Browned Butter Rice Krispie Treats

This post is a bit overdue...sorry!

I participated in an Outdoor Expo Saturday with over 8,000 people in attandance and, needless to say, I needed to focus on making, freezing and finally baking tons of cookies! But it was a great day and I sold out of all my cookies...so it was definitely worthwhile.

Rice Krispie Treats are just one of those perfect treats to make for a crowd...quick, easy and kids and adults just love them!

This recipe is adapted from here but I added mini chocolate chips to some of them, M&M's to some others and even peanut butter chips to others. The kids gravitated to the M&M's on top ( not a surprise!). The browned butter gives them a more buttery, almost nutty flavor...really good!

You can really add just about anything you can think of that would make an interesting addition. How about crushed cookies, like Oreos...or the M&M's mixed in? And I made mine a little thinner because I used a 7" x 11" pan rather than an 8" pan.

Be sure to have all your ingredients ready before you begin. Notice I cut the large marshmallows in half to get them to melt quicker...using mini marshmallows is best and that's what I bought for the next batches I made.

In a large pan begin melting the butter over medium high heat.
Keep an eye on it and stir gently as it begins to brown. It will foam up by as you stir you'll notice browned bits falling to the bottom of the pan. Once this happens, take the pan off the heat.

Add in the marshmallows and stir them til they all melt. I found I had to put the pan back over low heat to get them to melt totally.

The mixture should look nice and smooth.

Then I poured the marshmallow mixture into the bowl with the mini chips, cereal and salt but if you're using a very large pot to brown the butter and melt the marshmallows, then you can throw the mini chips, cereal and salt into the pot...

And stir quickly to mix it all together.

Then scrape the mixture into your prepared pan and press down to get it even and in all the corners.
Once it's cooled you can melt the chocolate and spread over the top and sprinkle with whatever toppings you'd like, then let it cool to set the chocolate.

Browned Butter Rice Krispie Treats

4 oz. unsalted butter
1 10 oz. package of marshmallows
heaping 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
6 cups Rice Krispie Cereal
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
Approx. 1 - 1 1/2 cups dark or semisweet chocolate chips or melting discs, ( optional )mixed with about a teaspoon shortening.
Toppings such as mini M&M's or mini chocolate chips

Butter a 7" x 11"  or 8" ( for thicker treats) pan and set aside.

1. In a large bowl, combine the cereal, mini chocolate chips and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large pot, melt the butter over mdeium high heat, then let it begin to foam, keeping an eye on it as it continues to bubble and foam. It will quickly change as it darkens and begins to smell nutty. Take it off the heat at this point and stir in the marshmallows. Keep stirring and place the pan back over very low heat if the marshmallows don't melt well, but keep stirring all the while. ( I had to do this).
3. Once the mixture is smooth, add in the mini chips, cereal and salt mixture and stir to completely combine.
4. Pour or scrape the mixture into your prepared pan and press down to make it even, getting in the corners.
5. Let it cool, then if you're coating in chocolate, melt the chocolate over a double boiler over barely simmering water with the shortening, stirring til smooth.
6. Pour the chocolate mixture evenly over the treats and sprinkle, if using, the topping on while the chocolate is still wet so it sticks. Chill to set, then cut into squares.