pumpkin spice rice krispie treats

Do you remember me talking last fall about the wonderful find that is the Pumpkin Butter from Trader Joe's?
I made a few recipes with the pumpkin butter, it's so versatile!
Truly not just for toast. Is that what it was intended for? Toast?
I've never used this on toast--have you?
Last year I made quite a few recipes with it:
-sea salted pumpkin-oat cookies
-pumpkin snack cake with pumpkin buttercream (oh this was good!)
-pumpkin bread candy bark
-pumpkin butter-cinnamon chip cookies
-and the extremely popular pumpkin butter crunch bars! (dangerously addicting)

And now the latest creation: pumpkin spice rice krispie treats.
I mean why not?
I haven't seen rice krispie bars made into fall mode, have you?
I added a handful of walnuts to these too for an extra layer of texture.
And why I didn't use pumpkin seeds is beyond me--excellent idea.
These treats are loosely based on the espresso-cream rice krispie bars recipe I made back in 2010.
Actually rice krispie bars are so versatile, easy to swap whatever seasonal ingredient you want.
Not sure how plain pumpkin would work, it might be too wet/heavy to add in, unless you sauté it down a bit?





pumpkin spice rice krispie treats
print recipe

4 TB salted butter
4 oz. cream cheese, room temp
¼ cup white chocolate chips
3 TB pumpkin butter
hefty pinch of sea salt
10 or 11-ounce bag of mini marshmallows
½ cup of walnuts, or pecans or pumpkin seeds (optional but wonderful)
 6 ½ cups rice krispies

Spray a 13 x 9-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a very large 6 or 8 qt. pan, melt the butter, cream cheese, pumpkin butter, and white chocolate chips over low heat, constantly stirring.
(this part takes a while as you want to melt everything low and slow since there is chocolate in there).
Once melted add in a hefty pinch of sea salt, stir.
Using a rubber spatula immediately add in the marshmallows—all the while keep an eye on the bottom of the pan, don’t let it burn!  Ok to take pan off heat for a bit if needed if you think it’s getting too hot.  Once marshmallows are added just keep stirring until melted-- you will be stirring a lot.  After its melted take off the heat, add in the rice krispies and nuts too if using.  Mix until well combined.  It will be hard to stir—thick for sure.
This is when you have to work fast and stir until well combined; making sure to get the bottom well combined as well.  Once all mixed then transfer mix to your prepared pan and push down into pan with spatula or water-wet hands. After it’s all smoothed over this is when I like to add a touch of nuts on top for decoration, optional of course.
Place in fridge to set and cool.  They need to cool completely before cutting into bars.  You will need a very sharp knife to cut through these with ease.
Depending on how you cut them they should make about 15-20 bars.