This year, Ella has a child who is severely allergic to peanuts in her class, so we need to be careful when sending in classroom treats.

These Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats are a fun peanut-free snack that kids can help make, and are ready in less than 10 minutes!

You can potentially use our Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie recipe to make these, but we stuck with just a plain Rice Krispie treat recipe for a large group of kids.

We researched it and Tootsie Rolls and Fruit Roll-Ups are made in peanut-free facilities, so we felt confident including them in our snacks. This is also a great way to teach kids social responsibility and empathy, showing them how much care has to go into preparing peanut-free snacks — something that is an every day part of their friend’s life.

If you wanted to omit the food colouring, you could call them “Cinderella’s Carriages,” or if you wanted to make Apple Rice Krispies Treats you could add a bit of red food colouring.

To make these Jack O’Lantern Rice Krispie Treats, you can just add some mini chocolate chips for eyes and the smile.

(If they were being transported to a classroom, though, I would leave the chocolate chips off as they might fall off and not look quite as cute when they arrive.)

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients

6 Cups Rice Krispie Cereal
1 Tablespoon Butter
1-400g bag Marshmallows
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 drops yellow food coloring
2 drops red food coloring
12 Tootsie Rolls
1 Green Fruit Roll-up

Instructions

Pour your mini marshmallows into a microwave-safe bowl, add butter, and heat in 30 second bursts until melted.
Add in optional vanilla and stir until all clumps of marshmallow are smoothed out. Stir in the Rice Krispies.
Let mixture cool a minute or two before shaping into balls with clean hands (wet your hands with water or oil slightly if the mixture keeps sticking to you).
Insert the Tootsie rolls in the center to make stems while the mixture is still warm.
Set on a lined baking sheet, and cut Fruit Roll-up "leaves" by hand, gently pressing each leaf onto a pumpkin.
Refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours.