A sophisticated twist on the classic rice krispie treat, these caramelized rice krispie treats are made with an (easy) homemade caramel sauce and drizzled with chocolate.
I’m admittedly guilty of having an addictive personality. When I find something I like, I have the tendency to obsess over it. As a child, it was Star Wars and books, as an adult… well my obsessions evidently don’t really change over time, but the list does seem to grow.
Currently, my newest obsession on the list is caramel–homemade caramel sauce to be precise. Deserts filled, dipped, or ladled with copious amounts of caramel are currently resting near the top of my “favorite things” list right now, ranking even higher when paired with chocolate (and even higher when sprinkled with sea salt, too!).
Making caramel sauce on the stove top is not difficult (and, of course, rice krispie treats are one of the easiest desserts out there) You aren’t making actual caramel candies here so there is no boiling and no need for a candy thermometer. While I definitely don’t recommend walking away from your caramel sauce for even a second while cooking, it’s a lot more difficult to burn than its candied equivalent and even a complete kitchen novice can manage a good sauce. As a bonus, the way the caramel smell permeates the air leaves your kitchen smelling like a candy shop.
I actually prepared two no-bake recipes for the blog and, though perhaps I should have held off on sharing another caramel dessert so quickly, this is the one that demanded to be posted today (bossy, that caramel sauce is).
I think you will love this recipe for its easy, fun twist on a nostalgic classic. The flavors are rich and intense, especially for something so easy to prepare; these would make the perfect quick treat if you need something in a pinch for a potluck or party.
These treats are thick with caramel, crunchy and chewy, less stretchy and gooey than their basic counterparts but still sticky, easy to make and sure to be a quick favorite. The chocolate drizzle is optional but very complementary, and, of course, I’ve lightly salted them too.
I refrigerated these before serving to help them firm up a little before cutting them. This helps and I recommend it, but I think they taste best as they return closer to room temperature, though they are definitely more messy this way and you won’t be able to escape eating one without sticky fingers.
A small price to pay, if you ask me.
More Recipes You Might Like:
- Caramel Popcorn (how good would this be drizzled with a bit of dark chocolate, too!?)
- Scotcharoos
- Puppy Chow
- Peanut Butter Bars
- S’mores Cereal Bars
Enjoy!
Treat yourself to a FREE E-BOOK!
Carmelized Rice Krispies
Ingredients
- 8 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 6 Tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp flaky sea salt
- 10 oz marshmallows
- 7 cups crisped rice cereal
- ¼ cup semisweet chocolate for drizzle, optional
- ½ tsp additional flaky sea salt for sprinkling on top optional
Instructions
- Prepare a 13x9 saucepan by greasing the bottom and sides with butter. Set aside.
- In large saucepan, melt together butter, brown sugar and heavy cream on medium-low heat, stirring constantly.
- Once butter is melted, increase heat to medium and whisk 2 minutes (do not allow to come to a boil).
- Reduce heat to medium-low.
- Stir in salt and vanilla.
- Stir in marshmallows, stirring constantly until completely melted.
- Stir in cereal, ensuring ingredients are well combined and cereal is entirely coated by caramel mixture.
- Spread into prepared pan.
- Melt chocolate in microwave by heating at 15 second increments and stirring regularly.
- Drizzle chocolate over cereal in pan.
- Allow to sit until chocolate hardens (this can be expedited by placing treats in refrigerator).
- Cut and serve.
Andres
I love it when you do recipe makeovers(the old photos are still great, and I’ll gladly spend 15 min of my day going through your recipes laughing and then proceeding to go to the store to empty my bank account for one of your recipes), but I would love to see this one with a new look! I made your Brown Butter Toffee cookies but replaced the milk chocolate toffee bits with 3 ingredient toffee that I made on the stove(butter, brown sugar, salt). They were sooo good and gone in one day.
Sam
I’ll have to see what I can do. Sometimes it’s fun to see how much better the new pictures are. 🙂