This 1-Ingredient Campfire Snack Is So Much Better Than S’mores

Summer is here, which means big, roaring campfires and the campfire dinner, AKA bottomless hot dogs and infinite s’mores. And while I love a good Hershey’s sandwich, I found a better treat. It’s part magic trick, part dessert hack.

And you only need one ingredient.

Campfire-Roasted Rice Krispies Treats

I know, I know—don’t believe everything you see on the internet. But I was served a video on TikTok where someone roasted a Rice Krispies Treat over the campfire—just straight out of the wrapper like a hot dog. And the whole thing puffed up like a giant, charred marshmallow. Now that’s a flex.

In the video shared by @cookitwithtim, the gooey marshmallow pulls apart beautifully, and the roasted Rice Krispies cereal looks perfectly crispy. And while you could do this with a homemade rice cereal bar, the ease of opening a prepackaged treat and not having to mess with boxes of graham crackers, break up pieces of Hershey’s chocolate, or deal with the sensory nightmare that is marshmallow goo on your hands seems like ancient wisdom that’s been unlocked.

I had to try it.

Turns out this trend has been around for a while, and even Rice Krispies Treats knows it’s a thing. The brand told Allrecipes that they’re “leaning into Summer Roasting this year through a national display program in retailers.”

And, yes, they roast Rice Krispies Treats, too. With so many flavors and varieties of Rice Krispies Treats available now, the brand actually has official findings for each type of roasted bar. A spokesperson for Rice Krispies Treats told Allrecipes, “We’ve found that the Classic and Chocolatey Peanut Butter bars provide the best roasting experience. Many also feel that Homestyle, with its larger marshmallows, delivers the most satisfying result.”

And then I got the most amazing package in the mail. Rice Krispies Treats sent me a box of each type of bar to roast and test myself. It was the best day of my life.

How I Tested the Rice Krispies Treats

I gathered some friends around a Solo Stove because roasting Rice Krispies Treats on my patio by myself seemed completely unhinged. And campfire dinner—or at least dessert—tastes better with friends.

I set aside a control for the experiment, and we measured each bar to compare the puff factor once roasted. I tested four different Rice Krispies Treats: Original, Chocolately Peanut Butter, Homestyle, and Bliss Caramel Sea Salt Pretzel.

The winner for taste, roasting experience, and puff factor surprised us all. And it was unanimous: S’mores have been dethroned.

The Best Roasted Rice Krispies Treats, Ranked

4th Place: Chocolatey Peanut Butter

These bars were the most compacted of all the Rice Krispies Treats tested, so the puff was not puffing. And while the chocolate melted beautifully, the taste and texture were just OK.

3rd Place: Original

I started with the OG Rice Krispies Treat and, wow, that roasted rice cereal is delicious. I’ve always experienced a weird, slightly chemical aftertaste with these compared to a homemade batch, but roasting feels like a hack to make them taste homemade. The puff was marginal, but there was a good marshmallow stretch when pulled apart. However, the absolute game changer is full char.

If you love roasting a marshmallow to complete darkness only to remove that burned skin, eat it, and stick the gooey center back in the fire to burn (Don’t knock it till you try it.), you will love what I am now calling Rice Krispies Treats Burnt Ends.

2nd Place: Homestyle

Homestyle is it. If the flavored variations didn’t exist, this would be the winner. It has a much better taste than the Original and because it’s (as the box claims) 50 percent bigger than the Original, there’s a whole lot more marshmallow to heat. And Homestyle Rice Krispies Treats actually have tiny, whole marshmallows throughout, so it really does puff up in a magical way.

Though for the best puff, you have to go slow and low like a rotisserie chicken. If you aren’t watching, this one will burn fast because of all of the marshmallow and tragically fall into the fire.

1st Place: Bliss

Rice Krispies Treats Bliss debuted earlier this year with two flavors, and I tested the Sea Salt Caramel. The bars are studded with pretzel pieces and candy chips, and then coated on the bottom with a generous layer of caramel.

This was incredible. No notes. We were all stunned. The sweet-and-salty combo is perfect already, but what happens with the roasted caramel is like elevated campfire cuisine. The caramel caramelizes into this rice-meets-butterscotch toffee texture and you still get the crunch of pretzel with the wispy, crispy lightness of the cereal. Does it puff well? No. Does it need to? No.

It’s golden hour in a bite.