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Red, White, and Blue Marshmallow Bars

Red, White, and Blue Marshmallow Bars are a fun, festive no-bake dessert with gooey marshmallows and crispy rice cereal. They’re pressed into a pan, drizzled with red and blue candy melts, then finished with patriotic sprinkles for a clean, crunchy-sweet slice.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
cooling 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 24 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 220
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Crispy rice cereal
  • 6 cup crispy rice cereal
Mini marshmallows
  • 10 oz mini marshmallows
  • 1 cup mini marshmallows (for mixing in)
Unsalted butter
  • 5 tbsp unsalted butter
Patriotic sprinkles
  • 0.25 cup red, white, and blue sprinkles
Candy melts
  • 0.5 cup red candy melts, melted
  • 0.5 cup blue candy melts, melted

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Prep the pan
  1. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan or line it with parchment paper.
Make the marshmallow cereal mixture
  1. Melt the butter in a large pot over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes until just melted and glossy.
  2. Add the 10 oz mini marshmallows and stir continuously over low heat for 3-5 minutes until completely melted and smooth.
  3. Remove the pot from the heat, then immediately fold in the crispy rice cereal until every flake is evenly coated.
  4. Stir in the additional mini marshmallows (for mixing in) and half of the red, white, and blue sprinkles.
Shape and decorate
  1. Press the mixture gently into the prepared pan to form an even layer.
  2. Drizzle the melted red candy melts and melted blue candy melts over the top in thin lines.
  3. Sprinkle the remaining red, white, and blue sprinkles evenly over the candy-melt drizzle.
Cool and serve
  1. Allow the bars to cool completely at room temperature for 60-75 minutes until set.
  2. Slice into squares using a steady motion, then serve.

Notes

Pro tip: Keep the heat on low while melting the marshmallows and remove from the burner as soon as they’re fully melted—this prevents grainy candy and helps the cereal stay crisp. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days; freeze up to 1 month (thaw in the fridge overnight). For a lower-sugar swap, use sugar-reduced marshmallows and choose reduced-sugar candy melts if available.