Snap! Crackle! Pop!

When I get bored, I bake. When I get stressed, I bake. When I am missing my husband who is working out of town, I bake.

So when I discovered half a bag of brown rice cereal and two partial bags of marshmallows in the pantry, I knew what I had to do. And in the process, I discovered a recipe for the best Rice Krispies Treats. Ever.

I headed over to a blog I occasionally peruse called Smitten Kitchen. The author has a tiny kitchen (it even makes ours look big – though you do have to consider ours is a kitchen/ dining room/ laundry room combined) from which she whips up some amazing food. After a quick search, I pulled up this recipe:

Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats

1 stick unsalted butter
1 10-oz bag marshmallows (or two half bags, as the case may be )
Heaping ¼ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
6 cups rice cereal (about ½ a box)

Coat an 8” square cake pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. The butter should melt, foam, then turn clear and golden, and finally turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently through this process, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom. Be careful as the period between the time the butter starts browning and the time it burns is very short – less than a minute!

As soon as the butter takes on a nutty smell, turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows. If needed, you can place the pot back on the eye on low until the marshmallows are smooth.

Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the salt and cereal. Quickly spread into the prepared cake pan. Use a piece of waxed paper sprayed lightly with nonstick spray to press the mixture firmly and evenly into the edges and corners. Allow to cool, then cut into squares and serve.

Now, usually I am not a huge Rice Krispies Treats fan. I mean, if I’m going to consume the calories, I want it to be coated in chocolate and involve some sort of cream and maybe sprinkles. The treats I’ve had in the past have fallen somewhere in the range of a Styrofoam block. But these – these treats will knock your socks off!

Give ‘em a whirl and let me know what you think.