Caramel Apple Pie Rice Krispie Treats are a fall twist on a classic. Made with browned butter, gooey marshmallows, crisp apple chips, warm apple pie spice, and a drizzle of buttery caramel, every square packs cozy, autumn flavor.

caramel drizzled apple pie rice krispies treats on parchment paper

Before You Start Cooking

Cereals. These bars use a trio of cereals for flavor and texture: classic Rice Krispies, Golden Grahams for a toasty graham cracker note, and a simple honey-oat granola for extra crunch.
Brown Butter. Browning the butter adds a nutty, toasty depth to the bars. Use a large, light-colored pot—stainless steel or an enameled pan with a pale interior (like Le Creuset’s ivory lining)—so you can see when the milk solids turn golden without burning.
Measure Ahead. Once the butter is ready, everything moves quickly. Be sure to have your spices, cereals, apples, and marshmallows measured and ready to stir in before you brown the butter.

How to Make Caramel Apple Pie Rice Krispie Treats

overhead of ingredients needed to make caramel apple pie rice krispies treats with text label overlays

Step 1: Prepare the Pan

Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving a few inches overhanging on two sides to form a sling. This makes it easy to lift the bars out once they’re cooled.

Lightly mist the pan with cooking spray before adding the parchment to help it stay in place. For slightly thinner bars, use a 9-inch square pan instead.

Step 2: Prep Your Add-Ins

For easier mixing, I like to combine all of the cereals and apple pieces in a large bowl before adding them to the marshmallow mixture.

rice krispies cereal mixed with chopped dried apples, granola, and golden grahams cereal in a large bowl. — Cereals and add-ins mixed together.

If you’d rather not wash an extra bowl, you can add them individually to the pot—it’ll just take a little more effort to distribute everything evenly.

Rice Krispies. The classic puffed rice cereal base.
Golden Grahams Cereal. Roughly chop or break the squares so you have a mix of small and slightly larger pieces. You don’t want them crushed into powder.
Granola. Use a loose, cereal-style honey and oat granola without extras like nuts, coconut, or seeds.

white bowls containing (clockwise from upper left): crushed dried apples, chopped apple chips, granola, chopped graham cracker cereal — Clockwise from upper L: crushed freeze-dried apples, apple chips, granola, Golden Grahams.

Baked Apple Chips. Roughly chop into small bite-sized pieces for chewy-crisp texture and more apple flavor.
Freeze-Dried Apples. Place in a zip-top bag and crush with a rolling pin until finely powdered.

overhead of freeze dried apples in a ziplock bag next to a rolling pin — Crushing the freeze-dried apples into powder.

Step 3: Brown the Butter

Set your pot over medium heat and melt unsalted butter, stirring it occasionally with a spatula or wooden spoon. After it’s melted, the butter will foam and bubble as the water evaporates. Keep gently stirring or swirling the pan so the butter browns evenly.

cubes of butter in a white enameled cast iron pot

After about 4 to 7 minutes, you’ll notice tiny golden flecks forming on the bottom. That’s the milk solids browning, and it’s exactly what you want. The butter should smell nutty and rich—almost like shortbread.

As soon as you see the color turn golden and smell that aroma, reduce the heat to low to keep it from burning. It’ll start to darken to an amber color.

overhead of browned butter in a white enameled cast iron pot

Step 4: Melt the Marshmallows

When the butter is browned, immediately stir in your pre-measured quantities of salt and apple pie spice. The warm butter helps the spices bloom so their flavor carries through the whole batch.

Tip: No apple pie spice? Make your own by combining ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and a pinch of ground allspice.

Turn off the heat and add your miniature marshmallows (make sure they’re fresh!). Stir steadily until they’re almost completely melted and glossy.

miniature marshmallows in a white enamaled cast iron pot — Adding mini marshmallows.

The residual heat should be enough, but if the marshmallows need a little extra help, set the pot back over low heat while you stir. Just don’t let them get too hot—if the sugars start to caramelize, the treats will turn out tough.

When the marshmallows are about three-quarters melted, add vanilla extract and stir until the mixture is smooth.

melted marshmallows in a white enameled cast iron pot with a wood handled white rubber spatula — Almost melted with vanilla stirred in.

Step 5: Fold in the Cereal and Apples

With the heat off, add the cereal and apple mixture to the pot. Use a rubber spatula to fold everything together from the bottom up until all of the pieces are evenly coated and you don’t see any large pockets of marshmallow.

The mixture will start to set as it cools, so work quickly here. Try not to press down and crush the Rice Krispies. The mixture should still look a little loose—that’s what gives the finished bars their soft, chewy texture.

cereals mixed into apple spiced melted marshmallows in a white enameled cast iron pot with a wood handled white spatula — Cereals and apples stirred into the marshmallow mixture.

Step 6: Press into the Pan, Cool, and Cut

Scoop the warm mixture into your prepared pan. It will be very sticky.

Use the wrapper from your butter or a piece of parchment paper lightly sprayed with cooking spray to help press the treats evenly into the corners of the pan. Don’t press too hard—if the bars are too compact, they’ll end up tough instead of chewy.

If you’d like, you can press a few extra chopped apple chips into the top of the treats for extra texture.

overhead of caramel apple rice krispies treats in a parchment lined square baking pan — Gently pressed into the parchment-lined pan.

Let the pan cool completely at room temperature for at least 1 hour. If you have time to let them sit for 2 to 3 hours, that’s even better.

When they’re set, lift the block out of the pan using the parchment sling and transfer it to a cutting board. Removing them from the pan before cutting into squares will give your bars the cleanest edges.

Use a sharp knife to cut into 9 to 16 squares, depending on the portion size you like.

Step 6: Drizzle with Caramel

For the finishing touch, combine Kraft Caramel Bits {affiliate link} and heavy cream in a small saucepan. I like to add a touch of apple pie spice for extra warmth, but that’s optional.

Warm the mixture gently over medium-low, stirring until the caramel melts into a smooth sauce that you can drizzle.

melted caramel sauce in a pot with a white spoon

Drizzle the sauce over the cooled squares with a spoon. For a sweet-salty twist, you can also finish your treats with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt over the caramel before it sets.

Tip: Want an extra boost of apple flavor? Swap this caramel drizzle for a batch of my Apple Cider Caramel—it takes these treats to the next level.

drizzling caramel sauce over a caramel apple pie rice krispie treat from a white spoon

Serving and Storing Caramel Apple Pie Rice Krispie Treats

These bars have the best soft, chewy texture on the day they’re made. I highly recommend serving them fresh. If you do hold them overnight or longer, know that the texture will firm up considerably.

Store the bars in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. To revive day 2 or 3 treats, we like to pop each one in the microwave for 5 to 6 seconds to bring back a bit of that just-made softness.