Add a festive pop of color to your holiday table with a quick and easy recipe for Marshmallow Christmas Wreaths!
The holidays don’t officially begin in our house until iconic Marshmallow Christmas Wreaths make their annual debut! Just one taste of these crispy, chewy treats and I am transported to Beaver Creek, Colorado, where my family and I spend every winter holiday season.
Consider these Marshmallow Christmas Wreaths to be a super festive update to the classic Rice Krispies Treats (and a confectionery cousin to our popular and just-as-festive Pumpkin Pie Rice Krispies Treats). I’ve swapped Rice Krispies for cornflakes and added a good squeeze of green food coloring. And for edible holly berries? Cinnamon candies!
If you’re in a rush, or prefer a more communal approach to dessert, skip shaping the cereal treats into individual wreaths and gather the mixture together to form one giant wreath. Then friends and family can pull off pieces as they please.
For more festive Christmas dessert inspiration, don’t miss my favorite holiday cookie recipes!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 30 large marshmallows (about 3 cups)
- 1 Tablespoon green food coloring
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups cornflakes
- Cinnamon red-hot candies
- Cooking Spray
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat.
- Add the marshmallows to the melted butter and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth.
- Add the green food coloring and the vanilla extract, stirring to combine.
- Add the cornflakes and stir the mixture constantly until the cornflakes are evenly coated.
- Place a large piece of parchment paper on the counter and spray it lightly with cooking spray.
- Remove the saucepan from the stove and quickly form the cornflake mixture into wreaths by making a small hole in each mound of the cornflake mixture.
- While the cornflakes are still warm, place the red-hot candies atop the wreaths for garnish.
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Recipe adapted from Rose's Christmas Cookies by Rose Levy Beranbaum.
Perfect recipe. After they dried they stayed soft and delicious and didn’t turn in to green rocks.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Amy!
Everything about this recipe was great….just wondering why it is taking so long to ‘set’. Was it something I did?
Hi Diane! Do you live in a humid climate?
Add mixture in muffin tin and spray a wooden spoon with cooking spray and twirl end of spoon to make wreaths spray tin.
Great tip, Jacqueline!
I also grew up with these wonderful treats. My sister and I always looked forward to making these wreaths with mom. I still make them every year from memory. Finally, a recipe to go by. This is a keeper. Friends and family love them! Thank you!!!
I’m so thrilled to hear that you and your family enjoy the recipe, Corinne!
What a great great recipe it was so easy and the steps were spot on . Cornflake Christmas wreaths came out perfect
I’m so happy to read this, Christine!
Love these so good!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Adelyn!
I’ve made these before with Corn Flakes and they were a hit. I have 2 boxes of special K. I wonder if it would work the same
I’m so happy to hear they were a hit and you enjoyed them, Deborah! Special K should work just as well!
This is a classic twist on normal rice crispy treats- but they taste SO much better!! My mom would make these for us when we were kids and I have been trying to track down how to make them and this is it! Thank you for this recipe!
You are so welcome, Jennifer! Happy holidays!
Love making its easy good,thank you for the recipe .
You are so welcome, Patricia! I’m thrilled you enjoyed the recipe!
Can I sub shortening for butter?
That should work!
Could not shape into wreaths, too sticky! So I call them my grinch globs-lol. Too much butter I believe.
Hi Kathy – I’ve found success by spraying my hands with cooking spray so the mixture won’t stick. :)
I made these many years ago & prepared 6+ doz last night for a cookie exchange tonight. None of the recipes I looked at talked about “drying time”. Mine are all pretty sticky more than 12 hrs since making. I live in Texas so it can be humid & it’s 62% this morning. I’m wondering if that’s the only reason they’re still sticky!
Hi there! These will definitely “dry” and firm up as the set, but it sounds like it’s definitely a humidity issue!
Had the best time mKing these with our four year old granddaughter. Pretty sticky so I should have buttered my hands ANd used gel food coloring, but we loved them!
Love, love, love reading this! So thrilled you and your granddaughter enjoyed this holiday favorite. :)
Tried these and they aren’t anywhere near a good green :/ they look like.. yellow with a yucky green tint. they taste pretty good but i used more marshmallows because the first round was way too battery and got hard like toffee almost. thanks for the recipe tho! nothing ever turns out for me
I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe, Grace. I highly recommend using gel food coloring to achieve a rich color.
Has anyone ever have a problem with the red hots bleeding onto the wreath when freezing?
IF you butter your hands the mixture does not stick to your hands while shaping.
Great tip, Andrea!
Can you sub mini marshmallows? And how many cups (or ounces) of minis??
Absolutely! Use three cups of loosely packed mini mallows.
This is what I usually do! And I butter the handle of a wooden spoon to make the center hole of the wreath –works like a charm!
Love this tip, Julie!
Can I used Cinnamon Toast Crunch instead for my cereal? How do you think that would turn out?
Hi Zach! I’ve never tried that but it *should* work. Let me know if you give it a shot!
Thanks for the recipe turned out great I just used red candy sprinkles that were round instead
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Joanne!