Classic Rice Krispie treats made better with browned butter, extra marshmallow and a pinch of salt, then dressed up for Halloween with an orange candy drizzle and sprinkles. Thick, gooey and nutty.
8 tbsp (1 stick) butter
16 oz mini marshmallows, to melt
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
8 cups Rice Krispies cereal
2 cups more mini marshmallows, stirred in whole
6 oz orange candy melts
¼ cup Halloween sprinkles
9x13 pan, buttered
Butter a 9x13 pan and a spatula.
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Keep stirring until it foams, turns golden brown and smells nutty, about 5 to 6 minutes. Watch it closely, because it goes from brown to burnt fast.
Turn the heat to low. Add the 16 oz of marshmallows and stir until just melted. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.
Fold in the cereal, then the 2 cups of whole marshmallows. They only partly melt, which leaves gooey pockets in the finished treats.
Spread the mixture into the pan and press it down lightly. Don't pack it hard, or the treats come out dense.
Melt the candy melts in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between each. Drizzle over the top and add the sprinkles right away, before the candy sets.
Let the pan set at room temperature for about an hour, then cut into squares.
Michael's notes
Browning the butter and adding salt make the biggest difference. That's what turns these from the box recipe into something people ask about.
Use candy melts for the orange, not white chocolate with regular food coloring. Water-based coloring makes white chocolate seize up.
Alice needed a pan of treats for an activity, and I'd only ever made Rice Krispie treats once. If we were making them anyway, I wanted them to be extra good, not just the recipe off the box.
Brown butter and a pinch of salt fixed the flavor, extra marshmallows fixed the texture, and with Halloween coming up, an orange drizzle and sprinkles made them look the part.