Easy Reindeer Rice Krispie Treats

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These adorable Reindeer Rice Krispie Treats are the perfect holiday dessert to make with kids or for any festive party! They’re quick, fun, and guaranteed to make everyone smile – no baking required! Whether you’re making classroom treats, hosting a holiday party, a cookie exchange, or just spreading a little Christmas cheer, these sweet reindeer are sure to steal the show.

Reindeer Rice Krispie Treats

Since homemade Rice Krispie Treats are one of our favorite and easy snacks, turning them into Reindeer Rice Krispies was a no-brainer. These Christmas treats add so much fun to your holiday season.

Plus, since they’re made with only 3 main ingredients: rice krispie treats, pretzel antlers, and an m&m nose, this fun treat is easy, inexpensive and the kids love helping with them!

This would be a great snack to make on Christmas Eve with the kids while you have Christmas cookies baking for Santa. And since they’re a no-bake treat, it’s one less thing to have in your oven.

Tools Needed

Large saucepan
Rubber spatula
9×13 baking pan or cake pan
Nonstick spray
Large sharp knife

Ingredients

A few simple ingredients plus a little holiday magic and you turn a classic treat into adorable Christmas Rice Krispie Treats that look like Rudolph!

Rice Krispies cereal – I used a generic brand from Walmart. Just about any crispy rice cereal can be used with this recipe
Mini marshmallows – this is one ingredient where I feel the brand name is superior. I only use Jet-Puffed marshmallows
Butter, salted
Vanilla extract
Chocolate covered pretzels – I used a brand called Flipz. It’s important that you use mini pretzels for the chocolate antlers.
White chocolate melts – I used Ghiradelli White Chocolate metling wafers from Walmart, but you could also use white almond bark, white candy melts, white chocolate chips, or any other similar product
Red and brown M&M’s – I used this brand but there are also generic coated chocolate candies that can be used. You will only need the red and brown ones
Candy eyes – these are perfect from Amazon, but you can also often find these at grocery stores, Walmart, or a craft store like Hobby Lobby or Michaels.
Non-stick cooking spray

How to Make Reindeer Rice Krispies Treats

First things first, you’ll make the marshmallow crispy treats. For today’s recipe, I made them on the stove-top but if you have a microwave, using this microwave recipe is much easier (to me) with less chance of burning the butter and marshmallows.

Prepare a 9×13-inch baking dish by spraying it with nonstick spray.
In a large pot, melt butter over low heat.
Stir in the vanilla extract.

melting butter in a saucepan and adding vanilla to the pan

Add the marshmallows and stir constantly until completely melted and smooth.
Gently fold in the Rice Krispies cereal until all of it is evenly coated with the melted marshmallow mixture.
Spoon the coated cereal into the prepared baking dish and press it evenly into place using a spatula or lightly greased hands.
Let the mixture cool for about 30 minutes.

melting marshmallows in the pan with butter, then a photo with rice cereal added to the pan

rice krispie treat mixture in a bowl, then a photo of the mixture in a 9x13 sprayed with butter spray and lined with parchment

rice krispie treats pressed into a 9x13, then a photo of them flipped out with the edges cut off

Use a spatula to gently loosen the edges, then flip the pan over onto a clean cutting board. Trim the edges with a large knife so they’re straight and set the trimmed pieces aside.
Cut the block of treats in half lengthwise to create two long sections.
Slice each section on a diagonal to form triangle-shaped krispy treats.

rice krispie treats cut into two rectangles + rice krispie treats cut into triangles

Place the white chocolate melts in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat according to the package directions, or if none are provided, microwave for 1 minute at 50% power (or on the defrost setting). Stir well, and if not fully melted, heat for another 30 seconds and stir again until smooth.

How to Make the Cute Little Reindeers

Now that your treats are cut into triangles, it’s time to decorate with pretzel, candy eyes, and finish with a red candy nose to create the cutest little reindeer faces.

Place a small amount of melted chocolate on the back of one corner of each mini pretzel and stick the chocolate-covered pretzels to each top corner of the treat (opposite from the point of the triangle) to be an antler.
Using a spoon or a toothpick, place a small amount of melted white chocolate on the back of each eye and position on the reindeer.
Using a spoon or a toothpick place a small amount of the melted white chocolate on the side of the M&M that has the printed logo. Press the red or brown M&M on the tip of the triangle to make the nose. Some will be Rudolph Reindeers (red nose with red m&m) and other will be one of the other 8 Reindeer that pull Santa’s sleigh (brown nose).

rice krispie treats cut into triancles placed on a cookie sheet, then mini chocolate-covered pretzel having white chocolate added to the back to "glue" onto rice krispie treats

chocolate covered pretzels on the triangle rice krispie treats for reindeer antlers

eyes added to rice krispie treats, then noses added with red m&ms

Place the decorated treats on a baking sheet and put in the refrigerator or 5 to 10 minutes to harden the chocolate.
Serve and enjoy!

reindeer rice krispie treats in a circle on a green plate

Serving Ideas

These are great for holiday parties (especially for kids), or a fun activity to do with kids when they’re out of school for Christmas break!

reindeer rice krispie treats on a plate and some on a white surface with christmas decor

Storage Instructions

Stored these delicious treats in a covered or airtight container, in a single layer, at room temperature for 5 to 7 days. If you need to layer them, use parchment paper between the layers.
If you’d like to make these for class treats (or other school events) or sell at a bake sale, you could individually wrap them in cellophane bags or with plastic wrap and tie them up with a red ribbon.

FAQ

How do I keep the mixture from sticking to my hands?

The marshmallow coated rice krispies are very sticky. To help keep them from sticking to your hands when pressing them into the baking dish coat your fingers with a small amount of oil, butter or even nonstick spray.

What do I do with the left-over pieces after I trimmed the treats?

Not to be one to waste anything, I took the leftover bits and pieces (such as the corner pieces that were left after trimming the treats into triangles) and also turned them into delicious treats! Just drizzle any remaining white chocolate over them, put them into the refrigerator to harden, and enjoy! They taste just as delicious as the decorated reindeer shaped treats and nothing will go to waste.

I can’t find candy eyes. Is there something else I can use?

If you can find candy eyes in your local store and don’t want to purchase online you can create an eye using white chocolate and a mini chocolate chip. The chocolate chip will be the pupil of the eye. That should give you an idea of how big to make the white chocolate portion of the eye.

Place a small dab of melted white chocolate where you want to position each eye. Take a mini chocolate chip and place it, point side down, into the center of the white chocolate.

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