How Long Do Homemade Rice Krispies Last?
Homemade rice krispies should last for about 3-4 days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature. However, they may start to lose their crispiness after the first day. To help them last longer, you can store them in the refrigerator, where they should stay fresh for up to a week. Just be sure to bring them to room temperature before serving, as they may become hard and difficult to chew if served straight from the refrigerator.
Rice Krispies will remain crunchy and fresh when stored at room temperature in an airtight container or zippered bag, up to one week, as long as you use salted butter, which is our recommendation. Salted butter keeps it fresh up to one week when kept at room temperature, which allows the Rice Krispies cereal to keep fresh for a lot longer than it would with unsalted butter. It will be tempting to slice your treats as soon as they are in your skillet, but you will want to let the marshmallows and butter cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting your treats. You will be melting all but one cup of the marshmallows into the butter, saving the last cup for adding with the cereal.
In fact, adding the one cup of marshmallows as you are mixing your treats together gives them that extra marshmallowy flavor. I like to make mine a bit extra fluffy, so the sweet marshmallows melt into the crunchy rice cereal inside. Allow treat to chill at room temperature or refrigerate until firm, then cut into nine pieces.
Add crispy rice cereal and sea salt to the larger mixing bowl and stir to combine. In a bowl, pour in the cereal followed by the butter and marshmallow mixture, so the melted goodies cover the cereal layer underneath evenly.
To ensure that your treats stay squishy, be sure to cook the butter and marshmallow mixture just until the marshmallows melt, not longer. On a stovetop, you will want to heat your butter and marshmallows first, and then add the marshmallows to it and melt them. OK, but just know they do not melt quite as much as the mini marshmallows, and you will want to make sure to use a fair amount.
The most common reason why you end up with a harder treat is because of the excess heat from your marshmallows. If you are adding too much butter, you will likely get a rubbery treat (too much butter will make it soggy, too). If you did not adequately grease your knives and/or spatulas with nonstick cooking spray or oil, then your treats will stick to the knives even after cooling, making it hard to slice properly.
If you are going to be making Cookie Cutter Rice Krispies, or any treat with shapes, then you are going to want to take a bit of extra time, and we strongly suggest freezing them to chill in the fridge to get them colder, so that they are a bit harder to begin with, before you begin working with them to make shapes. If you would like to store your marshmallow rice Krispies treats much longer, then you can freeze them and they will keep up to 6 weeks. If you are wanting to store your rice Krispie treats in the freezer, you are best served keeping your Rice Krispie treats in a sealed airtight bag or sealed airtight container so that they do not get spoilt with any other foods in the freezer, and they are protected from drips or spills.
| Storage Places | Shelf Life |
| Fridge | 3 days |
| Freezer | 6 weeks |
| Room Temperature | 2-3 days |
Store your rice Krispies inside at room temperature for about two days, in the fridge for five days, or in the freezer for longer storage. Stored correctly, these Rice Crispies last 3 days at room temperature, but are best eaten the day they are made. After 6 weeks, rice crispy treats become significantly harder, or you are left with stale rice crispy treats. To freeze, allow your rice crispy treats to cool fully, and then wrap and place them in a sealed container or zipperlock bag in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Store leftovers by wrapping in plastic wrap and placing in an airtight container or ziplock bag at room temperature–do not refrigerate. An unfinished bowl of cereal will last a couple days in the refrigerator as long as it is kept airtight and does not spoil. If you are really rushing to chill a batch of your granola treats, you may want to throw the cereal treats into the refrigerator briefly, but otherwise, you are better off letting them chill at room temperature.
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Try to use up your supplies in one month or less, as rice cereals will often get weird in texture if they are kept too long. The marshmallow cereal treats taste best in the first few days, but during our taste testing, we found the treats still had a nice crunchy texture and tasted fresh on days 5, 6, and 7. We like the fact that these treats are always dense, tender, and chewy, with a perfect cereal-to-marshmallow ratio.
You can make vegan granola treats using vegan butter or coconut oil, vegan marshmallows, and vegan crunchy rice cereal. ENJOY making your own cereal grain-free treats by choosing crisp rice cereal that is gluten-free labeled (and checking the label on the marshmallows as well, just to be sure). Marshmallows are gluten-free, as is butter, so in order to make a gluten-free Rice Crispy Treat, simply be sure to use a gluten-free cereal, and you are all set. Traditional rice crispy treats made with Kelloggs Rice Krispies cereal, Kraft Jet-Puffed marshmallows, and salted butter are not vegan.
You can get creative and replace part (or all) of the crunchy rice cereal with Fruity Pebbles, Cocoa Pebbles, and Mini Marshmallows, among others. Using would spare you from having to defrost an entire rice crispy bar when you only need one or two squares of that snack.
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If you are looking to make my recipe, I recommend using a kitchen scale to ensure that your proportions are PERFECT, leading to the ultimate chewy yet crunchy rice Krispies Squares. We love buttery, tender treats, so we use MORE butter in our recipe compared to most of the other recipes.
Do homemade Rice Krispies expire?
Because they are cooked with butter, they can eventually go rancid. If the butter is kept at room temperature for too long, it will turn rancid. Your delights will stay fresher than if you use unsalted butter since salted butter keeps its freshness for up to a week when left at room temperature.
How long do rice krispies last in the fridge?
For up to two days, the rice Krispies will remain tender and tasty. Each rice Krispie should be separately wrapped in plastic wrap if you want to ensure that they stay soft and crispy. Try freezing them if you want to keep them around for more than two days!
How to keep rice krispie treats from getting hard?
The main element to take into account if you’ve been complaining that your Krispies are becoming increasingly hard is the high heat, which can make your Krispies extremely hard. The marshmallows and butter will need to simmer for a few more minutes over low heat. Instead of hard goodies, you’ll be rewarded with delectable soft and chewy ones.