Crispy Chocolate Log
Crispy, gooey, buttery, sweet Rice Krispie treats have been a popular, beloved snack and dessert option since the 1940’s when Kellogg’s first published the recipe on the back of their Rice Krispies cereal boxes. Originally called Marshmallow Squares or Marshmallow Crispy Squares, the treats are simple to make, require only a few ingredients and the sweet, buttery flavor and contrasting gooey and crispy textures are appealing to many audiences. Best of all, the basic treat is the perfect canvas for endless variations and customizations like this Crispy Chocolate Log which enhances the flavor with a hint of peanut butter and a swirl of butterscotch chocolate.
Versions of a Rice Krispie roll or log first started appearing online around 2008, which is probably about when mom started making it and it quickly became a favorite – particularly with my sister, my younger brother and my nephew. Like many of the family favorite recipes I’ve been sharing, she made this recipe around the holidays, kind of like a no-bake, Rice Krispie version of a Yule log 🙂. The mini M&Ms and the distinctive chocolate swirl visible on each slice give this treat a festive and fancy appearance, but it is nearly as simple (and quick) to make as the original Rice Krispie treats.
The trickiest bit with this adaptation of Rice Krispie treats is ensuring the right temperature and texture of both the Rice Krispie treats and the butterscotch chocolate filling. If either, or both, of these elements are too warm and soft, the log lacks any kind of structural integrity, trying to collapse and flatten as you roll it up and the filling bleeds into the Rice Krispie treat layer making it impossible to achieve a defined swirl.
I remember chatting with mom about her first attempts with this recipe and her frustration with the filling bleeding through (sometimes all the way through) the Rice Krispie treats as she tried to roll it into a log shape. I wish I had thought to follow up with her on how she resolved that for herself, but I didn’t, so I was retreading the same ground as I tried to recreate this recipe. When I shared pictures of my first attempt with dad, he made two comments:
- He said there were too many M&Ms on mine, that mom just put a few on top for color.
- He pointed out the my swirl was, well, not so swirl like – it lacked any real definition since the filling had bled into the Rice Krispie treats – and mom’s always had a defined swirl.
As we chatted more, he shared that mom had stopped trying to put the mini M&Ms under the Rice Krispie treat mixture on the waxed paper. It turns out that my efforts to follow that portion of the recipe were probably directly responsible for the lack of a defined swirl. If you are gentle and careful enough to avoid crushing the M&Ms, your Rice Krispie mixture will be too loose with too many gaps in its structure.
Armed with that information, I tried again, and then again (third time is, in fact, the charm). In addition to waiting to press the M&Ms onto the finished log, I found that allowing both the Rice Krispie treat mixture and the filling mixture to cool for a little while produced the best result. I switched to starting with making the filling so it could cool while I made the Rice Krispie treat mixture. Without the M&Ms underneath the mixture I could take my time and apply a bit of force to spreading and pressing the mixture into place. You still don’t want to press too hard because you don’t want to crush and compress all of the cereal (that will alter the texture, and not in a good way) but you do want to do your best to fill in and eliminate any gaps in the mixture before adding the filling. You might still see a smidgeon of filling bleed through, but you should see a mostly well defined spiral with this approach.
Mom’s recipe also mentions using Cocoa Krispies rather than regular Rice Krispies for this recipe. I honestly don’t remember mom using that variation much (I should probably ask dad about that) but I decided to give it a try. So, in all three of my attempts at this recipe, I made both the regular and cocoa variations. In my first attempt with the cocoa variation, not only did I not get the defined swirl, but I quickly noticed that the butterscotch chocolate filling A) visually disappeared into the treat and B) offered little flavor distinction from the now chocolate Rice Krispie treat layer. There is a very simple and effective solution for this, at least if you are a chocolate peanut butter fan, as I am – replace the chocolate chips in the filling with peanut butter chips instead. The salty, nutty flavor plays well with the sweet, caramel notes of the butterscotch and the lighter color contrasts nicely with the chocolate Rice Krispie treat mixture.
Equipment
Ingredients
Method
- Grease a 15 x 10 piece of waxed or parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine marshmallows, butter, and peanut butter.10 oz (283 g) large marshmallows, 1/4 cup (56 g) butter, 1/4 cup (64 g) peanut butter
- Cover and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir until well blended.
- Stir in cereal until well coated.5 1/2 cups (146 g) Rice Krispies
- Spread mini M&M’ s onto waxed paper. Let the cereal mixture cool slightly, then spread carefully over the M&M’ s to cover the waxed paper in an even layer. Be careful not to crush M&M’s.Mini M&M’s
- Combine chocolate and butterscotch bits in a medium microwave safe bowl. Melt in the microwave on high 2 minutes. Stir until smooth and let cool slightly.1 1/3 cup (227 g) chocolate chips, 3/4 cup (128 g) butterscotch chips
- Spread the chocolate butterscotch mixture over the cereal mixture to within 1" of edges.
- Roll up jelly-roll style, starting from a short edge and peeling away the paper as you go.
- Place the log seam side down on a serving plate. Wrap in plastic wrap and cool for 1 hr. or until set. Cut into ~ 3/4" slices.
Notes
- I tried to assemble this as written, but trying to avoid crushing the M&M’s resulted in a Rice Krispy layer that was too loose, allowing the filling to bleed into and through the Rice Krispy treat layer so the spiral was not defined.
- Dad let me know that mom never assembled the log that way, instead she pressed the Rice Krispy treat mixture into an even layer, applied the filling, rolled it up and then pressed some mini M&M’s onto the exterior for a bit of color.
- If you do this, but still want some M&M’s in the interior of the roll, just sprinkle them over the surface of the filling before rolling up the log.
- I suggest melting the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips together first and setting that mixture aside to cool while making the cereal treat layer. The filling will be a bit less fluid that way and easier to roll up without bleeding through the cereal treats.
- If you use Cocoa Krispies with the filling as written, there isn’t much visual or flavor contrast between the Rice Krispy treat layer and the filling layer. Instead you can replace the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips to create a filling layer that will have a better visual and flavor contrast with the chocolate cereal treat layer.
Private Notes
Nutrition
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