flameDessertBaking & SweetsAmericanUnder 30 mins

Fruity Pebble Rice Krispie Treats

Prep10 min

Cook10 min

Total20 min, plus cooling

Serves8x8 pan

Method

Steps

Butter an 8x8 pan, or line it with parchment and butter the parchment. Have everything measured and within reach. Once the marshmallows go in this moves fast, and Fruity Pebbles go soft quicker than Rice Krispies, so you do not want to be hunting for the salt mid-fold.
Brown the butter. Melt it in a large pot over medium heat, then keep cooking, swirling the pan, until the foam subsides and the butter turns golden with toasty brown flecks and smells nutty, 3 to 5 minutes. Pull it while it is on the lighter side of brown. You want the nutty flavor, but a deep-dark brown will mute the neon colors you are here for.
Reduce the heat to low. Add all but about 1 cup of the marshmallows and stir until fully melted and smooth. The mixture will take on a pale rainbow tint from the cereal later, which is exactly right.
Pull the pot off the heat. Stir in the kosher salt and Mexican vanilla, then fold in the reserved marshmallows and all of the cereal. Work quickly and stop as soon as everything is coated. Fruity Pebbles bruise into mush if you overwork them, and you want those half-melted marshmallow pockets left intact.
Scrape into the pan and press into an even layer with buttered hands or a sheet of buttered parchment. Press gently. Packing it down hard makes the treats dense and dulls the crunch.
While the top is still warm, shower it with Maldon flakes so they stick. Let cool at least 30 minutes, then cut into squares.

Good to know

Brown the butter, but keep it lightThe nuttiness is what takes these past a kid-party afterthought, but Fruity Pebbles are the whole visual, so stop the butter before it goes mahogany. Golden with flecks is the target.
Keep a cup of marshmallows backFolding them in off the heat is what gives you the gooey, molten pockets instead of a uniform slab.
Mexican vanilla earns its place hereIt leans warmer and more floral than standard extract, and it rounds out the candy-sweet cereal so the whole thing tastes made, not poured from a box.
Maldon on top, not mixed inThe flakes stay crunchy and hit in salty bursts against all that sugar. That salty-sweet swing is the reason these disappear. Add them while the surface is warm so they anchor.
Move fast, press softFruity Pebbles soak up marshmallow and soften faster than Rice Krispies. A quick fold and a gentle press keep the texture light and the color vivid.
StorageBest the day they are made. Keep airtight at room temperature for up to 2 days. Do not refrigerate. They go hard.