Salted Browned Butter Rice Krispie Treats

There are no words for these. Since a friend told me about the Smitten Kitchen recipe, I’ve made them about 7 times in the past 2 weeks. Just make them. Your family (and you) will eat the entire pan. Or bring them to friends and save 1 for yourself. Just get ready for double the butter of normal rice krispie treats.

The original recipe from Smitten Kitchen here, shown below with a couple of my notes.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 10-ounce bag marshmallows
• Heaping 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (about half a 12-ounce box) *Just a note… I’ve tried this with Kellog’s brand Rice Krispie cereal and generic brand and the Kellogg’s brand really is better. I hate to say it because I almost always buy generic, but trust me. The Krispies are thicker and don’t get as overpowered from all the butter ;)
• Cooking spray for pan

Butter (or coat with non-stick spray) an 8-inch square cake pan with 2-inch sides.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don’t take your eyes off the pot as while you may be impatient for it to start browning, the period between the time the butter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is often less than a minute. (A light brown color with some darker brown bits on the bottom.)

As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows. The residual heat from the melted butter should be enough to melt them, but if it is not, turn it back on low until the marshmallows are smooth.

Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the salt and cereal together. Quickly spread into prepared pan. I liked to use a piece of waxed or parchment paper (*I just saved the wrapper from the stick of butter, sprayed it with cooking spray and used that to press it firmly into the pan. Pressed firmly they taste better!), that I’ve sprayed with oil to press it firmly and evenly into the edges and corners, though a silicon spatula works almost as well.