In Shauna Sever's cookbook Midwest Made, her recipe for Next-Level Rice Crispy Treats is immediately followed by a recipe for "Scotch-a-Roos," a marshmallow-less Rice Krispies treat made with peanut butter and topped with a layer of chocolate. I had some Rice Krispies cereal left over after making the Next-Level Rice Crispy Treats, so I decided to try the Scotch-a-Roos too.
You make the cereal layer by cooking creamy peanut butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt until the mixture is about to boil, and then you stir in Rice Krispies. I spread the mixture into a parchment-lined 9-inch by 13-inch pan, trying not to compress the cereal too much.
The top layer is a 50-50 mixture of bittersweet chocolate and butterscotch chips. I used Scharffen Berger 62% chocolate for the bittersweet, and since I refuse to use butterscotch chips on principle (since they're mostly vegetable oil, including palm oil), I used Cacao Barry Zéphyr Caramel white chocolate instead. I melted the chocolates together in a double boiler and when I poured the resulting mixture onto the cereal layer, most if it disappeared into the cereal. The picture of the Scotch-a-Roos in the cookbook shows a thick, unified layer of chocolate on top. As you can see from the photo below, my chocolate made its way into the interior of the bars and the layer on top turned out to be quite thin. I think the problem was that my chocolate was very fluid. In particular, the Zéphyr Caramel is 35% cocoa butter and has very high fluidity. I have since made the bars a second time and I let the chocolate cool a bit before spreading it on top of the bars; the chocolate thickened as it cooled and I got a better-looking result.
But regardless of what the bars looked like, they were freakin' delicious. I liked them better than the Next-Level Crispy Treats. The peanut butter-cereal layer was just so dang good. It had the perfect amount of chew and it was decadent and packed with peanut butter flavor. The chocolate layer on the top was just a bonus, but it was also fantastic. I can't claim that I could distinctly make out the caramelized white chocolate, but the flavor profile of the bars as a whole was candylike and completely delightful.
I gave the Scotch-a-Roos to friends in boxes that also contained Apricot Kolacky and Peanut Butter Cookies and several people mentioned to me that the Scotch-a-Roos were their favorite treats from the box. They were my favorite too.
Recipe: "Scotch-a-Roos" from Midwest Made by Shauna Sever, recipe available here (without ingredient weights) here from the Today Show.
You make the cereal layer by cooking creamy peanut butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt until the mixture is about to boil, and then you stir in Rice Krispies. I spread the mixture into a parchment-lined 9-inch by 13-inch pan, trying not to compress the cereal too much.
The top layer is a 50-50 mixture of bittersweet chocolate and butterscotch chips. I used Scharffen Berger 62% chocolate for the bittersweet, and since I refuse to use butterscotch chips on principle (since they're mostly vegetable oil, including palm oil), I used Cacao Barry Zéphyr Caramel white chocolate instead. I melted the chocolates together in a double boiler and when I poured the resulting mixture onto the cereal layer, most if it disappeared into the cereal. The picture of the Scotch-a-Roos in the cookbook shows a thick, unified layer of chocolate on top. As you can see from the photo below, my chocolate made its way into the interior of the bars and the layer on top turned out to be quite thin. I think the problem was that my chocolate was very fluid. In particular, the Zéphyr Caramel is 35% cocoa butter and has very high fluidity. I have since made the bars a second time and I let the chocolate cool a bit before spreading it on top of the bars; the chocolate thickened as it cooled and I got a better-looking result.
I gave the Scotch-a-Roos to friends in boxes that also contained Apricot Kolacky and Peanut Butter Cookies and several people mentioned to me that the Scotch-a-Roos were their favorite treats from the box. They were my favorite too.
Recipe: "Scotch-a-Roos" from Midwest Made by Shauna Sever, recipe available here (without ingredient weights) here from the Today Show.
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