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    Home » Recipes » Summer Fun

    Caramel Rice Krispies Treat Sandcastle

    Modified: Sep 7, '23 · Published: Jun 12, '12 · By: Beth Klosterboer · Commission earned on paid or sponsored links.

    Jump to Recipe

    Build an edible castle to be the centerpiece at your beach-themed party.

    This Caramel Rice Krispies Treat Sandcastle is sure to impress your party guests and it's fun to make using a beach toy as a mold.

    Caramel Rice Krispies Treat Sand Castle

    A vacation at the beach wouldn't be complete, at least for kids, without building a sandcastle.

    I can remember spending the afternoon sitting in the warm sand listening to the ocean waves crash against the shore while shoveling sand into buckets and sand molds and painstakingly constructing my own castle, trying to hurry before the tide moved in and took my creation back out into the deep blue sea.

    It's been a long (oh, so very long) time since I played in the sand like that, but just recently I had the amazing opportunity to visit and sleep in a castle.

    Castell Deudraeth

    Well, actually the building we stayed in is a 19th-century castellated house, but it was an exciting experience just the same. It looks like a castle, right?

    Castell Deudraeth was our home for two spectacular nights while we visited the village of Portmeirion in Wales. The village is on a cliff overlooking an estuary that leads to the Irish Sea.

    If we hadn't been so busy, hiking and dining during our stay, (the food was fabulous,) we could have gone down to the beach and spent a lazy afternoon building a sandcastle. Instead, I decided to wait until I got home and make one in my kitchen.

    sand castle dessert

    I found my culinary inspiration in sand molds, once again. There are just so many clever culinary uses for those simple plastic beach toys. So far, I've used them to create Marshmallow Sea Creatures and Peanut Butter Fudge Starfish; today I'll show you how to make a caramelized cereal treat using a sand castle mold.

    vintage Rice Krispie treat molds.

    This crispy treat recipe, from Mouldings, Inc., has been in my recipe box since the early '90s. The company used to make plastic molds for the purpose of creating crispy treats, microwave cakes, jello, and more. Sadly, I haven't seen these molds in stores in many years.

     I have many of these molds, and love using them, but discovered the sand molds work just as well for crispy treats.

    You could use any shape of sand mold to make your caramel rice cereal treats. I chose to make a castle that can be used for quite a variety of occasions:

    • beach or pool party (use sand and seashells)
    • Father's Day (add some flags that say, "Dad, you are the king of our castle)
    • princess party (eliminate the sand and add some colorful flags or banners)
    • Renaissance festival event  (eliminate the sand and add a moat)
    • Halloween party (use Cocoa Krispies to make a dark and sinister-looking castle)

    As a matter of fact, my friend is hosting a Renaissance party this weekend so I gave her the castle to display along with her other desserts. I can't wait to hear what her guests think about it.

    UPDATE:

    I recently had a conversation with a reader who was concerned that these molds are not labeled as food safe; she suggested lining them with plastic wrap. I thought that was a really great suggestion. I also had a reader ask if the traditional Rice Krispies treat recipe would work for this project.

    So ...

    making a sand castle rice krispies treat using a sand mold.

    I tested both, the plastic wrap and the traditional recipe, and happily, both worked perfectly. Just know that it will take 3 full recipes of the marshmallow cereal treats to create this castle.

     The pictures below were made using the caramel rice cereal treats in this recipe but were molded without the use of the plastic wrap.

     Cereal Treat Sand Castle (serves 18-24)

     Ingredients:

    19 cups (18-ounce box) crisp rice cereal (Rice Krispies Cereal)
    2 sticks butter (8 ounces)
    2 cups light brown sugar
    1 ¾ cups light corn syrup
    1 can sweetened condensed milk
    optional, sandy crumbs from cereal or cookies

    Supplies Needed:

    medium saucepan with lid
    heatproof spatula or wooden spoon (it is best to butter it)
    sandcastle molds, washed and dried*
    optional, seashells

    *I have found these plastic beach toys in discount stores, dollar stores, department stores, and even drug stores. They are easy to find all summer long. The actual molds I used were purchased for $1.59 at the Christmas Tree Shop last summer.

    Instructions:

    boiling brown sugar and butter.

    • Pour crisp rice cereal into a very large heatproof bowl.
    • Cut butter into small pieces.
    • Place butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan.
    • Heat on medium, stirring as needed, until the butter melts and the mixture begins to bubble around the edges.
    • Place the lid on the pan for one minute.
    • Remove lid and allow to boil for 2 more minutes, without stirring.

    making caramel rice krispie treats with sweetened condensed milk.

    • Remove from heat and add sweetened condensed milk, stir to combine.
    • Return to medium heat and allow to boil for three minutes.
    • Remove and immediately pour over crisp rice cereal.
    • Don't scrape the bottom of the pan.

    making caramel rice krispies treats.

    • Use a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon to stir the cereal until it is well coated with the caramel.
    • This mixture will be extremely hot, so be careful not to touch it.
    • Allow mixture to cool, stirring it frequently until you can easily touch it. Just don't let it cool too much or it will get too hard and won't be easy to press into the molds.

    molding rice krispies treats using castle-shaped sand molds.

    • If you want, you can line your sand molds with plastic wrap or you can spray the inside of the mold with baking spray, but I found that neither is really necessary as the caramel cereal treat mixture is fairly slippery and will fall out of the mold easily.
    • Then spoon some of the cereal treat mixture into your plastic mold.
    • Press down firmly making sure the caramelized cereal fills all the crevices.
    • Fill each mold to the top and press down using your spatula or spoon to really compress the cereal in the mold.

    unmolding caramel rice krispie treat castle pieces.

    Note:

    I started by using a sandcastle mold that was about 4" long but found the features of the castle wall were just too small to really show up well, so I decided to use a larger set of molds.

    I made the first piece, pictured in the upper right-hand corner, and didn't make sure to really press the cereal mixture into all the crevices in the mold. As you'll see with the pictures below, I did a much better job filling the molds so all the details really showed up.

    I was even able to fix the first one.

    cereal sand castles.

    To un-mold the cereal treats, just turn the mold upside down and shake.

    The molded piece should fall right out. If it doesn't, pull the sides of the plastic mold away from the cereal treat and shake gently and it should fall out.

    building cereal treat sand castles.

    • Assemble your castle however you'd like.
    • My sand mold set really didn't have much to work with; I couldn't figure out how to add any of the square pieces (see the orange sand mold in one of the pictures above,) so my castle is just a large rectangle with a lovely large courtyard.
    • Each set of sandcastle molds will be different, so you can get as creative as you'd like with your castle.

    Nordic ware castle cake pan.

    If you have one of these Nordic Ware Castle Bundt pans, you could use the cereal treat recipe in it as well. It will make a really great-looking castle.

    Of course, buying this pan may cost more than sand molds, but the shape is really nice. I've included some links for castle sand molds below, but I couldn't find the exact molds that I used.

    You can display your cereal treat sandcastle on a large cutting board, on a cardboard cake board, or just on a table covered with edible sand (I used crushed Rice Krispies.)

    Keep your crispy castle stored in an airtight container for a week or more. I used to make bunny-shaped caramel crispy treats using this recipe every year at Easter and packaged them in cellophane bags and they would keep for several weeks.

    Recipe

    Caramel Rice Krispie Treat Sandcastle surrounded by cookie crumbs and seashells.
    Print
    Cereal Treat Sand Castle
    Prep Time
    30 mins
    Cook Time
    10 mins
     

    Build a sandcastle using caramel Rice Krispie treats instead of sand. It's a fun dessert for a beach-themed or princess party.

    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: caramel, rice krispie treats
    Servings: 20
    Author: Beth Klosterboer
    Ingredients
    • 19 cups (18-ounce box) Rice Krispies Cereal
    • 2 sticks butter 8 ounces
    • 2 cups light brown sugar
    • 1 ¾ cups light corn syrup
    • 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
    • optional, sandy crumbs from cereal or cookies
    Instructions
    1. Pour 19 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal into a very large heatproof bowl.

    2. Cut 2 sticks of butter into small pieces.

    3. Place the butter, along with 2 cups of brown sugar, and 1 ¾ cups light corn syrup in a medium saucepan.
    4. Heat on medium heat, stirring as needed, until the butter melts and the mixture begins to bubble around the edges.

    5. Place the lid on the pan for one minute. Condensation will build up and will wash the sugar crystals down the side of the pan.

    6. Remove the lid and allow the caramel to boil for 2 more minutes, without stirring.
    7. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 can of sweetened condensed milk.

    8. Return to medium heat and bring it back to a boil.
    9. Allow it to boil for three minutes without stirring.
    10. Remove and immediately pour over the cereal.

    11. Use a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon to stir the cereal until it is well coated with the caramel.
    12. Allow the caramel cereal treat mixture to cool for 5-10 minutes, stirring it frequently, until it's cool enough to touch.

    13. Spoon some of the cereal treat mixture into your plastic mold.

    14. Press down firmly making sure the caramelized cereal fills all the crevices.
    15. Fill each mold to the top and press down using your spatula or spoon to really compress the cereal in the mold.
    16. Set aside to allow the treat mixture to cool for about 10 minutes.
    17. Turn the mold upside down and shake the mold until the cereal treat sandcastle pieces fall out onto your work surface.

    18. Arrange your sandcastle on a cutting board, serving platter, or cake board.
    Recipe Notes

    This is best eaten the day it is made but it will keep for up to 10 days. 

    More beach-themed recipe ideas...

    Peanut Butter Sand Castle Lollipops make great party favors or treats for a beach themed event or a princess party.

    Peanut Butter Sandcastle Lollipops

    Make your sandcastle cookies look like the are really made of sand. See how at HungryHappenings.com.

    Sandcastle Cookies

    Beach Pail Popcorn - Peanut Butter White Chocolate Popcorn Sprinkled with Sandy Cookie Crumbs and Chocolate Sea Shells

    Beach Pail Popcorn filled with Chocolate Seashells

    Caramel Rice Krispie Treat Starfish make perfect treats for your oceanfront event or pool party.

    Caramel Rice Krispie Treat Starfish

    Sea creatures rice krispie treats including a seahorse, fish, and whale.

    Rice Krispie Treat Sea Animals - Seahorse, fish, and whale. 

    Embrace the beautiful weather that we are having and make some of these gorgeous and scrumptious Summer Fun Recipes.

    • Author
    • Recent Posts
    Beth Klosterboer
    Beth Klosterboer
    Hi, I'm Beth Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com
    Beth Klosterboer
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    1. Laura E says

      July 10, 2024 at 8:17 pm

      Would love to make this for my kids upcoming under the sea and mermaid bday parties. Just a question, how did you intend for the kids eat it ? Do they just grab chunks or should it be cut like a cake? Thanks

      Reply
      • Beth Klosterboer says

        July 10, 2024 at 8:30 pm

        I hope you enjoy making the castle for your party. I've made this castle for a few parties and I always cut it into slices to serve like a cake. Have fun!

        Reply
    2. Camille Gillham says

      June 24, 2014 at 9:47 pm

      Ooooo- I just bought a new mold- so doing this one!

      Reply
    3. Anonymous says

      September 28, 2012 at 2:26 pm

      Thanks Beth, I will see if i can find it in Australia, we seem to be missing lots of your wonderful spices/blends. Will do a few experiments. How wonderful it is to be able to see how talented people are from all over the world.
      Best wishes
      Annette

      Reply
      • Beth Jackson Klosterboer says

        September 28, 2012 at 2:34 pm

        Good luck, I hope you can find what you need. I enjoy knowing that readers from all over the world see my creations. I hope to travel to Australia some day, but understand all too well just how far away you are. I'm sending smiles and cheers from across the pond.

        Reply
    4. Anonymous says

      September 26, 2012 at 10:46 pm

      WOO, you are too clever and this is too much fun...now have to replan all of my menu. Have a child coming who is not allowed dairy or eggs, any ideas for replacing condensed milk???

      thank-you for sharing your brilliance
      annette

      Reply
      • Beth Jackson Klosterboer says

        September 27, 2012 at 1:02 am

        Thanks, Annette. I found this on-line:

        Evaporated Milk
        Evaporated milk is just concentrated milk (with about 60% of the water removed). For an easy substitute, use Vance's Foods DariFree Original Powder Gluten-Free Beverage. Rather than mixing it as milk, mix 1/2 c. of the powder with 1 c. of hot water. I used this substitute in this Dairy Free Fudge recipe.

        Sweetened Condensed Milk
        Sweetened condensed milk is just evaporated milk with sugar added. To make your own dairy free version, make 1 c. of evaporated milk (recipe above) and, over medium heat, dissolve 1-1/2 c. of granulated
        sugar in the mixture.

        I hope this helps.

        Reply
    5. Demettre says

      July 25, 2012 at 12:47 pm

      Super idea

      Reply
    6. Beth (www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com) says

      June 22, 2012 at 10:17 am

      This is AMAZING!! You are so creative =-) I am pinning to hopefully do as an end of the summer cake. LOVE it! I featured this at TGIF this week (http://www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com/2012/06/tgif-linky-party-35.html). Thanks for linking up and I look forward to seeing what you link up today!! Beth =-)

      Reply
      • Beth Jackson Klosterboer says

        June 22, 2012 at 11:59 am

        Thanks for the feature and the pin. This is a really fun project to do and I hope you enjoy making one of your own.

        Reply
    7. Trish - Mom On Timeout says

      June 19, 2012 at 5:15 am

      You are both crazy and brilliant! Sharing on Facebook 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up at Mom On Timeout!

      Reply
    8. Mama Jodi says

      June 18, 2012 at 10:37 pm

      ...pinned it, by the way.

      Reply
    « Older Comments
    Beth Jackson Klosterboer

    Welcome to Hungry Happenings!

    I'm Beth. I've been a professional chocolatier & baker for over 30 years, have written 5 cookbooks, and love creating fun food for holidays and special occasions.

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