Rice Krispies Holiday Challenge: Rice Krispies Christmas Cake


You might recall that I teamed up with The Motherhood and Rice Krispies for a “Back to School Recipe Challenge”.  We had a great time coming up with our Cranberry Macadamia Rice Krispies on a Stick creation.  So when they asked me to join 30 bloggers in a Holiday Challenge with a $100 Visa Gift Card Giveaway for my readers, I was filled with Christmas cheer!

slice of christmas cake

Our challenge this round was to create a stunning holiday “show stopper” to share with friends. We decided (I say “we” because Brad is my official Rice Krispies Treat stirrer and brainstorming buddy) to make a Christmas Cake by stacking Rice Krispies Treats and decorating with various candies.

You want to make your own Rice Krispies Christmas Cake? I’d love to show you how!

Here’s the ingredients you’ll need:

~ 9 Tablespoons of Butter

~ 3 Packages of Regular Marshmallows

~ 18 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal

~ 2 Spring Form Pans (I used my large and small size)

~ Red Fruit Leather

~ 2 Candy Canes

~ Red Hot Candies

~ Candy Rope (such as Twizzlers)

Cake Assembly:

1. Make 3 batches of Rice Krispies Treats according to the instructions on the box or the “Original Treat Recipe” as listed on the Rice Krispies site. Do not attempt to make these all in one batch unless you have superhuman stirring powers.

2. Firmly press into buttered spring form pans and cool completely. Two batches in the large pan and one in the smaller.

rice krispies treats cake pans

3. When completely cooled, remove from pans and stack the smaller “cake” on top of the larger.

rice krispies treat christmas recipe

4. “Ice” the cake with fruit leather strips and candy rope.

5. Detail with Candy Red Hots and insert Candy Canes in a bow formation into treat layers.

Christmas Rice Krispies Treat

6. Cut a slice and serve to friends and family!

slice of christmas cake

7. Leftovers? Package the remaining slices in treat bags and send home with your guests! Or deliver to local neighbors.

rice krispie Christmas treat bag

We’re planning on delivering this “showstopper” treat to our neighbors when we try caroling as a family for the first time. Get it – “showstopper”?

By the way, entering the $100 Gift Card Giveaway is “A Piece of Cake”!

Just read the rules below and leave a comment letting me know how you could incorporate Rice Krispies Cereal in your holiday baking.

Abbreviated Rules: No Purchase Necessary. Contest Ends Tuesday 12/21/10. For complete Official Rules, go to http://web.mediacdt.com/docs/motherhoodholiday. Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at time of entry. One entry per person. Subject to complete Official Rules. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: The Motherhood; www.TheMotherhood.com.

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* Special thanks to The Motherhood and Rice Krispies for inviting me to participate in this promotional campaign, providing the ingredients needed to complete this recipe, and compensating my time and creative efforts.

This Post is Linked at Beauty and Bedlam’s Tasty TuesdayAt The Well’s Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and We Are That Family’s Works for Me Wednesday

136 thoughts on "Rice Krispies Holiday Challenge: Rice Krispies Christmas Cake"

  1. Melissa Hess says:

    My boys like to make rice krispie candy canes and we wrap twizzlers around them to make the red stripes. They’re a favorite!!

  2. Sarah Thompson says:

    We love to use them in peanut butter balls!

  3. connie says:

    I LOVE rice crispy treats, but around the holidays, we make them with peanutbutter and butterscotch chips….they are SOOO good!!!

  4. Kristen says:

    We also put ours in peanut butter balls

  5. Janet Smith says:

    LOVE rice crispies!! I made Christmas trees just last night for my holiday party at work. Super Easy & SUPER QUICK!!! The quick part is key for me, being a working Momma! Happy Holidays to you and your family!

  6. Rachel says:

    That’s too cute, Jen! Y’all are so creative 😉

    I love regular rice krispie treats drizzled with dark dark chocolate.

  7. Jenny B says:

    I think we will definitely have to make some treats with the kids this yr. They’ve never done it and I know would LOVE the mess it makes:)

    Jenny B

  8. Jessie C. says:

    I plan to make some Rice Krispies cakes with dark chocolate and peanut butter drizzled over the top. mmm…
    tcarolinep at gmail dot com

  9. Ashley says:

    I love to make Christmas tree Rice Krispies treats and top them with icing and sprinkles for gifts for our friends and neighbors.

  10. Man I seriously LOVE rice krispie treats. This holiday I’d like to figure out how to make some with peanut butter! Ooh, even better maybe I’ll add some peanut butter and either chocolate chips or drizzle it with some melted chocolate. Mmmm 🙂 By the way, your “cake” looks super cute!

  11. MandyE says:

    That is so neat! I love Rice Krispy treats, but haven’t had any in way too long. Seeing your post makes me think it might be something I could do with the girls (23 months old)…maybe not the cake, but they might enjoy decorating a pan of treats with some candy.

    Merry Christmas to you and yours!

  12. You Rice Krispies Ladies are killing me today with the creativity. Love this idea. Now I’ve got two I’ve got to incorporate into my holiday parties.

    My favorite holiday treat with Rice Krispies is Scotcheroos. LOVE them and they remind me of Grandma.

  13. Burgh Baby says:

    We are currently scheming to make faux gingerbread cookies out of Rice Krispies. A little cookie cutter action and lots of chocolate and frosting and candy will be involved.

  14. KS Dallas says:

    You did a great job on the “crispy” cake! Very festive.

    Personally, I am addicted to peanut butter and chocolate, so I would definitely have to do mine with those 2 ingredients.

    Yum!

  15. Yours turned out fabulous! I would love to make just that!!! The kids would love it.

    Steph

  16. Amanda Simon says:

    We LOVE making Rice Crispies! Sometimes for the first snow of the year we make Snow Balls! Rice Crispy treats in little balls and either sprinkle coconut on them or powdered sugar. They are always fun. One year we even built Snowmen out of them… that was fun!

  17. Jill McMullin says:

    Fun idea! I think I’ll try it!

  18. Janna says:

    Your cake is fantastic! What a cute idea!
    I’m thinking about making rice krispie treats and adding red and green m&ms to give to the neighbors for Christmas. I LOVE rice krispie treats!

  19. Michelle H says:

    Caroline is having a gingerbread house party on Friday. It wouldbe cute to make thin rice Krispie treats and cut them with gingerbread men cookie cutters and then decorate with icing and candy!

  20. brittany says:

    I’ve never made rice krispie treats with my kids. Can you believe that? Rolling them in a ball and putting tiny dowels in them to dip them in chocolate, roll them in sprinkles, let them harden. Yum!

  21. Sharee says:

    This is super cute! I think this would be fun to make with my kids.

  22. JessieLeigh says:

    I love making Rice Krispies treats for the kids’ classes because they seem to be okay for most everyone there… they’re pretty “allergy-friendly”! Your cake is DARLING! I could make something like that for my Christmas Eve baby!

  23. Dana says:

    That cake is adorable! I would have never thought to do that 🙂 We like to make Rice Krispy Christmas Trees and decorate with M&M’s for ornaments 🙂

  24. Jen says:

    We’re going to make a Rice Krispie Christmas House, similar to a gingerbread house. My daughter is so excited!

  25. That is a truly great cake! Thanks for sharing it for Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

  26. milo johnston says:

    I love to make rice crispy treat balls and dip them in chocolate. My kids then decorate them with sprinkles:)

  27. Jill says:

    Jen…I love your cake! I’m going to have to try that 🙂 We love to make a recipe from my mother-in-law that I have affectionately named “Sweet Goodness” with Rice Krispies, white almond bark candy, peanut butter and peanuts all melted and mixed up then dropped on wax paper to cool. It’s a holiday tradition and so yummy!

  28. Pam says:

    I like Rice Krispies treats with red and green sprinkles on top. Your cake turned out so cute. I think I need to be more creative.

  29. Queen Mommy says:

    Such a cute idea! Reminds me a little of popcorn cake. I’m imagining decorating with M&Ms too.

  30. Stephanie Cook says:

    I would love to make that cake with my daughter!!

  31. Stacey says:

    I think we may use cookie cutters and make for our God parents! I have been trying to decide on something that they could do that would be easy and made with all 3 of their sweet hearts:) Love your cake!!!

  32. SARAH says:

    I MAKE A JELLY ROLL PAN OF RICE KRISPIE TREATS THEN CUT OUT TREE SHAPES AND DECPRATE WITH CHOCOLATE ICING AND M & M’S. YUMMY!!!

  33. Jerri says:

    Wow! Can you come to my house and make one of these? It looks amazing!

    I’d love for you to stop by my blog on Thursday for my Christmas Recipe Party!

  34. april yedinak says:

    I love your Krispie Cake! I make regular treats and they never last longer than an hour.
    ape2016(at)aol(dot)com

  35. Elizabeth says:

    Last year, we made a Rice Krispie house instead of a gingerbread one, then decorated it. This year, maybe we’ll make a tree and decorate it.

  36. That is just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen made with Krispies!!

    I have a box of Rice Krispies sitting on top of the cupboard – maybe I’ll make some lil presents with them (squares wrapped in licorice or icing!)

  37. That is an adorable use of Rice Krispies! I’ll have to give it a try sometime. I plan to use Rice Krispies to make some homemade cheese crackers this holiday season. Easy and better for the kids than a certain orange fishy cracker…

  38. kat says:

    Rice Krispies are a staple in our house. Just made them for my daughter’s bday treat at preschool. We tied them in saran wrap and tied a candy cane to them!

  39. Sharolyn says:

    I think your cake would be PERFECT for our family holiday gathering! Thanks for sharing!

  40. Lorri Landon says:

    What a great idea! It would be fun to do Rice Krispy treats in cookie cutter shapes, too!

  41. Kelly Ann T. says:

    I have an old tin christmas tree pan this is not very deep. It would be perfect for a Rice Krispies treat tree.

  42. Judith says:

    That cake is so cute. It puts my plain old regular treat although I do add chocolate morsel and walnuts

  43. Haven says:

    I love them just as they are. Especially when they’re still a little warm. I think they’re fabulous to set out and let people snack on as they please when entertaining. 🙂

  44. Melissa P. @Mel4Him says:

    I think it would be cute to make Star shape Rice Krispy Treats and then incorporate them in with the story of baby Jesus

    Mel4Him777{at}gmail{dot}com

  45. Allyson says:

    WE love Rice Krispy Treats! I think it would be fun to make a bundt cake with RK treats! HA!!!

  46. Brenda says:

    I love your Rice Krispie cake! It has inspired me to make a Christmas Tree Cake ~ using Rice Krispies. My kids beg me to make the regular treats and they will be so impressed. Merry Christmas!

  47. DeeAnna says:

    What leftovers? My husband would LOVE this cake!! My grandmother would put walnuts in hers….sounds yucky but it was really good!

  48. Traci Best says:

    One of my family’s favorite cookie recipes calls for Rice Krispies! COWBOY COOKIES! Here is a similar recipe I found: http://littlelovetales.com/more-little-tales/best-cowboy-cookies-ever My Mom made these every fall with homemade applesauce! We ate them up after coming in from the woods where we were cutting firewood for the winter!

  49. Erin R says:

    We mix rice crispy treats into our fudge to add crunch. 🙂

  50. Eos Mom says:

    That is one amazing treat!!! Alas, we don’t make Rice Krispy Treats around here because my son is allergic to marshmallows (corn/corn syrup). 🙁 I love them though. We were at a birthday party last summer and they had rice krispy treats in addition to the cake, my son had the cake and I went wild eating the treats (seriously, I ate like 5 of them!).

  51. Traci says:

    We are making some for our Junior Cantata this Sunday at church!

  52. Kaye says:

    I thought about making chocolate bark with Rice Krispies in it, essentially making my own Crunch bar candy, but I haven’t tried it yet.

  53. Rachel R. says:

    Are Rice Krispies gluten-free?
    They would add some nice crunch to basic cookies. 🙂

  54. April says:

    I would have to add chocolate and peanut butter to rice krispy treats. Everything is better with chocolate and peanut butter!!

  55. Lisa Foster says:

    I like to make them with peanut butter and chocolate chips!!!

  56. Tammy G. says:

    We love Rice Krispies! So we make Christmas “cookies” with Rice Krispies and decorate just like one would a sugar cookie. We then pass them out while caroling at the nursing home to residents who can eat them. Fun for all!

  57. Emily says:

    How cute! I always made rice crispie treats for my husband and I before we had kids. Now we all enjoy them:)

  58. Melanie says:

    My hubby loves rice krispie treats. I am going to make some with Christmas sprinkles mixed in.

  59. Aimee says:

    Yummo! Sounds delish!

  60. So, so, so pretty. Love your idea.

    We LOVE rice krispies – we made chocolate covered peanut butter balls today. One of the ingredients is the rice krispies for a littl extra crunch.

    I’ve only sampled two already! Oops! 😉

    Merry Christmas!

  61. Sabrina says:

    We always make rice krispies ( trees, presents and mickey heads) dipped in chocolate. I love ur cake 2 cute!

  62. Owen's Mom says:

    I love to use rice krispies on my pear crisp for added crunch. I think it would also be fun to throw some rice krispie treats into the holiday triffle.
    andrea.kruse at gmail dot com

  63. Lorraine says:

    I make rice krispie pops for the holiday parties for my children.
    They are a hit and they are clean.

  64. Danielle says:

    We don’t usually make rice krispie treats for the holidays but I’d love to try to make that cake.. It looks awesome!!

  65. Doug says:

    We like to make RK treats with peanut butter and chocolate.

  66. Mami2jcn says:

    I love rice krispies treats with M & M’s in them.

    mami2jcn at gmail dot com

  67. jill says:

    I always make RK treats for every holiday! They’re always a favorite! I just put sprinkles on top to match the holiday theme. 🙂 Now I have a lot more great ideas!!!

  68. amber says:

    i’d make the M&M snowman rice krispie treats i saw on their website

  69. Mandala says:

    I like rice krispies with peanut butter and some crushed almonds. For Christmas I will try something more creative – colossal candy canes – found the recipe here:
    http://www.ricekrispies.com/#/recipes/colossal-candy-canes
    mandalarctic at gmail dot com

  70. That’s beautiful! I love my treats with drizzled chocolate!

  71. ACMommy says:

    We bring Rice Krispies into our holiday baking by making cookies and candies that use it as a main ingredient! This year, we’ll be using Rice Krispies in candies for our Christmas Eve appetizers dinner! 🙂

  72. Mary S says:

    They can be used with anything chocolaty to give it crunch.

  73. Lori says:

    That cake is amazing….. I’m the only one in my house who likes rice krispie treats so I don’t get them that often 🙁

  74. AllieZirkle says:

    i wonder how incorporating Rk into peppermint bark would work?

  75. Kimberly says:

    How cute is that! I incorporate them by making the treats as part of my holiday baking – they are always popular, especially when I do them with chocolate and peppermint

  76. pixie13 says:

    I like Mini M & M’s or chocolate chips in mine; we rarely make these for the holidays

  77. Nicole C. says:

    I like to make them with peanut butter and chocolate chips….also kids like them in cereal…yum yum

  78. Schmidty says:

    That is gorgeous! Very creative, and I love the candy cane bow!

    I’ve just run across a recipe for something like a nestles crunch bar, chocolate with rice krispies stirred in for crunchiness, that I am wanting to try!

  79. Denise P. says:

    I’m thinking that Rice Krispies cake would be perfect for the kid’s table.

  80. Kasey says:

    I like to add them to give texture – they are good in cookies and candies too

  81. Margie says:

    Sometimes we’ll make almond bark treats, which definitely include rice krispies. Very delicious!

  82. Sarah L says:

    I think it’s fun to make Rice Krispies balls and make them look like ornaments for the Christmas tree. Thanks for the contest.

  83. Carol W. says:

    Rice Krispies Treats shaped by cookie cutters would be a nice change from the sugar cookies this year.

  84. Kim says:

    I would love to make them into holiday “ornaments” as stocking stuffers! I love your cake idea!

  85. Heather L. says:

    We love to make rice krispie trees covered in drizzled chocolate!

  86. won says:

    As I’m going through all these recipes, each one I see becomes my new favorite! Everyone is so creative and thoughtful.

    I will incorporate Rice Krispies through one or more of the recipes I’m seeing…absolutely. I like that I can make it ahead of time.

  87. Anne says:

    We always make rice krispie treats as part of our Christmas baking. We aren’t very creative though, and just add red and green sprinkles.

  88. Cindy says:

    What a novel idea! The cake looks great. I drizzle chocolate over the krispie treats but plan on trying a few new recipes after looking at all the wonderful ideas.
    Merry Christmas!

  89. I’d love to make the colossal candy canes

  90. Donna B. says:

    My son likes RKT with M&Ms in them, we could use the red and green holiday ones 🙂 maybe pat it out and use cookie cutters for different shapes.

  91. Natalie J. Vandenberghe says:

    Every time I make Rice Krispie Treats feels like a holiday to me! The original recipe is my favorite, even though I do like additions of chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, or butterscotch. After seeing all of the clever creations from The Motherhood, I’m thinking there are many ways we could incorporate Rice Krispies into our holiday. I think I’ll make the recipe and let my kids create the designs. Thanks for the giveaway.
    aleq13@gmail.com

  92. Amber Gi says:

    we already make rice krispy cany canes almost every year!
    i love your “cake”
    tattgiff at centurytel dot net

  93. Tawnya Sather says:

    We always make original rice kripie treats!

  94. Nicole-Lynn says:

    Great giveaway!

    I love to make the Original Rice Krispy treats for all occasions, especially during the holiday’s! Every now and then I’ll drizzle some chocolate on top.

    I’m getting married soon so winning this would be a huge help to my fiance and I. Thanks for the opportunity!

    Seasidesmitten@aol.com

  95. punkinmama says:

    I love a good Rice Krispie Treat! What would make it even better would be adding some chocolate & peanut butter chips! Mmmmm…

  96. Michelle S says:

    So funny to see this article when I have four boxes of Rice Krispies waiting to be created in the Kitchen…lol Our plan is to make Green Rice Krispy treats and then make them into shape of stars..Large down to small stars…then we stack them starting with largest first until smallest is on top…Should look like a Christmas tree when done. Then we have M&M’s and Christmas Candy decorations to decorate our tree….complete with a mini foil angel to put on top. This is one of the many things we plan on making soon as kids are done with school on Thursday.
    rsj2000mrs@gmail.com

  97. Emily H says:

    I will be making Rice Krispie treats with my little sister (through BB/BS) on Thursday. We will cut out shapes with cookie cutters and then decorate them. They always turn out cute and delicious!!!

  98. we love rice krispie treats but i also have a great recipe for chocolate cereal crunch that uses rice krispies and we love that even more.

  99. Brianne C. says:

    My son and I made a Rice Krispy snow man the other night using cake pans for the body. We decorated it M&M’s, peppermints, and marshmallow’s. Super cute and delicious! I also make Rice Krispy ‘suckers’ 🙂 I use cookie cutter’s to form them into snowmen, christmas tree’s, and wreath’s. I decorate them with icing, wrap them in a festive wrapper, and tie them with christmas ribbon. All the kids, and even the adults love them. We love our Rice Krispy treats not only at Christmas, but all year round!

  100. Pat Connor says:

    My father-in-law always made rice krispie treats in Christmas shapes for our girls. I really want to give this cake a try in his memory.

  101. Karla says:

    I think Rice Krispie Treats are always welcome for the holidays! 🙂

  102. Rice Krispies? Okay so I just made choc-peppermint bark the other day so w/ that in mind I think a layer of dark chocolate topped with a thick layer of rice krispie treats and crushed peppermints (mixed in) might taste great! Top with more crushed peppermints!

  103. Jennifer gersch says:

    i would put them in with some popcorn and chocolate chips and make rice krispie popcorn balls

  104. mrs b says:

    yummy rice krispies treats with peanut butter mixed in, chocolate drizzled on top – that’s our favorite!
    mbaldrees at yahoo dot com

  105. Susan E. says:

    I would add them to my oatmeal cookies.

    dogsrock at insightbb dot com

  106. Tamara says:

    I would love to make some with butterscotch chips for our Christmas weekend with family.

  107. Amy says:

    I think we’ll take some mini red and green M&Ms and stir them into our Rice Krispy treats for a little something special.

    Or == oh, this is it! I’ll mix peanut butter into regular Rice Krispies with the marshmallows and form small balls. Then I’ll make the treat recipe using Cocoa Krispies and wrap them 3/4 of the way around the PB/RK mixture — It’ll be a Rice Krispy version of buckeyes. So glad I thought of this before making out my grocery list!

  108. Judy Brown says:

    I always like to color the marshmallow part green, then after mixing the rice cereal in, and spreading them on a jellyroll pan, using a Christmas tree cookie cutter to cut trees. Use cinnamon candies for the bulbs. A simple, yet colorful addition to your cookie tray!

  109. Lacey says:

    Did you see the Rice Krispies Treats ornaments on Amy’s Finer Things blog? They were so cute and I just might include them on our holiday treat platter this year:)

  110. Beth R says:

    I like to make rice crispy treats cut out with christmas cookie cutters-my kids love them!

  111. LAMusing says:

    I could make Rice Krispie Treats drizzled with chocolate 🙂

  112. Norma says:

    I make the Rice Krispie Treats with butterscotch bits in them! For the holidays I might form them into small balls, add a drizzle of white chocolate and sprinkle some glittery white candy bits on it – like a snowball!

  113. Katie Duffy says:

    I would love to have put homemade rice krispie treats in stockings.

  114. Chantel says:

    Okay. This is the second blog I’ve hopped that has shown some amazing rice crispy design. I feel ashamed that I’ve thought of them as a breakfast cereal alone most of these days!

    wouldn’t mind winning the GC, but just had to say I am very impressed with your rice crispy cake!!

  115. Kari says:

    I love Rice Krispies everyday for breakfast. But for the holidays, nothing beats Rice Krispie treat with green and red M&Ms.

  116. Sarah in MO says:

    I’d love to make some rice crispy snowmen for the children at church – they’d love it!

    Merry Christmas and thanks for the giveaway!

  117. Susan bentley says:

    I would make treats using the original recipe but add dried cranberry and white chocolate chips chopped. To top it off, it would then have a white chocolate drizzle on top via melting bag of chips in microwave then slowly adding 1 tsp butter until melted. Add hot milk to thin slightly for drizzle and use fork/spoon to make lines of drizzle across yoir rice crispie treat.

  118. Erin says:

    Such a cute idea for the cake! My grandma has always made scotcheroos, a recipe based with Rice Krispies. The family revolts if she doesn’t bring these to holiday meals 🙂 She makes them and lets the grandkids take them home now that we are grown. It’s getting difficult for her to make them, so I’m taking over this year!

  119. PBPD says:

    Crushed candy canes are the perfect addition to the original recipe!

  120. Mari says:

    I use rice krispie treats to make Kandy Kane Krispies (Basically Rice Krispie Treats shaped into candy canes with candy cane pieces on top).

  121. Bri says:

    My family loves rice krispy treats with m&m on top

  122. Rosalind says:

    rice crispie treats of course! YUMMY! fun to make, delicious to eat!
    it’s a hit from the oldest to the youngest!

  123. Betty C says:

    We like to press the mixture into molds and then decorate like cookies.

  124. I make the Rice Krispie Treats with butterscotch bits in them! For the holidays I might form them into small balls, add a drizzle of white chocolate and sprinkle some glittery white candy bits on it – like a snowball!

  125. Kathleen Mires says:

    I could start by making your showstopper cake from above! It looks delish!

  126. Jay says:

    I would like to make them with red and green m&m’s.

  127. Janet Carpenter says:

    I love your cake! I know what you mean about making the batches separately… I just saw a special on making the world’s biggest rice krispie treat and they had to do it by making 10,000 or more separate batches. They told how many foot pounds or some such thing of strength it took to stir a batch.

    My favorite recipe is my mom’s – it looks a little like yours, except in miniature because she uses red cinnamon dots.

  128. cindy w says:

    We make rice crispy treats with red and green m&ms.

  129. Chrysa says:

    I like to make “ornament shaped” treats and decorate with red and green sugars.

  130. emily irwin says:

    i would love to make scotcharoos and decorate with red/green sprinkles to make them Christmas-y

  131. ashley says:

    I would make rice krispie snowmen!

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