Brown Butter and Sea Salt Cereal Bars

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There are some things that everyone should know how to make.

Roast chicken. A good steak. Juicy hamburgers. Roasted potatoes. Omelets. Fluffy pancakes. Classic brownies. The perfect margarita.

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And rice krispie treats. I mean, that’s kind of obvious, right? They’re one of the easiest things to make, everyone loves them, and you only need 10 minutes to whip them up.

I love a plain old rice krispie treat just as much as the next guy, but let’s kick ‘em up a notch.

With browned butter.

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Remember my obsession with brown butter last year? I think it’s coming back. I’m still waiting for a brown butter scented candle, but until then, I’ll just be making my own to throw into cookie dough, pasta, and now – cereal bars.

My favorite rice krispie treats were always the basics: just butter, marshmallows, and cereal. I like fun mix-ins, but the classics were always the best.

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Browning the butter before adding the marshmallows makes these classic bars even better. It gives the bars a deeper, toastier flavor and the little pinch of salt is just enough to balance out all that sugar from the marshmallows.

Want a quick treat for this week? Grab your cereal and let’s brown some butter!

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Brown Butter and Sea Salt Cereal Bars

Makes: 12-16 bars

Ingredients:

  • 4 Tbsp butter
  • 12 oz. marshmallows
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 6 cups crisp rice cereal

Directions:

  1. Melt butter over low-medium heat, letting it cook until the butter is completely melted and is starting to brown, about 4-5 minutes.
  2. Stir in the marshmallows and sea salt and cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes until the marshmallows are totally melted and the mixture is smooth.
  3. Pour in the cereal and stir, quickly, until all the cereal is coated with the marshmallow.
  4. Dump the mixture into a greased 9×13 baking dish, top with a sheet of parchment paper, and press on top of the parchment with your hands to get the bars into an even layer in the dish.
  5. Remove the parchment paper and let the bars sit for at least 30 minutes before cutting.

17 comments

  1. yep…I have done them with browned butter before too! WAAAAYYYYYYY better!

  2. Mmm such a great twist on a classic. Love it!

  3. Browned butter makes everything better! Awesome change-up to this traditional recipe. :)

  4. Um, yes please!! I am sure these are so delicious with that browned butter.

  5. YUM! browning the butter adds so much flavor!

  6. LOVE me some good rice krispies! The brown butter and sea salt sound ridiculously good!!

  7. What a simple way to make rice krispy treats taste even better! I didn’t know it was possible, haha.

  8. I’ve never been a huge rice krispie treat fan (which is odd since I love marshmallows), but with brown butter? That I can definitely get behind!

  9. I can never turn down a rice krispie treat! These look great!

  10. sometimes simple is best! i will never stop loving these :)

  11. Bring on the brown butter obsession. And bring on the rice krispie treats. LOVE this!

  12. These look divine! Must. make. soon!

  13. Why have I never thought of using brown butter before?! Genius!

  14. I added a very light smear of Nutella and a drop of sea salt to the top too. So yummy !

  15. Pingback: Country Cleaver How-To Tuesday - How To Brown Butter » Country Cleaver

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