I love having a little something sweet at our tailgates, and Football Cocoa Rice Crispy Treats are always a touchdown on game days!These sweet treats are easy to package for your next tailgate! 

The Game Plan

The Super Bowl is this weekend, and Football Cocoa Rice Crispy Treats will be a dessert all your game day fans will love! These package easily for tailgate parties or bake sales. So, put in your Apple AirPods, get in that kitchen, and make these fun football party treats!

Game day food is sooooo good. The Super Bowl is a complex day for me, truth be told. I look forward to the food and commercials almost as much as the game itself! I’ll smother warm tortilla chips with Three Cheese Jalapeño Bacon Corn Dip. Copa will make Hail Mary Habanero Hamburgers, and after all of that, of course there will have to be something sweet, and preferably chocolate!

Football Cocoa Rice Crispy Treat Tips For Parties & Tailgates

• Make sure you start with a cocoa flavored rice cereal as a base. This will provide you with that gorgeous, brown color and the chocolate flavor. 
• Here is my secret ingredient: CAKE MIX! 
• Yes, you can use brown food coloring to deep the color of the treats.

When the marshmallows and butter have melted (this smells SO good, btw!), I add a cup of CAKE MIX to the gooey mixture! That’s right, cake mix is my secret ingredient. It will take your rice crispy treats to the next level! I used a white cake mix for the Football Cocoa Rice Crispy Treats featured in the photo above, but you could certainly use chocolate instead. And, I added a few drops of brown food coloring to the marshmallow/cake mix/butter mixture to deepen the brown color.

Note: I made a separate batch without any cake mix, and the brown color was still not deep enough for me. So, out came the food coloring! Of course, this is purely optional. 

Football Cocoa Rice Crispy Treats:

Take It To The Tailgate Tips

•  Once you combine the rice cereal with the melted butter mixture, place the entire pan or casserole dish into the fridge to set. Most rice crispy treat recipes simply state “let cool” prior to cutting. This step is fine if you are serving them for dessert at your kitchen table. However, if you are looking to slice the treats and take them to the school bake sale, tailgates or church picnic, they travel better when cut with clean edges. The cold temperature of your refrigerator is needed to harden the butter.
• Next, spray your cookie cutter with non-stick spray prior to cutting. It may be difficult at first to push the cutter through the hardened cereal mixture, but the result will yield clean edges and a defined shape.
• After you cut and decorate (if desired), let the treats come back to room temperature before serving.

  

Icing. It’s so yummy and can really jazz up your creations! I only use royal icing for rice crispy treats; this icing hardens when exposed to air and will not stick to other treats or your packaging materials. If you miss the flavor of traditional icing, add a few drops of butter or peppermint extract to your icing bowl. 🙂

I think you will love Football Cocoa Rice Crispy Treats as much as we do!

OH- you absolutely have to check out our Game Day Chicken Wing Bar with Sideline Sauce Station! 🏈 Go team!

Happy tailgating!  xoxo Heather

SHOP THE TAILGATE!

Football Cocoa Rice Crispy Treats

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  

• 5-6 cups cocoa flavored rice cereal
• 3 tbs butter
• 1 10 ounce pkg marshmallows
• 1 cup cake mix
• 3-4 drops brown food coloring optional
• Royal icing optional

Instructions

 

• In a large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat.
• Slowly add marshmallows, stirring until completely melted.
• Blend cake mix and food coloring into marshmallow mixture. Stir in rice cereal until it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture.
• Pour cereal mixture into a greased 13x9x2 pan. Let cool at room temperature or place in refrigerator. Cut and serve.