Valentine M&M Rice Krispie Treats

This morning my kids and I made some fun Valentine treats that were pretty much the easiest dessert you could make, but they still loved to help. They love to dump the rice krispies in and also loved adding the M&Ms with this recipe. It’s the perfect easy way to make some yummy Valentine treats for friends ;) I used the same recipe I always use for the Browned Butter Salted Rice Krispie Treats here, but I actually doubled the salt because with the M&Ms you need even more salt to offset the sweet. They are delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 10-ounce bag marshmallows
• Heaping 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 1 1/2 c. M&Ms
• Cooking spray for pan

Butter (or coat with non-stick spray) an 9x13 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, cereal, and M&Ms 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.