How to Keep Rice Krispies Treats Fresh and Longer

Cooking rice is perhaps one of the basic kitchen tasks, however, some people still find cooking rice a challenge. Today I will show you how to cook white rice in a rice cooker and master the perfect, fluffy rice all the time.

Nostalgic Treats

Rice Krispies Treats are a childhood favorite.  They can be as simple, or as complicated as you choose, but are essentially just marshmallow, a little bit of butter and Rice Krispies cereal.

Many families are drawn to this quintessential treat for several reasons. You simply melt butter and marshmallows in a large sauce pan.

Then you mix in Rice Krispies cereal and stir until the mixture has a uniform consistency.

Once your mixture is complete, scoop it into a greased baking pan and let sit for 30 minutes. That’s it, no baking, no boiling, no complicated measuring or prep work!

This makes it an ideal project for young children to take on and gain an interest in cooking and baking.

For All Ages

One of the fascinating reasons why rice krispies are for all ages is that it can stay good and fresh for up to six weeks and longer.

This means parents can pre-make several weeks worth of treats for their children’s lunches, or pre-make large batches of treats for parties and events.

No event with children is complete until someone brings out the Rice Krispies treats.

These yummy treats are made from rice and sugar. Basically the rice is puffed or cooked, dried and toasted.

Puffed rice is readily available and produced from India and other parts of Asia.

How to Keep Rice Krispies Treats Fresh and Longer

In order to make your treats last the full six weeks you need to pack and store them properly.

Packing

Before packaging, you need to decide how long you are planning on keeping the Rice Krispies Treats.  If you are going to be using them within 72 hours of making them, packing is simple. Wrap the top of the tray you used for setting the Treats in a layer of aluminum foil.

Aluminum Foil

If you are planning to edge toward the 72-hour mark, or are planning to travel with your batch of Rice Krispies treats, after placing the aluminum foil, wrap the entire tray in plastic wrap to keep the air out and make transportation easier.

This method will only work if the tray is full.  If you have indulged in a square or two, you will need to package them individually by following the directions below.

If you want your Rice Krispies Treats to stay fresh longer than 72 hours or do not have a full tray, you need to pack them individually.

1. Using a clean, sharp knife, slice the Treats into the sizes you are looking for. An average sized baking sheet will yield approximately 10 party-sized servings or 16-18 lunch sized servings.
2. Once your treats have been cut to the appropriate sizes, package them in unused resealable freezer or sandwich bags.
3. Reusing your sandwich and freezer bags is a wonderful environmental gesture, but for this situation, you want to store your treats for several weeks so you need fresh bags which are guaranteed to be clean. When you place your Rice Krispies Treats in the bags, make sure you squeeze all the air out.

Extra air and humidity will make your treats stale and soggy. Once you have your treats packaged appropriately, the next step is storage.

Storage

One of the best things about Rice Krispie Treats is that both the ingredients and the finish product are shelf stable and do not require refrigeration. Refer to the tips below on how to properly store the rice krispies fresh and longer.

• Once you have packaged your treats, either wrapped in the baking pan or packaged individually in resealable bags, make sure you have a dry place tucked away from heat and light sources.
• You do not want to store your Treats near a heater or stove and risk them melting or drying out.
• You also want to avoid storing them in direct light, especially sunlight which could generate heat and condensation.
• The best place for them is in a cupboard or pantry.
• Storing you Rice Krispies Treats in the fridge is not, “extra caution.” Storing them there at lower temperatures will engage your Treats in a warm-cool-warm cycle that will actually make them soggy.

They are best left well packaged and stored at room temperature.

Fancy Rice Krispies Treats

Now that we have explored how to properly package and store your Rice Krispie Treats for you to enjoy later, I thought I would share my favorite decadent, fancy Rice Krispie Treat recipe.

This is a little complicated than your standard Rice Krispies Treat recipe, but so worth it!

You will need:

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 12 ounces of semi-hard toffee or caramel (I use Mackintosh’s Creamy Toffee)
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 bag of large marshmallows
• 1 box Rice Krispies cereal
• Toothpicks

How to Cook:

1. To begin, spread about 1/3 of the box of cereal in on a cookie sheet.
2. On medium-low heat, melt the toffee and butter into the condensed milk.
3. Stir constantly until mixture has achieved a smooth, creamy texture and all of the toffee has melted.
4. Stick a toothpick into a large marshmallow and dip into the toffee mixture.
5. Once covered in toffee, immediately roll the marshmallow in the Rice Krispies cereal. Replenish the cereal on the cookie sheet as needed.
6. Continue until toffee mixture is used completely. Tip: It is important to work quickly, you do not want the toffee mixture to cool and harden or overheat and burn.
7. Place completed Treats on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
8. Once set, pack and store like regular Rice Krispie Treats.

Take a look on this other Rice Krispies Treats recipe too for an awesome day ahead!

Ready for Treats

Rice Krispies treats really never go out of style and time. It still brings joy to all ages! I hope you learned how to keep your Rice Krispies Treats fresh and longer. Try it at home and make your own recipe with a twist!  See you next time!