I first made brown butter rice krispie treats in 2011 when I visited Flour Bakery in Boston. The esteemed pastry chef, Joanne Chang, improved on a childhood favorite by adding one of my all-time favorite flavors: brown butter. I was smitten.
Technically the brown butter is optional in this recipe (but not really). It’s a game changer and takes these juvenile treats to a whole new level. I make brown butter in large quantities and keep it in my refrigerator for a week (or two) or frozen for months. This way I always have some at the ready. Using brown butter in a recipe is absolutely delicious, and I often add it to recipes that need just a little more oomph.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter or brown butter
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 cups (284g) mini-marshmallows
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 5 cups (130g) crisp rice cereal
Brown Butter (Optional)
- 2 cups (16 oz / 450g) unsalted butter
Instructions
- Lightly butter an 8-inch / 20cm square cake pan.
- In a large heavy pot over medium-low heat, bring the butter and salt to a simmer. Turn off the heat and add the mini-marshmallows.
- Stir until the mixture is smooth. Try not warm it up any more, or your bars will end up hard. If the marsh-mallows are not fully melted, cover the pot and let them sit a minute. Stir in the vanilla, add the rice cereal, and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Allow to set atroom temperature for about 30 minutes before cutting.
Brown Butter
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Turn the heat to medium-high and boil until the butter is frothy, about 3 minutes (longer if butter is chilled or frozen). Turn the heat to low and simmer, without stirring, until the milk solids have settled to the bottom of the pan, are dark golden brown, and smell slightly toasted, another 15 to 18 minutes, depending on how dark you like your toast (I like mine on the darker side). Once the milk solids start to caramelize, it goes quickly, so don’t walk away. Remove from the heat once the butter is a deep amber color. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, if desired.
- Allow the butter to cool completely, then cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 2 months.
Notes
BAKER’S NOTES
Mini-marshmallows melt faster and require less heat than large marshmallows, so they don’t get overcooked and hard. If you can only find large marshmallows, stir them in the butter, then cover the pot for 30 seconds and stir again. Repeat until melted.
If you want a stiffer rice treat that holds a shape (let’s say a dragon head for a friend), cook the marshmallow mixture for an extra minute or two before adding the rice. Increase the rice cereal by 1 cup.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
The real trick is to use the right marshmallows. And those would be (believe it or not) Walmart’s mini-marshmallows! They melt perfectly and do not get hard. I’ve been using them for years now after getting frustrated with the other brand name.
I just made these Rice Krispie treats. I’ve had your recipe pinned for awhile. They are SO GOOD!! I want to eat the whole pan for dinner. Thank you for sharing!!
Just had my last one – these rice crispies were great and so easy to make, would be a great thing to take to parties to snak on!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Marilin,
So glad you enjoyed them!
Cheers, Zoë
I love a good rice crispy treat, but these were amazing! Thanks for the idea…and the Sugar Rush!
Hi, Zoe,
I found your tasty site from a sweet post by Sugar Rush you inspired! I’m enjoying what I see! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Zoe,
Beautiful cake and cupcakes! 🙂
Would a chocolate ganache frosting like that melt? I live in a very humid and tropical country and melted frosting is always my problem!
Thanks!
~ Barbie
At first glance, I thought it was ganache. The photo looks so beautifully black and I had to ask. I thought I had missed out on some great industry secret after all these years of fending off requests for black buttercream!
How did you make gorgeous looking black buttercream that doesn’t taste like black food coloring?
Hi Amy,
That is actually a chocolate ganache. You are right about black buttercream tasting of food coloring.
Thanks, Zoë
Gorgeous cake! I love Popovers in Portsmouth! Such delicious pastries 🙂 Glad to see two awesome New England bakeries get a shout out!!
hi zoe,
those crispy treats look amazing!!!! it’s a keeper for sure!!!
i am a little confused with the recipe. you call for 5 tablespoons of butter but looking at the picture it looks as if there were 2 sticks of butter, is it 5 oz. of butter instead of tablespoons?
thank you,
pitti
Hi pitti,
Oh boy, that was my mistake, I published the wrong picture! The recipe is correct as written, the picture was the confusing factor. Thank you so much for pointing it out!
Cheers, Zoë
Fabulous rice krispy treats – yum!
Wow, this takes rice krispy treats to a whole new level!
Wow. I love rice krispy treats. When I first made them using real butter instead of margarine I thought I was in heaven. Now I will have to up the stakes a little with this new recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Their cake topper is so cute! I love individualized ones so much more than generic.
My son got married in Peru three weeks ago. They didn´t want a wedding cake, just a huge sample of little Peruvian sweets. So good. The pictures of your brother´s wedding cake and the cupcakes look incredibly delicious, so beautiful and delicate. Congratulations.
Looks delicious and beautiful-I made your devil’s food cupcakes with cream cheese frosting this weekend-I made 98 of them! They were divine-Thank you : )
Thank you so very much for the amazing cake and cupcakes at our wedding. We loved it. We both had about half the cake and 3 cupcakes each on our honeymoon in Maine. Love you Sis.
I worried about a lot of things on my wedding day, Zoe, but having delicious and beautiful cake was never one of my worries after you said you would bake for us. It was as tasty for the eyes as it was to eat, and we brought some cupcakes on our honeymoon in Maine:) Thank you thank you thank you!
Heather and Bubba,
It was such a pleasure and joy to be a part of your gorgeous wedding!
xo z
I was there-I saw-I ate the wedding cake and cupcakes and they were heavenly!
Hey Nana and Dad,
Thanks, it was such a joy and a wonderful adventure!
xo z
the cakes were truly creations of love.
Amazing. I’ve been making browned butter rice krispie treats for a while, but never thought to add vanilla! Genius!
Must. Make. These. NOW! I love rice krispies treats but these sound like LOVE.
I know you hear this all the time, but how do you stay so trim with all the “sampling” you do?
Thanks again for your lovely blog and your creations at Tilia.
Hi Zoe, I only recently stumbled upon your site but you’ve won me over already. The rice krispie treats look amazing — I love how using simple, quality ingredients can produce something so incredible. And GREAT job with the wedding cake!
My version of this is very similar, only I use homemade vanilla extract (instead of the bean) and I brown the Marshmallow mixture slightly as well. It is SO worth the few extra minutes!
I love your site; thanks!