The Ultimate Pumpkin Rice Krispies Treats

Pumpkin-spiced rice krispies treats, lusciously gooey caramel, pumpkin-spiced crispies, and butterscotch rice krispies treats come together to make The Ultimate Pumpkin Rice Krispies Treat!

It’s been a WHOLE 2 weeks since I’ve posted a pumpkin recipe, which is pretty much a lifetime, so I think it’s about time for another one, don’t you agree?

Good.

This week’s treat was inspired by these wonderfully fluffy pillows of pumpkin sweetness.

I spotted these pumpkin spice marsh”mallows” in the store the other day and could barely contain my excitement. There was absolutely NO WAY I was going to leave this store without a bag (or 10) of these little babes of pumpkin sweetness.

NO WAY.

Thinking of the many, many, many, many, many, MANY possibilities for these pumpkin spice marshmallows, I decided there was no better treat to showcase them in than the charmingly gooey, addictively crispy, iconically marshmallowy…RICE KRISPIES TREAT!

I mean, DUH-UH!

However, this wasn’t going to be your average rice krispies treat. I mean, no one wants to be average, ESPECIALLY rice krispies treats! So instead of going the simple, more traditional route of combining marshmallows with butter and cereal, I decided that these marshmallows were destined for something bigger…

Something better…

Something….ULTIMATE!

Hence the name, Ultimate Pumpkin Rice Krispies Treats!

Not to sound cocky or anything, but I couldn’t just call these “Pumpkin Rice Krispies Treats,” when they consist of so many sweet layers of crispy, caramely, pumpkiny, ooey gooeyness. 

Similar to my recipe for The Ultimate Rice Krispies Treat, which I posted almost a year ago, this treat has three different layers of Rice Krispies madness.

The first layer incorporates those pumpkin spice marshmallows with the lusciously warm sweetness of caramel. Yes, the caramel was totally necessary. Like I mentioned earlier, this wasn’t just going to be your simple run-of-the-mill rice krispies treat. So what better way to start this treat off than a layer of pumpkin and caramel-infused rice krispies?

And if there wasn’t enough caramel in this treat already, I added a separate layer of pure smooth, buttery caramel on top by melting some caramels with a little cream. Milk can also be substituted if you don’t happen to have any cream on hand. I’ve even used coffee creamer, which works great too!

Being that pumpkin IS the star flavor of this “Ultimate PUMPKIN Rice Krispies Treat,” I needed to add another layer of pumpkin sweetness…

Enter: Pumpkin Spice Candy Melts.

You can find these at most craft stores, like Michaels or Jo-Anns. I don’t know what I was thinking when I grabbed only ONE bag of these. I tried a piece from the bag, just to make sure they were good. Not surprisingly, they were great! Then I tried another one JUST to make sure they were STILL good. Again, they were SO GOOD. Then I tried a third piece…because everyone knows good things come in 3’s, right? Actually, I just needed another excuse for the fact that my self-control pretty much went out the window from the very first “taste”. When my brain finally caught up to me, I melted them (or what was left of them) in the microwave until they were nice and smooth. Then I combined the melted discs with more Rice Krispies cereal, which made up the second crispy layer.

If there was a pumpkin spice CRUNCH bar (hint, hint, Nestlé), I’m sure this layer is exactly what it would taste like.

Originally, I stopped after this pumpkin krispies layer. However, I wasn’t happy with how thin (and sad) the rice krispies treats looked, so I added another layer of gooey, marshmallowy goodness.

Butterscotch seemed to be the obvious choice since it goes great with pumpkin due to its buttery, brown sugary undertones. Therefore, I decided to make a butterscotch-infused rice krispies treat layer by adding a package of dry butterscotch pudding mix to the melted marshmallow-butter mixture before combining it with the cereal. Press that ooey, gooey, buttery mixture on top, and TA-DA!!!

You have yourself the best–I mean, Ultimate Pumpkin Rice Krispies Treat!

The Ultimate Pumpkin Rice Krispies Treat

Pumpkin-spiced rice krispies treats, lusciously gooey caramel, pumpkin-spiced crispies, and butterscotch rice krispies treats come together to make The Ultimate Pumpkin Rice Krispies Treat!

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Prep Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Refrigeration Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings 24 Pieces

Ingredients

  

For the Pumpkin Caramel Krispies Treats

• 4 Tablespoons butter
• ½ cup caramel
• 1 (8 oz) bag Pumpkin Spice marshmallows
• 7 cups crisp rice cereal

For the Caramel Layer

• 14 ounces caramels unwrapped
• 2 Tablespoons cream*

For the Pumpkin-Spiced Crispies

• 1 (10 oz) package Pumpkin Spice candy melts*
• 3 cups crisp rice cereal

For the Butterscotch Krispies Treats

• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 1 (10 oz) bag miniature marshmallows
• 1 (3.4 oz) box butterscotch instant pudding (dry)
• 6 cups crisp rice cereal

Instructions

 

• Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
• In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and caramel together. Add the marshmallows and continue stirring until the marshmallows are mostly melted. Pour in the 7 cups of cereal and stir to combine. Dump mixture into prepared pan and press into an even layer.
• In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the caramels and cream together until smooth. Pour caramel into the pan and spread out into an even layer.
• Pour candy melts into a medium microwave-safe bowl and heat in the microwave until smooth and melted. Add the 3 cups of cereal and stir to coat. Dump mixture into pan and spread into an even layer.
• In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the marshmallows and dry pudding mix. Continue stirring until the marshmallows have melted and mixture is smooth. Pour in the 6 cups of cereal and stir to coat.
• Dump mixture into the pan and press into an even layer. Refrigerate for 1 hour to allow all layers to set up. Slice into squares, serve, and enjoy!

Notes

*Milk can be substituted for the cream.
*You can find the Pumpkin Spice candy melts in most craft stores, like Michaels or Jo-Anns.