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Lemon Vanilla Cookie Krispie Treats

September 28, 2015 by Joy the Baker 27 Comments

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Lemon Vanilla Cookie Krispie Treats

It’s ridiculous, really.  I’m always looking for any and every excuse to buy a bag of cookies from the grocery store.  

The best excuse I’ve come up with so far is that I need to buy this bag of cookies to make a dessert with cookies in/on/all over them.  

Related:  Milk Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cookies.  

I tell myself that I can’t possibly make a good dessert if I don’t have cookies to make a dessert with.  It makes the most sense, if you think about it (while standing in the cookie aisle, hungry, so hungry).  

It’s my work.  I really need these cookies.  I’m gonna get these cookies.  And make some dessert.  

Lemon Vanilla Cookie Krispie Treats

Key ingredients are simple:  a box of rice cereal, a big bag of marshmallows, butter (lots), lemon zest and vanilla sandwich cookies because we’re fancy (and we were standing in the cookie aisle too long).  

Tron (yes, my cat) is a huge fan of marshmallows.  He always steals one, takes it to a corner, and I can hear him chomping through the soft, sweet pillow. Cats aren’t supposed to eat marshmallows.  You try telling him that.  He doesn’t seem to listen to me.   

Lemon Vanilla Cookie Krispie Treats

Butter, marshmallows and lemon zest are melted until goupy, sticky, messy, melted, just right.   

Lemon Vanilla Cookie Krispie Treats

You know the deal here:  rice cereal, crumbled cookies, and the lemony melted marshmallows!  

Lemon Vanilla Cookie Krispie Treats

A sticky stir to bring it all together.  

Lemon Vanilla Cookie Krispie Treats

The treats are pressed into a round spring-form pan.  

A square pan is also fine and good.  The key is to press lots of vanilla cookies into the top of the treats because, why not!? 

Lemon Vanilla Cookie Krispie Treats

Sliced like pie and shared for the good of all.  

Print
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Lemon Vanilla Cookie Krispie Treats

  • Author: Joy the Baker
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 8 1x
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Ingredients

Scale
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 40 large marshmallows, 1 bag of large marshmallows
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 cups rice cereal
  • 1 cup crumbled vanilla sandwich cookies, divided
  • coarse sea salt for topping

Instructions

  1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Melt butter until is begins to crackle and sizzle. This means the water is cooking out of the butter and the butter will begin to brown. Add marshmallows and lemon zest to the melted butter just as it begins to brown and reduce heat to low. Add salt and stir until the marshmallows are completely melted, and the marshmallows and butter are thoroughly combined and smell lemony.
  2. Quickly add rice cereal and 3/4 cup of cookies and stir to combine. The mixture will be thick and sticky.
  3. Press the mixture into a 9-inch round greased pan. Use a greased piece of wax or parchment paper to firmly press the mixture into the pan. The krispies will be thick. Press the remaining crumbled cookie pieces into the top of the treats.
  4. Allow to rest at room temperature until set and sliceable. A refrigerator will make the setting process faster.
  5. Slice into 8 wedges and wrap individually. Treats will stay fresh for up to five days.

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  1. Buffet Caterers Manchester

    January 31, 2016 at 2:19 pm

    This is an absolutely fabulous recipe for Lemon Vanilla Cookie Krispie Treats… adding melted Butter, marshmallows and lemon zest should make it a fab treat for a dessert
    https://www.benonscatering.co.uk

    Reply
  2. Ria

    October 11, 2015 at 11:31 am

    This looks like absolute h e a v e n on a plate. I need to give this a try! Xx

    Reply
  3. Gayle

    October 8, 2015 at 6:42 pm

    My Harriet cat is a marshmallow licker too. Must be a weird cat thing.

    Reply
  4. Stephanie

    October 1, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    Yes!!! These! I will have to try orange zest version! Thanks.

    Reply
  5. Emily

    September 30, 2015 at 11:12 pm

    Nice to see a recipe that includes the vanilla version of these cookies. Nowadays, everything is made with black oreo’s, but we kinda had enough of them. It’s time for a change and this “cake” looks like the perfect thing to start with

    xoxo

    Reply
  6. Katafer

    September 30, 2015 at 6:31 pm

    I am beyond sad there is no picture of Tron glomming his marshmallow!

    Reply
  7. Sara

    September 30, 2015 at 12:35 pm

    I love that you counted out exactly how many marshmallows are in one large bag. That’s true dedication to your craft.

    Reply
  8. katelynmurf

    September 30, 2015 at 11:50 am

    Yummy, this looks great. My husband and I are venturing to New Orleans soon and I wanted to thank you for all the great suggestions you’ve put on your blog. We have a list of 41 bars/restaurants to check out while we’re there for 5 days.

    Reply
  9. Alicen

    September 30, 2015 at 4:45 am

    I’ve never considered adding lemon to rice krispie squares…. very interesting. I do love to add peanut butter and then a handful of chocolate chips after adding the cereal, so they start to melt a little but remain chip-like. Wonderful.

    Reply
  10. low carb desserts

    September 29, 2015 at 8:26 pm

    It’s like cereal cake! Pinned :)

    Reply
  11. Louise

    September 29, 2015 at 4:48 pm

    Can we make these with the new Cinnamon Bun-Flavored Oreos coming out?? :)

    Reply
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