Chocolate Covered Rice Krispie Bars (4 Ingredients)

on Apr 17, 2025

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These chocolate covered Rice Krispie bars take just minutes to make with only 4 ingredients—and no, they’re not just for kids! Dip into melted milk and white chocolate for a classy swirled effect that even the grownups will love.

Overhead view of chocolate covered rice krispie bars half dipped in swirled white and milk chocolate, all on a cooking rack.

Why you’ll love them
About the ingredients
How to make chocolate covered rice krispie bars
Helen’s Top Tips
Variations
Recipe FAQs
More easy chocolate treats
Chocolate Covered Rice Krispie Bars (4 Ingredients) Recipe

Why you’ll love them

We all ate versions of these chocolate covered rice krispie treats when we were kids, and there’s a reason they’re still popular! No baking required, and it’ll take you just a few minutes to melt together the marshmallows and butter, stir in the rice krispies and pat the mixture down into a pan.

The best news is that I’m giving you permission to make them for the grownups, too, not just the kids. With the swirled milk and white chocolate that you dip them in, there’s a sophistication about my take on this classic and perfectly gooey, crispy, chocolaty and altogether satisfying treat.

If you’ve already tried my peanut butter cheerio bars and peanut butter cornflake bars and liked them, I think you’ll enjoy these too (and it can be handy that they’re nut-free!).

Here’s a summary of what I think you’ll love:

It’s a 10-minute recipe (roughly!), plus some chilling time. Perfect when you need a treat for a bake sale, picnic, BBQ or other occasion, but you’re short on time.
Just 4 very simple ingredients – marshmallows, butter, rice krispies and chocolate. Maybe you already have these things!
A no-bake recipe. Always a bonus!
Easy to make ahead. These keep well in the fridge for a few days – if they last that long! Surprisingly, they freeze well, too.
A real crowd pleaser! The kids will love them, but so will the adults. You can even make smaller ‘cube-shaped’ bars and package them up to give as gifts.

About the ingredients

You’ll find a full list of ingredients with amounts in the recipe card below. But here’s a summary of what you need to know.

Overhead view of all the ingredients needed to make them including rice krispies, butter, marshmallows and white and milk chocolate.

Marshmallows: You can use any marsmallows you like, since you’ll melt them along with the butter. Personally, I like the medium-sized mixed pink and white ones to give the treats a slight pink tinge!

If the marshmallows are very large, you might want to chop them up into smaller pieces to help them melt. Mini marshmallows are also a good choice. Just make sure that you use fresh marshmallows since old ones can go hard and unappetizing.

Butter: Salted butter adds a little salt to cut through the sweetness of the rice krispie treats, but unsalted is fine, too. If you like, you can add a pinch of salt to the marshmallow mixture, or even sprinkle a little sea salt over the chocolate layer after dipping.

For dairy free, vegan butter is fine.

Rice krispies: Any brand is fine – you don’t have to use the most expensive ones.

Chocolate: Use your favorite, but I like a mixture of good quality milk chocolate and white chocolate. Dark chocolate is fine, too. If you prefer, you can use chocolate chips instead – semisweet, dark or white chocolate are all great.

How to make chocolate covered rice krispie bars

These might be one of the easiest desserts you’ve ever made! They’re perfect for making together with your children, or last minute when you’ve been asked to bring something along to an event.

So firstly, grab a large saucepan and gently heat and stir the marshmallows and butter until they’ve melted together.

A collage of 2 images showing marshmallows and butter in a saucepan and then melted with a wooden spoon.

Use a wooden spoon or a silicon spatula to stir in the rice krispies. Make sure they’re all well covered with the sticky marshmallow mixture.

Then empty into a cake or baking pan lined with baking or parchment paper. Smooth down with a spatula (or you can just use your hands).

Collage of 2 images showing rice krispie bar mixture in a saucepan with a wooden spoon, and then poured into a lined baking pan with a pink spatula.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. Then take the paper and rice krispie mixture out of the pan and cut it into 15 bars (or more – it’s up to you).

A collage of 2 images showing the bar mixture being smoothed down into a rectangular baking pan, and then being cut into squares with a large sharp knife.

Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe jug or bowl. Then swirl it just a few times and very gently with a knife to make fun swirly patterns with the two different types of chocolate.

Dip the bars into the chocolate so that half of it gets covered. You can either dip the whole of the top in, or dip corner first – up to you!

A collage of 2 images showing someone swirling melted milk and white chocolate with a knife, and then dipping a rice krispie square into it.

Then set them on a cooling rack or lined sheet pan to let the chocolate set. Set them down on the side that you haven’t dipped into chocolate, if possible. As shown below!

I usually pop them into the fridge to speed up the setting process.

The treats dipped into chocolate and set on a cooling rack to dry.

Helen’s Top Tips

Make sure you melt the marshmallows and butter on a low to medium heat. Otherwise the mixture can make your rice krispie bars too hard (or it can even burn).
Use a medium sized narrow and tall glass jug or bowl to melt the chocolate in. You need the chocolate to be deep enough for dipping.
Melt the chocolate pieces in the microwave in 30 second bursts. I find that if you stop just BEFORE the chocolate is fully melted, it won’t get white streaks on it after it’s set. Think of it as a kind of ‘cheat’s’ method of tempering the chocolate.
Use a big sharp knife to cut the rice krispie mixture into bars. As long as you’ve left them to harden in the fridge for long enough, you should find that they’re easy to cut into neat bars.
Consider giving them as a classy gift! Cut the mixture into small squares, then dip so that half is covered in chocolate. They look lovely packaged into a transparent bag.

Small versions of the bars packaged in a transparent gift bag and tied at the top with a bow.

Variations

Chocolate dipped rice krispie treats may be super simple to make, but there are a few ways to make them your own. I bet you can think of some of your own ideas, too!

Experiment with the chocolate. Cover the whole square in chocolate, or just the top, or keep the different types of chocolate separate and dip some squares in each.
Add sprinkles to the chocolate while it’s still wet. How about rainbow sprinkles for a kids’ party, pink or blue for a baby shower, or silver and gold for an anniversary? Or swap the sprinkles for crushed nuts such as peanuts or pistachios.
Sprinkle a little sea salt over the chocolate while it’s still wet, to cut through the sweetness of the chocolate treats.
Stir 2 to 3 tablespoons of peanut or almond butter into the melted marshmallow mixture. It won’t really make them taste too peanut-y, but it does make them extra delicious. Biscoff spread or Nutella would add a tasty twist, too!
Add favorite chopped candy bars such as Twix, Snickers or M&Ms into the marshmallow mixture before pressing it into the pan.
Make them seasonal. I’m thinking sprinkling with crushed candy canes or green and red sprinkles for Christmas, orange and black sprinkles or candy eyes for Halloween, or mini chocolate eggs for Easter. You could also add a few drops of food coloring to the marshmallows and butter mixture for different occasions, such as orange for Halloween, or pastel colors for Easter.
Experiment with different kinds of cereal instead of Rice Krispies. Try cornflakes, cheerios, or whatever you like!

Recipe FAQs

How long will chocolate covered rice krispie treats keep?

They keep for a surprisingly long time if you keep them in an airtight container either at room temperature or in the fridge (your choice). They’ll stay crispy and delicious for at least 3 to 4 days.

Can I freeze chocolate dipped rice krispie treats?

If you want to keep your treats for longer, you can indeed freeze them. Layer them in a freezer safe container between layers of baking or parchment paper for up to a month. Freezer bags with the air squeezed out will work too.

Why are my rice krispie bars hard?

There are two possibilities – either you heated the marshmallow and butter mixture too much, or the rice krispie bars have gone stale. It’s best to eat them within a few days for crisp but still soft and gooey treats.

Overhead view of the bars half dipped in swirled white and milk chocolate, all on a cooling rack.

Leftover marshmallows?

Check out this list of marshmallow recipes for loads of ways to use them up!

More easy chocolate treats

The easiest on this list has to be this magic bar recipe (7 layer bars).
This caramel slice is no-bake and uses only 5 simple ingredients.
You honestly won’t be able to stop eating these cheerio bars.
Hedgehog slice! As tasty and easy as they are cute-sounding!
These 5-ingredient peanut butter cornflake bars are always a crowd-pleaser. Just love peanut butter? Go with these simple candy-bar-like peanut butter crunch bars!

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Chocolate Covered Rice Krispie Bars (4 Ingredients)

By: Helen Schofield

Remember your childhood rice krispie treats? Make this 4-ingredient classy and chocolaty version that both adults and children will enjoy in just a few quick and easy steps. Make them as they are for your next special occasion, customize them to make them your own, or package small squares up to give as a gift.

Prep: 5

Cook: 5

Setting time: 1

Total: 1 10

Servings: bars (or more)

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Equipment

medium sized rectangular baking pan (roughly 10 or 11 X 7 inches)

Ingredients

▢ 8 ounces marshmallows, you can use pink and white, mini or larger (chopped)
▢ 3 tablespoons butter, (1 tbsp butter is about half an ounce)
▢ 7 ounces rice krispies, (1 ounce is about 1 cup)
▢ 14 ounces chocolate, broken up into pieces (I like a mixture of milk and white chocolate)

Instructions

Line a roughly 10 or 11 x 7 inch brownie or baking pan with baking or parchment paper.
Melt the marshmallows and butter together in a large saucepan on a low to medium heat. Stir continuously. As soon as the mixture is fully melted, take it off the heat.
8 ounces marshmallows, 3 tablespoons butter
Quickly add the rice krispies and stir until they are all covered with the sticky mixture.
7 ounces rice krispies
Empty the mixture into the baking or brownie pan. Using either a silicon spatula or your fingers, smooth it down and press it into the corners.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to harden for 30 minutes to an hour. Then melt the white and milk chocolate in a small but deep jug or bowl in the microwave in 30 second bursts or until almost completely melted. Swirl the chocolates together a few times with a knife.
14 ounces chocolate
Lift the mixture and baking paper out of the pan and place it on a cutting board. With a large sharp knife, cut it into 15 or more bars.
Line a baking sheet with baking paper. If you have a cooling rack, put that on top if you like. Then dip each rice krispie bar into the melted chocolate. I like to half dip it so that just a triangular shaped half is covered in chocolate. Stand them on the cooling rack/baking paper with the side without chocolate facing down. Leave them until the chocolate has set. If you like, you can speed up the process by putting them into the fridge.
Keep the chocolate covered rice krispie bars in an airtight container either at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days.

Notes

To freeze: Freeze between layers of baking or parchment paper in an airtight container or in a freezer bag with the air squeezed out for up to a month.

Variations: Add sprinkles or chopped nuts on top of the chocolate after dipping. Try orange and black sprinkles and candy eyes for Halloween, mini chocolate eggs or pastel colored sprinkles for Easter, crushed candy canes or green and red sprinkles for Christmas. Mix a few tablespoons of peanut butter or Biscoff spread into the marshmallow and butter mixture. Mix chopped candy bars into the mixture to an extra decadent version. Customize to your heart’s content!

Chocolate melting tip: To stop your chocolate from developing white streaks after it dries, barely melt your chocolate and let the last chunks melt into the rest without heating any more. This is a ‘cheat’s’ way to temper your chocolate.

Nutrition

Calories: 253kcal, Carbohydrates: 40g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 6mg, Sodium: 104mg, Potassium: 95mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 24g, Vitamin A: 950IU, Vitamin C: 8mg, Calcium: 8mg, Iron: 5mg

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