Brown Butter Crispy Treats

Kitty FloridoApril 9, 2014

This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

Brown Butter Crispy Treats? There are dishes you don’t mess around with, the originals are just perfect. After decades and thousands of people preparing the recipe, why on earth would you change it? A dessert made from Rice Krispies cereal bound together with a mixture of melted butter, melted marshmallows and vanilla. A classic! The marshmallows are melted with the butter, you add the vanilla, then the rice cereal. The mixture is stirred well to combine all and is then turned into a buttered pan, usually square, then let sit. When firm, they are cut into squares. The treats, were first called Marshmallow Squares, and were created by two Kellogg’s employees, Malitta Jensen and Mildred Day in 1939. Some literature suggests that these treats were developed to promote the cereal at a fundraising treat for a Campfire girls group (whom had the most famous marshmallows brand back in the day).

Now, after I prepared Deb’s Brown Butter & Hazelnut Cake, I was hooked on Brown Butter. Then.. it hit me. I either read something on Twitter or Instagram about Brown Butter and Crispy Treats. So simple, yet with so much potential. I searched online and found this recipe from Deb as well (Smitten Kitchen is awesome). So, I went to get my ingredients. Fresh butter definitely makes better recipes. Now, I took pictures for all the stages of the brown butter so you can see the color changes: yellow, to bubbles, to foam and then… the magic happens: a nutty smell with golden brown color. Make sure you stay watching the pot. The golden brown color can easily burn. Now, an additional tip. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve known that mini marshmallows are much better when preparing treats, since they melt much faster and better. So make sure you use mini marshmallows if you have them available.

These crispy treats lasted less than the usual tray, so you know they are really good. The nutty flavor from the browned butter makes them over the top delicious! So now, take those extra 5 minutes (tops) to brown the butter and enjoy!

Kitty

Brown Butter Crispy Treats

Recipe by Smitten Kitchen
Makes 16 2-inch squares

Ingredients:
4-oz. unsalted butter, plus extra for the pan
1 10-oz. bag mini marshmallows
6 cups puffed rice cereal

Directions:

Butter (or coat with non-stick spray) an 8-inch square cake pan.
In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. First, it will melt, then foam, 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 the time between the butter starts to change color and the point where it burns is less than one minute. Check the pictures bellow. You’ll see the color changing from yellow to golden brown.
As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, turn the heat off, move the pot to a different burner (so it’s on a cold one) and stir in the mini marshmallows. The residual heat from the melted butter should be enough to melt them, and if you are using mini marshmallows, you’ll find that they melt faster than the regular-sized ones.
Stir in the cereal together. Quickly spread into prepared pan, pressing it firmly and evenly into the edges and corners.
Let cool, cut into squares.

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