Happy Halloween! Make these fun Candy-Stuffed Rice Crispy Treat Pumpkins and use your favorite candy as the surprise in the middle.
Happy Halloween! Ok not quite, but today #SundaySupper is celebrating with tricks and treats. I am not a spooks person. I don’t like goriness. I don’t like the fright of a masked man chasing me with a chain saw. I don’t like vampires (especially sparkly ones) and even though I grew up in western PA, I don’t like zombies either. I know, I’m such a party pooper. Believe it or not, I do still love Halloween. I love black and orange, pumpkins, and black cats. I love peanut butter pumpkins and Cadbury scream eggs. I have a giant ceramic Halloween cupcake and a cupcake shirt. Oh and I kinda like witches. So for your Halloween treat today, I decided to lean towards the cute and creative factor with these Candy-Stuffed Rice Crispy Treat Pumpkins. It’s everyone’s favorite rice crispy treat in the shape of a pumpkin with a sweet treat in the middle.
I first saw this recipe in the newspaper with all of the coupons. My dad likes to give them to me when he is done reading his Sunday paper. I loved the idea of putting candy in the middle, It’s not just a pumpkin. It’s a candy surprise pumpkin! I chose pumpkin spice kisses to go along with the pumpkin theme, but you can use anything “fun-sized” – peanut butter cups, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Milky Way, anything small. This treat is perfect for using up leftover Halloween candy. Pumpkins don’t stop with Halloween. They are very common in November as well. And if you are out of candy, the rice crispy treats themselves are still good too.
There are no fancy flavors in these pumpkins. Just your typical butter, marshmallows, and rice crispy cereal with some food coloring and buttercream. I thought about adding pumpkin spice, but I had pumpkin spice kisses in the middle already.
The original recipe called for green gumdrops. One – I forgot to buy some. Two – I hate gumdrops, so I wouldn’t really eat them anyway. I just threw some mini marshmallows into green buttercream until they were mostly covered. You can also dip them in chocolate for a brown stem or find another green candy (M&M perhaps?) If you have no candy at all, you can probably pipe some kind of stem. Speaking of piping, I have no clue how to pipe vines on a pumpkin. I had the bag full and moments away from piping when it hit me – how *do* you decorate a pumpkin? I hope a few squiggles and some lines did the trick.
I think these Candy-Stuffed Rice Crispy Treat Pumpkins would make great party favors. Hand them out in festive treat bags and watch the kids go crazy (or at least crazy from the sugar rush).
Candy-Stuffed Rice Crispy Treat Pumpkins
Yield: 8 pumpkins
Happy Halloween! Make these fun Candy-Stuffed Rice Crispy Treat Pumpkins and use your favorite candy as the surprise in the middle.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups mini marshmallows + 8 mini marshmallows set aside
- Orange food coloring
- 3 cups rice crispy cereal
- 8 pieces mini candy, unwrapped
Buttercream
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Green food coloring
Instructions
- In a large pot, melt the butter. Add 2 cups marshmallows and stir until melted. Stir in a few drops of orange food coloring until bright orange. Remove from the heat and stir in the cereal until everything is well-combined.
- Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup, scoop out the cereal mixture and shape it into a ball around one piece of candy to form a ball. Repeat with remaining cereal, being careful you don't burn your hands.
- Fold the mini marshmallows into the buttercream (see below for recipe) to coat for pumpkin stems. Attach to the top of each pumpkin. Place the rest of the buttercream into a piping bag and pipe vines onto each pumpkin.
- For the buttercream: In a medium bowl, beat together the powdered sugar and butter until creamy, 2-3 minutes. Beat on high another 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and food coloring.
Source: Adapted from Kellogg’s
More Halloween Recipes For You To Make
Halloween Candy Corn Chocolate Popcorn
Halloween Chocolate Truffles
Pumpkin Spice Kiss Cookie Cups
Susan says
Your pumpkins look great! They are whimsical, kind of like this treat!
Renee says
Oh the possibilities of the candy to use in these stuffed crispy treats. Love the idea.
And I don’t have any piping skills at all. Your vines look great to me. I have a feeling mine would be sad, very sad.
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
Umm these are adorable and I love the little surprise inside!!
Paula @ Vintage Kitchen says
The idea of this recipe is yummy and so versatile! Your vines look great Carla! Have a great day
Wendy (The Weekend Gourmet) says
These came out so good…I have a bag of those Halloween kisses in my kitchen too. Hmmmm….
Jen @JuanitasCocina says
These are cute! I wish I’d seen these earlier so that I could have taken some to work!
kelly @ kellybakes says
I love how you made the stems with marshmallows! And it’s funny that you were talking about not being a cupcake decorator, because this is the kind of creativity it takes to make adorable cupcakes. who knows, maybe someday when you open a bakery, you’ll have the market on homemade cupcakes that are adorably decorated too!
Thanks again for staying and for sharing these with me! Mars misses you already! xo
Angie @ Big Bear's Wife says
ooh gosh I could not have these in the house because I would try to eat all of them! They look perfect!
sunithi says
So artistic and creative ! Love the orange look. You took rice krispies to another level ! beautiful !!!!!
Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen says
OH man, another great recipe for little ones *sigh* I wish I had some. I will have to pin them for later use :)
Tara Noland says
Those look perfect!! Another great recipe!!
Liz says
So cute, and so yummy! I just love Rice Krispie Treats…I know I’d have to go back for seconds :)
Alex says
They look so great! What a brilliant idea for Halloween!
Katie says
These sound fantastic! I love the added surprise of the pumpkin spice kisses inside as well – a little extra deliciousness for sure!
veronica gantley says
What a cute little treat. Its like rice krispy treats with a surprise inside!
Sarah says
Clever and whimsical as always! Wish I had your creativity!
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
I am not into scary stuff either. I actually opted for fall decorations in my house, instead of Halloween stuff. These are adorable, and I think the marshmallow makes a perfect stem – way better than gumdrops.
Bea says
How fun are these pumpkins?! They look fantastic :)
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious says
These are too stinking cute! And I just love that surprise filling!
Anita at Hungry Couple says
I also prefer the cuter side of Halloween and these are adorable!
Laura says
I think this is such a clever idea, stuffed rice crispy treats! Why haven’t I thought about this before?
Liz says
What a great idea! Happy Halloween :)
Heather @girlichef says
These are adorable. And I’m a huge krispie treats fan…totally takes me back! Another one for the ever-growing to-make list…
Linda | The Urban Mrs says
That looks really cute! I love how you create the vine. Looks so real.
Jennie @themessybakerblog says
These are precious! I love that they have a surprise treat inside, and your piping job looks beautiful.
Karen Hartzell (@InTheKitchenKP) says
I love rice krispie treats in any shape! Have you seen all the flavored marshmallows now? I have the caramel flavor in my pantry to make a batch on a chilly afternoon soon! Your pumpkins are adorable!
The Wimpy Vegetarian says
I love your pumpkins!! I’m from Western PA, and don’t like zombies either :-)
Cindys Recipes says
I love the bonus of candy inside, Carla! So neat!
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says
OMG, I LOVE these! What a great idea! Love it!!
Kathia says
Great recipe looks delicious and beautiful.
Patti says
This is such a great idea and your photos are awesome!
RavieNomNoms says
These are just too darn cute!
Sarah says
who doesn’t love an extra treat in the middle of thier rice crispy treats? Your pumpkins are adorable. I’m not much of a Halloween fan either so you are not alone.
Brandie (@ Home Cooking Memories) says
These are so fun! The crispy pumpkin is great enough, but adding the candy in the middle makes it even more special. Very cool!
Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts says
How cute are these! And I love the surprise inside!
Kim Bee says
Sneaks in…slides one across the table…tiptoes out quietly.