(Sweet and Salty) Peanut Butterscotch Krispie Bars

An oldie but goodie.

Old as in I first found this recipe when I was in middle school (circa 1999/"...Baby One More Time"/"Mambo No. 5" era).  Good as in...well...they're really, really good. 

I have absolutely loved to bake for as long as I can remember (and I have a serious sweet tooth to boot!).  When I was first starting to dabble in the world of  chocolate and cookies, my Grandma Min gave me a little recipe box in the shape of an oven and made of cross-stitched plastic canvas (along the lines of this!) and I've kept that little box ever since, using it to hold the recipes I tore out of my mom's monthly Bon Appetit and Southern Living catalogs and cut off the sides of various cereal boxes during my teen years.  

So on a recent afternoon I came across this Kellogg's notecard as I was thumbing through the cabinet that holds my cookbooks and that crafty little oven.  It didn't call for the sweet and salty snack mix, of course, but we had a bag in the pantry so I threw some in.  It was a smart addition too, adding various bits of crunch from mini cookies and chopped peanuts and occasional pieces of candy-coated chocolate.  Feel free to leave the mix out though, or you can opt to toss in one of Kellogg's '99 suggested add-ins*. 

*These were available in stores in '99 and are still available today.  Kellogg's suggests to add one of the following with the cereal: 1/2 cup mini marshmallows, 1 cup peanuts, 1 cup raisins, or 1 cup coconut.

I suggest you do it up Ricky Martin style by livin' la vida loca and toss in a bit of each.  

(Sweet and Salty) Peanut Butterscotch Krispie Bars

Makes one 8x8-inch pan

1 cup butterscotch morsels

1/2 cup peanut butter

3 cups rice krispies

2/3 cup M&M Sweet and Salty Snack mix (optional)

In 3-quart saucepan, combine butterscotch morsels and peanut butter.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly (you must stir constantly otherwise it will burn!), until smooth.  Remove from heat.  Stir in rice krispies, mixing until well combined.  Fold in snack mix, if using.

Press mixture into a lightly greased 8x8-inch pan.  Let sit for an hour or until firm before cutting into squares.

Chocolate Lucky Charms Green Velvet Cupcakes

Yup.  I did it again.



I didn't plan on celebrating saint patty's day.  No green beer (maybe someday...).  No corned beef and cabbage (maybe...never!!!).  My extent of acknowledging the holiday will include wearing a stripey pair of "Kiss Me I'm Irish" socks (thanks Target) and a green "Kiss Me I'm Mexican" tee (thanks Chuy's).  But as I was reaching into the pantry the other night, I noticed a box of chocolate lucky charms staring at me.  Insert: light bulb!

The structure of my chocolate version follows the same method as the vanilla: lucky charms crust; green-tinted, cereal-dotted batter; icing and marshmallow pieces.  But this time, we chocolate-ey it up, hence green velvet. 

Now I'm going to be honest with you, while the vanilla version knocked my socks off on each and every layer last year, this alternative resulted in a little disappointment.  Cereal crust was good, icing was awesome, but the layer inbetween- the actual cake itself- was a bit of a flop.  I used the red velvet cupcake recipe in my Martha Stewart Cupcakes cookbook (subbing green food coloring for red, of course) and wish I had done more research, which would have made this super cute, super festive cupcake taste super yummy.  But regardless of my unlucky end product, I wanted to share with you these lucky-themed treats, and encourage you to use this cake recipe instead.  Or this one or this one or this one.  Good luck!!

Chocolate Lucky Charms Green Velvet Cupcakes

Makes 18 cupcakes

For the Crust:

3 cups crushed Lucky Charms (a mini food processor works well for this)

5 tablespoons butter, melted

For the Cupcakes:

A recipe will 12 cupcakes will suffice to give you roughly 18, as the crust will take up some of the cupcake liner

Red velvet cupcake recipe of your choice

Green food coloring

1 cup Lucky Charms cereal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small bowl, mix together crushed Lucky Charms and melted butter.  Divide mixture evenly between ten cupcake liners.  Pack it firmly into the bottoms of the liners.  Bake for 10 minutes.

While crust is baking, prepare velvet cake recipe, subbing in green food coloring for the red.  Fold 1 cup Lucky Charms into batter.   Spoon cupcake batter over pre-baked crusts.  The batter should come almost to the way to the top of the liners (the crust prevents the batter from rising very much!)

Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  If they are not done, test again in two minutes.  When the cupcakes are done, remove them immediately from the tins and leave them on a cooling rack to cool completely before icing.

Top with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting and Lucky Charms Marshmallows. 

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting:

This makes quite a bit of frosting but leftovers can easily be stored in the fridge.

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sour cream
6 cups powdered sugar

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave-safe bowl in 30 second intervals until combined and smooth.

Place sour cream in large mixer bowl.  Pour in chocolate mixture and beat at medium speed until blended.  Add in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition until desired consistency is reached.  Spread over cupcakes.

Adapted from my Lucky Charms Cupcakes via The Cupcake Project. 

Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Rice Krispie Treats

See those guys up there?  They've got something special tucked inside them.  These guys down here:



Something recently occurred to me.  I have failed to inform you of my love for all things cinnamon:  snickerdoodle cookies, cinnamon spice oatmeal, cinnamon ice cream, cinnamon rolls, cinnamon gum, cinnamon mints, I love it all! 

Last week, Nathan surprised me with a Sock It To Me cake from the grocery store and I proceeded to eat the entire thing.  Myself.  I didn't complain.  I literally sat there and thanked him for not eating any as I was forking down the last slice.

But it had me thinking that I haven't made anything that called for even a pinch of cinnamon in far too long!  It is a trajedy, I know.  So I am going to amp up the cinnamon today with some krispie treats wrapped in cinnamon bun marshmallows (yes, these actually exsist) and studded with snickerdoodle cookie dough truffles.  That sound good?  That taste realllllll good.  

Hello Mr. Krispie.

Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Rice Krispie Treats

For the Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Truffles:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar + 2 teaspoons cinnamon for rolling truffles in

In a medium size bowl add the flour, spices, salt, and cream of tartar. Set aside.  Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in vanilla.  Slowly add flour mixture, alternating with condensed milk, beat well after each addition.

Shape balls into 1-inch balls and place into an air tight container. Roll them into the cinnamon sugar just like you would a snickerdoodle cookie. Store in freezer for at least 3 hours.  Makes 48 truffles. (Keep the extras in the freezer for a periodic afternoon indulgence).

For the Rice Krispie Treats:

3 tablespoons butter
1 (8-ounce) bag cinnamon bun marshmallows (I found these at Target)
10 snickerdoodle cookie dough truffles, chopped up
6 cups rice krispies cereal

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat.  Add in marshmallows and stir until melted and well-blended.  Remove from heat and add cereal and truffles.  Stir until well-coated.  Press into 7x11-inch baking dish.  Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Truffles adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody.