Browned Butter Salted Rice Krispie Treats

I’ve been holding out on you. Taunting you with pictures of this on instagram but not actually getting it up on the blog for almost a month. I’ve probably made it about six or seven times in the past month too. Not just to try to perfect it (because it was perfect the first time), but because I’ve added this to my arsenal of quick-but-mind-blowingly-delicious desserts. I came across the idea for this recipe when I was searching for a quick recipe to make for our Thursday night tennis match. Anytime we have a home match, the home team needs to provide all of the snacks, and I am always auto-signed up for sweets. The tricky part is that finding time to bake mid-week for a Thursday night match (hence, why my baking 99% of the time occurs on Sundays or vacation days). The other tricky part is that after I serve up a can of whoop-ass on my opponents (literally) they often don’t want to stick around to drown their  sorrows in snacks, so I hate wasting time and energy making recipes that take a while and most of the time go to waste … or only get eaten by our 24-year old coach.

So I was feeling particularly stressed before this one match (about a month ago, right before that big work project launched) and decided I was just going to make some rice krispie treats. Fast, easy, always a crowd pleaser. But when I went to melt the butter in the pan on the stove, I had a eureka moment that I should brown that butter, add some salt to the marshmallows and boom, these bad boys were born. I would have patented this immediately (if that was even a thing with baked goods?) but with a quick google search after there are other food bloggers that have also discovered the taste bud winning combination of  browned butter + rice krispies + salt. Great minds think (and bake) alike.

These treats, along with Funfetti Cookies, White Trash, Browned Butter Cinnamon Buns, and my Browned Butter Salted Chocolate Chip cookies, are now in my top 5 list of things that I will make anytime I need a quick, crowd pleasing baked good – morning, day or night.

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 6 cups Rice Krispie cereal
  • 10 ounces marshmallows (big or mini)
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Step 1: Grease a 13×9 inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray. Put the marshmallows in a large microwave safe bowl and set aside.

Step 2: In a medium saucepan, brown the butter, being careful not to burn it. Pour the browned butter on top of the marshmallows and stir. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stopping to stir. Once the marshmallow is nicely melted and stirs easily, stir in the coarse salt.

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Step 3: Add the rice krispie cereal one cup at a time, continuing to stir until it is evenly incorporated. Evenly spread the marshmallow mix into the greased baking dish. Wet your hands to help press it down evenly without getting too sticky. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight  before cutting into individual squares.

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For Fourth of July I topped these with red, white and blue sprinkles. The first time I made these, I melted some chocolate chips in coconut oil and drizzled them on top. Last week I experimented by putting a graham cracker and Hershey bar crust for a s’mores spin on these. For last week’s match (which we lost in an ugly match) I mixed in mini teddy graham crackers and chocolate chips. I drowned my sorrows in those after the match instead of my opponents this time. I’m going to continue to experiment with different variations until I get one blog-worthy.

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But let me tell you, if you’re planning to go on a hot pink + leopard print “funk bus” with 15 girls to the Beachcomber, these browned butter rice krispie treats are the perfect bus snack in the summer heat! They were perfect at soaking up some of the mudslides in our stomaches on the bus ride back to the house. My friends Justine + Elyse organized a girl’s weekend this past weekend down the Cape, and Saturday’s adventure was taking this funk bus to a bar in Provinetown and then down to the Beachcomber where we indulged in amazing banana flavored mudslides and ah-mazing lobstah rolls. Nothing says Cape Cod like screaming “LOBSTAH ROLLS AT THE COMBAH” on a neon pink funk bus.

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Lobster Roll + Cape Cod potato chips by the dunes.
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Pre-funk bus pic. #keepcalmandgetfunky10491252_947705678099_6340883373292826246_n

It was nice to get back to the Cape this weekend, because my transition back to the real world post-vacation last week was painful. Coworkers kept coming to my desk Monday looking for their weekly sugar fix which was missing when I was on vacay … and I did not supply last week because I was not thrilled about my return to corporate America. Hopefully they all can forgive me when I blow their minds tomorrow with these. Tuesday was exciting (exciting in my homeowner opinion) because the couch for my office/guest room arrived after a 3-month wait. I’m sitting on it right now with my new Dash + Albert striped ottoman which I am loving. For someone who is not patient at all, I am really trying to be patient and go slow with decorating this room so that I can finish it just how I want. I’m currently in the market for a side table, a nautical-ish lamp, and a big tray to put on top of the pouf so that it functions as an ottoman. I’m also returning that coral print gray rug and waiting for the more neutral one from Pottery Barn to come in later this week. I’m not a hundred percent sure on those pillows, but I think once I hang up the oars above the couch it will all tie together since there is some red and white in both of those. I’m uber conservative and neutral when it comes to decorating (and dressing myself, for that matter) so I am trying to embrace a little color in my life.

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I’m also in the market for some nice picture frames, but rather than buying someone else’s prints, I think my mom has mastered the perfect sunset photo — so if I can select some of her best work and get them printed at Shutterfly, with the right frames I think that will finish this room off really nicely. Here’s last night’s sunset. I mean come on, if this is not heaven then I don’t know what is.

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Heaven is not a 5:30am run and back to work tomorrow, but that’s what my Monday looks like. Gotta burn off those mudslides and get back to saving lives. At least it’s always just a few week days to get through before I’m looking forward to another sunset. Time for my nightly dose of Olivia Pope to beat these Sunday Scaries.