Sweet Concoctions Made with Rice Cereal

There are certain treats that just make you feel like a kid again (in the best way, of course). So, when you add melted marshmallows to rice cereal, it just takes you back to your childhood.

We celebrated my sister-in-law's birthday this past Sunday and in lieu of cake, she opted for Scotcheroos instead. Scotcheroos are basically rice crispy treats with peanut butter, chocolate, butterscotch chips, and other sorts of yummy things thrown in (with corn syrup and sugar instead of marshmallows).

So, I thought I would share the recipe for Scotcheroos in addition to the basic recipe for rice crispy treats (along with some fun variations, of course!). Oh, and if you can think of any additional variations for rice crispy treats, I would love to hear them!

Have fun being a kid again!

Scotcheroos

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (we used milk chocolate chips)
1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

Butter a 9x13 inch pan.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and corn syrup, and bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter. Mix in the rice cereal until evenly coated. Press the mixture into the prepared pan.

In a glass bowl, melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips in the microwave on medium; stirring occasionally until smooth and well blended. Spread over the top of the bars. Chill until chocolate is set. Remove from the refrigerator when set. Cut into bars and serve at room temperature.

Source: I got this from my mom. The recipe is basically floating around in a number of places. I'm not sure what the original source is.

Traditional Rice Crispy Treats and Variations

Ingredients:

1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 pkg. 10 oz regular or 4 cups miniature marshmallows
5 cups rice cereal (such as Rice Krispies Cereal)

Directions:

Melt margarine/butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Continue to cook for 3 minutes longer over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Add rice cereal. Stir until well coated.

Using a buttered spatula or waxed paper (you can also do this with buttered hands), press mixture into 9x13 inch buttered pan. Allow to cool. Cut into squares.

Variations:

Caramel Rice Crispy Treats:

Melt 24 caramel candies with 1 tsp water and the margarine/butter. Add marshmallows and combine.

Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats:

Melt 2 oz unsweetened chocolate with the marshmallows.

Citrus Rice Crispy Treats:

Stir 1 tablespoon grated lemon, lime, grapefruit, or orange peel into melted marshmallows.

Jam Rice Crispy Treats:

Stir ¼ cup jam (any flavor) into melted marshmallows.

Peanut Rice Crispy Treats:

Add 1 cup salted peanuts to the marshmallows when mixing with the Rice Krispies cereal. You can use other nuts as well: for example, almonds or cashews.

Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats:

Stir in ¼ cup peanut butter with melted marshmallows.

Spice Rice Crispy Treats:

Add ½ tsp cinnamon into marshmallow mixture

Tropical Rice Crispy Treats:

Add 1 cup shredded coconut and ½ cup walnuts to the marshmallows when mixing with the Rice Krispies squares. Other additions could include: dried pineapple, dried mango, dried papaya, dried banana, etc.

Tutti Frutti Rice Crispy Treats:

Add ½ cup chopped candied cherries and ½ cup chopped pecans to the marshmallows when mixing with the Rice Krispies squares. If you don't like candied cherries, or want to try something different, any favorite dried fruit will work (such as dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, etc.).

Christmas Rice Crispy Treats:

Add ¼ cup chopped red candied cherries and ¼ cup green candied cherries and ½ cup chopped pecans to the marshmallows when mixing with the Rice Krispies squares. You could also use red and green gumdrops, or other red and green candies.

Confetti Rice Crispy Treats:

Sprinkle rice crispy treats with sprinkle cake decorations.

Marble Chip Rice Crispy Treats:

Add 1 pkg (6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips, butterscotch, or 1 cup peanut butter chips with cereal/marshmallow mixture.

Cocoa Rice Crispy Treats:

Stir 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa into marshmallow/cereal mixture.

Peppermint Rice Crispy Treats:

Add ½ cup crushed peppermint stick candy with marshmallow/cereal mixture. You can also use other hard candies with this variation.

Frosted Rice Crispy Treats:

You can drizzle rice crispy treats with melted milk chocolate, white chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, butterscotch, or peanut butter chips. You can do this sparingly with drizzled designs, or you can completely coat the top of the rice crispy treats.

Rice Crispy Treats Cut Outs:

Use cookie cutters to cut the rice crispy treats into any shape you like. That way, you can make holiday-themed rice crispy treats. Snowmen or Christmas trees for Christmas, hearts for Valentine's Day, ghosts, pumpkins, or bats for Halloween, eggs for Easter, etc. Then, you can get creative with sprinkles and frosting to further decorate your rice crispy treats. This would be a fun activity for the kids to participate in too.

Finally...

Crispy Treats Using Any Kind of Cereal You Want:
You can use the recipe above and replace the puffed rice cereal with any kind of cereal you want. I found this particularly helpful when I needed to use up some leftover Halloween cereal. My boys loved it!

Above: Boo Berry Treats anyone?