Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Bars
Boy have I got a treat for you, my friends. I’ve been working on this one for a few weeks, and in that time I have eaten a LOT of Rice Krispie Bars! (I have to say, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.) If you’re a fan of soft, marshmallowy Rice Krispie bars, nutty brown butter, and sea salt, you’ll love this recipe. Let’s make Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Bars!
If At First You Don’t Succeed…
For the longest time, I couldn’t make a decent Rice Krispie bar to save my life. I made damn good cookies, great cakes, and amazing pies. But Rice Krispie bars had me stumped. I followed the recipe on the box to a T, but they’d always turn out toothbreakingly hard and crunchy. I never knew why.
Then one day I got a job at a bakery, and one of the things I had to make regularly were Rice Krispie Bars. (And when I say regularly, I mean like every 2 or 3 days.) So naturally I had to face my nemesis and learn how to make them. And I learned that my mistake all along was not using NEARLY enough marshmallows. I’m not sure why the box recipe was so skimpy on the ‘mallows, but once I tried the version at the bakery that called for loads of them, I never went back.
A Grown-Up Version of a Childhood Favorite
This isn’t that recipe exactly, but it’s inspired by it. These tasty treats are chock full of melty marshmallow goodness, plus some extra mini marshmallows stirred in for good measure.
To give them a more sophisticated, grown-up flavor, I decided to brown the butter. The brown butter adds a nuttiness that blends perfectly with the vanilla and the malty flavor of the Rice Krispies. The result is a flavor that isn’t all that different from the original, it’s just slightly….MORE. More complex, I guess, if we’re feeling fancy. But you don’t have to be fancy to enjoy these treats.
If you’ve never made brown butter before, I’d recommend reading through this post on browning butter before you start. It’s not complicated, but it can be tricky to catch the butter at just the right color of brown before it burns.
Other than that, if you’ve successfully made Rice Krispie bars before, these will be a breeze.
Whip up a batch of these Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Bars and try your best not to eat the whole pan in one sitting. (Good luck!)
Happy Baking!
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Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Bars
Ingredients
- 6 T butter
- 8 c mini marshmallows
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch sea salt
- 6 c Rice Krispies
- 2 c mini marshmallows
- mini chocolate chips or sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Grease an 8"x8" baking dish. Line with parchment paper, allowing 2 sides to hang over the edge of the pan, and grease the parchment paper. (These will act as handles to pull the bars out of the pan)
- Measure out your Rice Krispies into a large mixing bowl, and mix in the 2 c of mini marshmallows. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter on low-medium heat. Continue to cook, swirling the pan from time to time so the butter heats evenly. Cook until butter is a nutty brown color (see this post on browning butter for more detailed instructions).
- Add the 8c of mini marshmallows, stirring until they are completely melted.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and sea salt.
- Pour marshmallow mixture into the bowl of Rice Krispies & marshmallows, stirring quickly until all of the krispies are coated.
- Then pour the mixture into the prepared pan and press down firmly with your hands (grease hands if the mixture is too sticky).
- Allow bars to cool for at least 30 minutes, then cut and serve! Store leftovers at room temperature in an airtight container.
6 Comments
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Lisa
OMG, I just made these. LOVE the browned butter approach. I did something else….I toasted my rice krispies on the stove top! So good. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
-Lisa
Jamie
Ooh, what a GREAT idea! Looks like I need to make another batch soon!
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