The love for crunchy cereal paired with melted marshmallows runs deep. Whether it was the foil-wrapped blue ribbon from the vending machine or a homemade treat from the cereal box, Rice Krispies Treats were a beloved childhood snack for many, including me.
So how do you improve a childhood favorite to make it something for kids AND will adults love it? More is more, according to recipe developer Lydia Fournier. To do it Ultimate Brown Butter Rice Krispies Treatsshe added more butter, more cereal, more marshmallows, and more salt.
While the original recipe from the cereal box calls for 3 tablespoons of melted butter, Lydia not only ups it to a full stick (8 tablespoons), but fry it for extra depth of flavor. (If you did Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen's Crispy Salted Brown Butter Treats, you know how big this improvement is.)
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
As if browning the butter wasn't enough, Lidia goes a step further and makes toast whole milk powder directly in brown butter. Outcome? An extremely delicious toasted flavor. As Content Editor Rossi Anastopoulo explains in this blog post, adding powdered milk to brown butter “gets the flavor of more toasted milk solids without having to use more butter. Or, to think of it another way, you're increasing the ratio of fried milk solids to melted butter for even more flavor.” Get a bag of ours whole milk powder to make these treats (and while you're at it, give Milk Chocolate Layer Cake even a shot).
Relying on Rice Krispies Treats Maximalism, Lydia also increased the amount of cereal and marshmallows. “My goal was to double the height of the original Rice Krispies Treats,” Lydia explains. “I always felt like they were too thin and I wanted them to be more substantial to bite into.” While the original recipe calls for 6 cups of cereal and 5 1/2 cups of compressed mini marshmallows in a 9″ x 13″ pan Lydia chooses 7 cups of cereal and 10 cups of mini marshmallows in a smaller one 8” square pan for a thicker (an inch and a half high!) and more satisfying treat.
A generous hand of salt and vanilla extract helps round it all out – bringing out the delicious character of the toasted milk powder and brown butter, plus tempering the sweetness of nearly two bags of mini marshmallows. And about those marshmallows: While most of them are melted with browned butter to bind the cereal, Lydia found that holding a cup of marshmallows and stirring them off the heat got pockets of marshmallows wrapped throughout the cakes.
As an added bonus, Lydia solved the short shelf life of the original recipe, as regular Rice Krispies Treats usually dry out and lose their flavor after just a day. According to her, the addition of powdered milk helps keep the cakes soft and chewy (just look at him and this giant Rice Krispies Treat pulling!) up to a week. That is, if they last longer than the first day…
And if these I DO happens to make it through the first day, they're a great lunchbox option for both jobs AND school all week. Trust us, you (and your kids!) won't go back to the original recipe once you try these.
Cover photo by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.
