Browned Butter Rice Crispy Treats
I like to consider myself a Rice Crispy Treat connoisseur. Mainly because I can’t stand the store-bought kind. Where is the butter, y’all? A good rice crispy treat should be buttery and gooey with a tiny hint of salt.
One of the best parts about homemade rice crispy treats is how easy it is to make them. The Rice Krispies Treats Ad from 1988 is correct! It takes a little effort for a delicious and satisfying treat that can be served as dessert or a snack.
The ease of making homemade rice crispy treats gives a lot of opportunities to change things up and play around with different ingredients. Don’t worry. I promise not to overcomplicate things, and what I’m going to do is make things tastier!
Browned butter is, by far, one of my favorite ingredients. I think I’ve made it clear how much I love butter, but I have not sung browned butter its proper praises. That song starts here!
The process of browning butter is simple. It is butter that is melted on the stovetop until brown. Browned butter is a French technique that increases the flavor, and Browned Butter is nutty and has a deeper, unique butter flavor.
Browned butter occurs when the milk solids from butter are gently browned. The butter goes through a process of melting completely, sizzling, then foaming. Not too long after the foaming process, you can begin to stir the butter and begin to see browned milk solids under the layer of foam.
How far you take the browning is really up to you, but the culinary team from my time on MasterChef made sure I didn’t hold back. Waiting for peak brownness instead of stopping at the first sign of browning is going to give you a deeper, richer flavor. There were plenty of times the culinary team told me to keep my skillet on the heat and give it another minute or two. That’s where I developed a clear understanding of what browning Butter meant.
Now don’t get me wrong, black butter is terrible, and that is not what we are shooting for. If you brown your butter too far, there’s no recovery. You simply have to start over, but you can brown your butter right up to the line with practice. One side is deliciously risky, and the other is a waste of an investment. The more practice you do, the more you can incorporate this wonderful flavor into sweet or savory dishes. Let’s get risky and delicious!
Rice Crispy Treats are a great place to start using browned butter. Homemade rice crispy treats already require you to melt butter, so why not brown the butter before adding the other ingredients?
Speaking of other ingredients, homemade rice crispy treats should always have vanilla added, y’all. Whether it be vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, a splash or two goes a long way in making sure your rice crispy treats taste like a treat grandma spent hours making versus something that came out of a box.
You will also want to make sure you use salted butter and add a pinch of kosher salt to the melted marshmallows as well. Salt is a flavor magnifier, and if you’re asking me if I want to magnify the flavor of browned butter and marshmallows, the answer will always be yes.
Her are a few other tips you want to be mindful of when making Browned Butter Rice Crispy Treats.
Work quickly once you’ve added the crispy rice cereal. Things will start to set as soon as the marshmallow coats the cereal, so move fast.
Use parchment paper to line your baking pan. Trust me there. There is no fun in forcing rice crispy treats out of a pan.
Browned Butter Rice Crispy Treats
Ingredients
- 1 cup high-fat salted butter
- 12 cups minim marshmallows, divided
- 10 cups crispy rice cereal
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract or 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Prepare an 8x11 baking pan with parchment paper. Preheat a large pot over medium low heat.
- Add butter and allow to melt for approx. 7 minutes. The butter will melt and then foam, sizzling and crackling before becoming clear. You will notice browned bits at the bottom of the pot. Continue cooking for another 1 to two minutes until deep brown.
- Add 10 cups of marshmallows and stir them until fully melted. Be sure to stir the butter into the marshmallows as they melt down.
- Once the marshmallows are melted, add the vanilla extract and kosher salt. Pour in the crispy rice cereal and stir quickly. Turn off the heat and continue stirring until the cereal is fully coated in the melted marshmallow mixture. Toss in the remaining marshmallows and stir until they are evenly distributed.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan and gently press the sticky snack into the baking pan with a rubber spatula. Smooth out the top of the mixture into the pan and allow to sit until cooled—about 30 minutes.
- Remove the browned butter rice crispy treats from the baking pan using the parchment paper for leverage and cut them into desired size squares.
Notes
Store Browned Butter Rice Crispy Treat in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. In my house, it’s only 3 days.
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