Rice Krispy Frosted Treats
When you think of Rice Krispie treats, I’m sure the first thing that comes to mind is the classic gooey, chewy, marshmallow and cereal treat that has been around since the late 1930’s. Well, that is not what you’ll get here. These Rice Krispy Frosted Treats have a more complex flavor profile that incorporates peanut butter, semi-sweet chocolate and butterscotch and a texture that leans more into the crispiness of the puffed rice cereal.
As I have been recreating mom’s recipes, I’ve been enjoying trying to take a peek into the history of each one, searching the corners of the internet to see if I can find where and when the recipe originated and whether that information sheds any light on how the recipe made its way to mom. This recipe can often be found under the name “Scotcheroos“, the recipe for which appeared on Rice Krispies cereal boxes in the 1960’s. While AI seems to think that “Rice Krispy Frosted Treats” is a common alternative recipe title for Scotcheroos, I wasn’t able to find an actual recipe under that title (although I did find that title, or very similar titles, mentioned a couple of times in Scotcheroo recipe comments).
Along with a different name, mom’s version of the recipe increases the peanut butter in the classic Scotcheroo recipe by 50%. But, searching for that change didn’t really provide any new or additional insight. What I can tell you is that these treats were a long time favorite in our house and another member of the regular Christmas cookie lineup.
As this was one of the simpler recipes that mom made for the Christmas cookie trays, it was one of the first ones that she entrusted me with making on my own. I’m afraid the first time I attempted the recipe I must have let her down very badly. I worked on it while mom was making another more complicated recipe, so she really wasn’t paying close attention to what I was doing. When I finished frosting the treats, she told me to put them outside to cool and set (winter in New England, the porch became an additional refrigerator 😀).
A bit later in the day, she asked me to bring them back inside and cut them up. I tried, I really did, but the best I could do was score the frosting down to the Rice Krispie treat layer. She tried, my dad tried – there was no cutting through these things. Mom asked me what I had done to them, but I was certain I had followed the recipe so I didn’t know what to tell her. Obviously, they were not going to be edible and she had to remake them. Instead of saving her some work, I wasted ingredients and made extra work for her. She never said anything to make me feel badly about my failure, but I was so frustrated and disappointed in myself, not to mention a little embarrassed – after all, she had given me this recipe to make because it was easy.
In retrospect, I’m 99.9% sure that I made two fatal errors:
- I must have cooked the syrup too long, allowing it to boil. The goal is to just dissolve the sugar, as soon as the sugar has dissolved or at the first hint of bubbling, the mixture has to be removed from the heat.
- I think I also compacted the Rice Krispie treat mixture too much in the pan. The recipe says to spread the mixture evenly in the pan, but as anyone who has made any variety of Rice Krispie treats knows, the surface is not going to be smooth and level. I’m pretty sure I managed to make mine both smooth and level, which means I crushed all the air out of the puffed rice cereal making for a dense, hard layer.
Making these again was an exercise in pure nostalgia for me; that first failure, the subsequent successes, and, of course, all the enjoyment of getting to eat them every year came rushing back. These are a classic recipe that is definitely worth making.
Equipment
Ingredients
Method
- Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan well, set aside.
- In a large sauce pan, bring the sugar and Karo to a boil.1 cup (200 g) sugar, 1 cup (240 ml) Karo
- Immediately remove from heat and add the peanut butter and Rice (or Cocoa) Krispies. Stir until coated.1 ½ cups (384 g) peanut butter, 6 cups (240 g) Rice Krispies
- Scrape into the prepared pan and spread or press into an even layer.
- Melt the chocolate and butterscotch bits together using a double boiler or the microwave, stirring until smooth.1 cup (170 g) chocolate chips, 1 cup (170 g) butterscotch chips
- Spread the chocolate butterscotch mixture over the Rice Krispie treat layer.
- Cool until the frosting is set before cutting into bars.
Notes
- Be very careful not to overcook the syrup, the longer it is cooked for the more dry and crunchy the treats will be. If you cook the syrup a little too long the treats will still be good, if slightly dry and crunchy, but if you take it too far you won’t even be able to cut the treats, never mind eat them.
- For a little insurance against over cooking the syrup, replace 1/4 cup (64g) of the peanut butter with 1/4 cup (56g) butter instead.
- Peanut butter has no water content and tends to have a drying effect on the dishes it is in. The butter has about 15% or so water content bringing a little bit of moisture to the mixture which can help offset the effects of cooking the syrup a bit too long.
- Don’t compress the Rice Krispie mixture too much when spreading it in the pan – that can also lead to overly hard treats.
- Mom always doubled the frosting on this and I recommend doing the same.
Private Notes
Nutrition
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