate crackles are a similar item. Kellogg's has now produced commercial varieties of both the marshmallow and chocolate-based treats under the names of "Rice Krispies Treats" (in the U.S.), "Rice Krispies Squares" (in Canada and the U.K.) and "LCMs" (in Australia and New Zealand).

Cereal

Kellogg's company came out with a cereal based on this treat, perhaps making the first cereal based on a dessert that was based on a cereal. Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treats cereal briefly surged in popularity, and received a 6 out of 7 rating on popular breakfast critic website Mr. Breakfast. Recently this cereal has become harder to find, though a page on the Kellogg's website can help make finding their rarer cereals easy.

External links

• Kelloggs.com Official Recipe and nutrition facts
• More recipes and product information from Rice Krispies Canada
• Cereal.com Recipe for Rice Krispie Treats