Rice Krispies Treats

Rice Krispies Treats is a confection and packaged snack brand built around a simple combination of crisped rice cereal, marshmallow and butter or margarine. The treats are usually pressed into compact squares or bars. They can be prepared at home or purchased as ready-to-eat products, and their format has made them especially recognizable as a lunchbox, children’s snack and casual dessert item. The underlying recipe originated in 1939 in the Kellogg kitchens in Battle Creek, Michigan. Kellogg employees Malitta Jensen and Mildred Day developed the cereal-and-marshmallow preparation as a promotional vehicle for Rice Krispies. The recipe was publicized through Kellogg advertising by 1940, helping connect the confection with the cereal brand before Kellogg sold the product as a packaged snack. In 1941, Kellogg changed the recipe’s advertised name to Rice Krispies Marshmallow Squares. Later versions of the published recipe used Rice Krispies cereal, butter or margarine and marshmallows, with some early formulations also including vanilla. For several decades, the treat was primarily known as a home-prepared recipe rather than a branded convenience product. Kellogg later commercialized plain and chocolate-based versions in 1995 under the Rice Krispies Treats name in the United States and Mexico. Related regional names were used elsewhere: Squares in Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and LCMs in Australia and New Zealand. The regional naming reflects both local branding and the broader tradition of similar crisped-rice-and-marshmallow confections sold by different manufacturers. The brand’s product identity is closely tied to portability, a soft-and-crispy texture contrast and a short, familiar ingredient concept. Its core offering has generally remained an individually portioned or multipack square, while chocolate and other variations have extended the range beyond the original plain formulation. Kellogg also introduced a breakfast cereal based on the confection during the 1990s, but that cereal line was discontinued in 2020. Rice Krispies Treats is now manufactured and marketed within the Kellanova portfolio. Kellanova became part of Mars, Incorporated in 2025, placing the brand within Mars’s broader global food business. Product availability, names and varieties vary by country, and the recipe remains sufficiently simple that homemade versions continue to exist alongside commercial products.

Rice Krispies Treats began as a recipe rather than a packaged snack brand. In 1939, Malitta Jensen and Mildred Day, employees working in Kellogg’s kitchens in Battle Creek, Michigan, created a confection by binding crisped rice cereal with marshmallow and fat. The preparation was intended to promote Rice Krispies cereal and provide a practical use for the product in promotional activity. Its appeal came from a distinctive combination of textures: the cereal supplied light crispness, while melted marshmallow bound the mixture into a sliceable mass. Kellogg started publicizing the recipe by the fall of 1940 through advertising directed at supermarkets and newspaper readers. In 1941, the company changed the advertised name to Rice Krispies Marshmallow Squares. The formulation published by Kellogg remained broadly stable over time. A 1950 version called for butter, marshmallows, Rice Krispies and vanilla. By 1955, advertising presented butter or margarine as alternatives and no longer included vanilla. These recipe publications helped establish the treat as a home-made food associated with the Rice Krispies name even before it became a dedicated packaged product. The confection was not unique to Kellogg. Other manufacturers and home cooks produced comparable crisped-rice-and-marshmallow foods under names such as Crisped Rice Treats and Marshmallow Treats. Regional terminology also developed. In Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Kellogg-related products have been known as Rice Krispies Squares or simply Squares, while the Australian and New Zealand product has been marketed as LCMs. In the United States and Mexico, the commercial brand name became Rice Krispies Treats. Kellogg made the major transition from recipe-associated confection to packaged snack in 1995, when it began commercially producing plain and chocolate-based treats. The ready-to-eat format extended the product beyond kitchens and baking occasions into lunchboxes, convenience snacking and portion-controlled consumption. The square shape, cereal branding and marshmallow texture became the defining visual and sensory features of the line. During the 1990s, Kellogg also offered a breakfast cereal based on the confection. That cereal was eventually discontinued in 2020, while the snack products continued as the central expression of the brand. The product line has remained connected to the broader Rice Krispies identity but operates as a separate confection and snack proposition. Corporate ownership of the brand changed with the reorganization of Kellogg’s businesses. Rice Krispies Treats is currently described as manufactured and marketed by Kellanova, the company formed from Kellogg’s global snacking business. Mars, Incorporated completed its acquisition of Kellanova in 2025, making Mars the ultimate owner of the Kellanova portfolio. Exact product ranges and names differ by market, but the brand’s foundational concept remains the same: crisped rice held together by marshmallow in a convenient square or bar.

• 2025

  Kellanova acquired by Mars

  [2]Kellanovaen.wikipedia.org

  The Kellanova business containing Rice Krispies Treats became part of Mars, Incorporated.

• 2020

  Related breakfast cereal discontinued

  [1]Rice Krispies Treatsen.wikipedia.org

  Kellogg discontinued a breakfast cereal modeled on the confection after selling it from the 1990s.

• 1995

  Packaged Rice Krispies Treats launched

  [1]Rice Krispies Treatsen.wikipedia.org

  Kellogg began commercial production of plain and chocolate-based packaged treats in the United States and Mexico.

• 1955

  Recipe advertising updated

  [1]Rice Krispies Treatsen.wikipedia.org

  Kellogg’s advertised recipe allowed margarine as an alternative to butter and omitted vanilla.

• 1950

  Kellogg publishes an established recipe

  [1]Rice Krispies Treatsen.wikipedia.org

  A published version used butter, marshmallows, Rice Krispies and vanilla in proportions that broadly defined the familiar preparation.

• 1941

  Name changed to Rice Krispies Marshmallow Squares

  [1]Rice Krispies Treatsen.wikipedia.org

  Kellogg changed the name used in its promotion of the confection.

• 1940

  Recipe publicized by Kellogg

  [1]Rice Krispies Treatsen.wikipedia.org

  Kellogg began publicizing the preparation in advertising aimed at supermarkets and newspaper audiences.

• 1939

  Recipe invented in Kellogg kitchens

  [1]Rice Krispies Treatsen.wikipedia.org

  Kellogg employees Malitta Jensen and Mildred Day created the crisped-rice-and-marshmallow confection in Battle Creek, Michigan, as a promotional vehicle for Rice Krispies cereal.

Mass-market, family-oriented snack and confection positioned around convenience, portability, simple ingredients and the familiar Rice Krispies cereal brand.

• Crisped-rice confection · 1995

  Original Rice Krispies Treats

  The core product is a ready-to-eat square or bar made by binding crisped rice cereal with marshmallow and fat. It translates a familiar home recipe into a portable packaged snack and is the principal expression of the brand in the United States.

• Chocolate snack · 1995

  Chocolate Rice Krispies Treats

  Chocolate-based versions extend the original cereal-and-marshmallow format with a chocolate flavor profile. They were among the varieties included when Kellogg began commercially producing packaged treats under the Rice Krispies Treats name.

• Regional crisped-rice confection

  Rice Krispies Squares

  Squares is the principal regional name used for related Rice Krispies marshmallow treats in Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The product follows the same basic format while reflecting market-specific branding and assortment.

• Regional snack bar

  LCMs

  LCMs is the regional brand name used for related crisped-rice-and-marshmallow snack products in Australia and New Zealand. The products occupy the same general snack category as Rice Krispies Treats.

• Breakfast cereal

  Rice Krispies Treats breakfast cereal

  Kellogg offered a breakfast cereal inspired by the marshmallow treat during the 1990s. It represented an extension of the confection concept into the cereal aisle but was discontinued in 2020.

• 2020

  Discontinue the related breakfast cerealOther

  Background

  Kellogg had offered a cereal based on the Rice Krispies Treats concept since the 1990s.

  Action taken

  The company discontinued the breakfast cereal in 2020.

  Aftermath

  The packaged snack remained the principal commercial form of the brand.

  Source

• 1995

  Commercialize the confection as a packaged snackProduct launch

  Background

  The treat had historically been known mainly as a home-made recipe promoted through the Rice Krispies cereal brand.

  Action taken

  Kellogg introduced commercially manufactured plain and chocolate-based products under the Rice Krispies Treats name in the United States and Mexico.

  Aftermath

  The decision established a dedicated ready-to-eat snack brand alongside the continuing home recipe tradition.

  Source

1. 1Rice Krispies Treatsen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Kellanovaen.wikipedia.org