Rice Krispie Treats Recipe

Aside from Betty Crocker pound cake, my mom not often baked. The one factor she contributed to bake gross sales in school have been Rice Krispies treats, and he or she didn’t even trouble making them on the range. She’d soften the butter and the marshmallows within the microwave, add the Rice Krispies, and name it a day. Her recipe was the one on the again of the field, and although the style of the basic deal with is extremely nostalgic for me, I discover them just a little too sickly candy as an grownup.

Through the years, I’ve tweaked the basic recipe to provide you with a bar that has extra complexity and depth. With just a few elements, it could seem to be there’s not a lot to do with a fundamental Rice Krispie deal with with out altering it past recognition—you have received the Krispies, the marshmallows, and the butter. It’s what it’s, proper? Nicely, to a degree. Even with so few elements, we will nonetheless flip to some sturdy methods to reinforce and enhance upon the unique Rice Krispie deal with whereas staying remarkably true to it.

These methods are the Maillard reaction and salt. If you happen to’re a reader of Critical Eats, you already know what Maillard is: a fancy transformation of proteins and sugars when heated to create more and more complicated and savory aromas and flavors, together with deeper, darker brown colours. It is largely what makes roast rooster pores and skin so scrumptious, roasted greens vastly extra layered in taste than steamed or boiled, and provides breads and pastries an earthier edge to offset the sweetness of their ample easy and sophisticated carbohydrates.

There are two alternatives to use the Maillard response to Rice Krispie treats with out including a single further ingredient. First, we will toast the cereal within the oven till golden, which brings out the grain’s nutty, earthy notes. Second, as an alternative of simply melting the butter, we will brown it till nutty and aromatic. With simply these two easy steps, the Rice Krispie treats develop wanted depth and dimension past their underlying sweetness.

After which there’s the salt. As anybody who’s pushed the salt just a bit greater than might sound acceptable in a dessert is aware of, it is one of many secret weapons of constructing candy meals considerably extra scrumptious. And so, on this Rice Krispie treats recipe, I generously season the toasted puffed rice grains whereas incorporating them into the combination of brown butter and marshmallows. After that, I end the bars with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, which helps to stability the sweetness of the vanilla-scented marshmallows and highlights the richness of the brown butter.

Although I exploit common marshmallows on this recipe, you might actually swap them out for a vegetarian various. And be happy to alter up your cereal—this recipe is scrumptious with Corn Flakes, too.