Have you ever heard of scotcheroos? They’re peanut butter crispy rice treats topped with a mixture of melted chocolate and butterscotch. My great friend Sue introduced me to the tasty treat know as scotcheroos about a dozen or so years ago. I had never heard of it and went crazy for it! These sweet, crispy treats are a more elevated version of a rice crispy treat and ready in 30 minutes or less.
Sue shared the recipe with me, which is considered to be a Midwest version of a Rice Krispie Treat. There are two main differences between the original Rice Krispie treats and scotcheroos: the mixture that holds the cereal together and the topping.
Rice Krispie treats start with melted butter and marshmallows that gets poured over crispy rice cereal and pressed into a buttered pan. In contrast, the scotcheroo does not use marshmallows, but rather a mixture of corn syrup and sugar melted together, simmered, with peanut butter added. This mixture get poured over the cereal and pressed into a pan. It then gets topped with melted chocolate and butterscotch chips.
I set out to make a Laura’s Corner Kitchen version that would keep the idea and improve it just a bit. I wondered if I could use honey instead of corn syrup and eliminate half the granulated sugar, after all, the honey is already sweet (as is the corn syrup). Even though the sugar may act as a bit of a stabilizing agent, I felt I could get away with using half the amount without changing the taste or structure. This worked perfectly! I love the added health benefits of honey, even in a sweet treat like this.
I also wanted to improve the texture of the melted chocolate and butterscotch chips, which can be finicky, so I added a touch of coconut oil to create a smoother finish. A little sprinkle of sea salt created a nice saltiness to a very sweet treat. The result: a perfectly balanced peanut buttery crispy treat topped with chocolate butterscotch and sea salt. I present to you Peanut Butter Crispy Treats (Laura’s Version). You gotta try these! I think they are actually easier to make than rice krispie treats, which are so sticky with a messier clean up. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
Peanut Butter Crispy Treats (Laura’s Version)
Equipment
- 9×13 metal baking pan
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 6 cups crispy rice cereal
- 1 cup honey (or light corn syrup)
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 cup peanut butter (regular or crunchy)
- 1 cup dark, semisweet, or milk chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
- 1½ teaspoons coconut oil
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Line 9'x13' baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add 6 cups crispy rice cereal to a large mixing bowl. Set aside. In small saucepan over medium high heat, melt honey and sugar together.
- Bring to low simmer, adjusting heat as needed. Simmer about 1 minute.
- Turn off heat and add in peanut better stirring until melted and smooth.
- Pour honey peanut butter mixture over cereal in bowl and mix thoroughly nitl well coated.
- Gently press evenly into parchment-lined baking pan.
- Add chocolate and butterscotch chips t a microwave safe bowl along with coconut oil. Melt in microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring after each until smooth. Spread over cereal mixture.
- Sprinkle flaky sea salt over bars. Chill in refrigerator for about 15 minutes or until chocolate is set.
- Cut into bars and serve chilled or room temperature. Cut these to your preferred size.
){kind=link}