Name: Browned Butter Holiday Rice Krispie Squares
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 16
Cuisine: treats
Ingredients: 113g (1/2 cup/ 8 tablespoons) salted butter; 400g mini marshmallows; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 6 cups puffed rice cereal; Holiday sprinkles/ nonpareils

Jump to Recipe

Scroll to the bottom of the post to get ALL the “12 Days” recipes from 2019 – 2023!

It’s that time of year again! Welcome to Day 1 of

The Twelve Days of Holiday Treats!

Once again, this year, from December 1st-12th I’ll post a new holiday treat recipe every day – inspiration for your holiday entertaining!

The recipes I’m sharing are small-er batch – each recipe makes 1-dozen or a few more smaller-sized treats that are simple to prepare and that use everyday ingredients and equipment so hopefully you’ll be able to whip up any of these on a whim. Check out the treats from 2019 – 2023 at the bottom of this post too for more inspiration!

This year, I started working on these recipes in October (see: brain recovery = fatigue and everything taking so much longer than it used to) so I’ve made a few iterations of each of these recipes. Today’s treat is one, though, that I’ve made a bunch of times over the past few years – it was a favourite pandemic “bake” as we have a couple of gluten-free friends who we saw nearly every Friday night (either on Zoom or outside) in 2020 and 2021 and there were always snacks involved that catered to everyone’s needs/ tastes. Rice Krispie Treats were nearly always on the table!

Now I do love a good Rice Krispie Treat (they are perfect pre-run fuel as they are easy to digest – for me – carbs and don’t weigh me down) but a homemade one is just so much better than store-bought – especially if you take the extra time to brown the butter. yes, really – it doesn’t actually take that much longer and it makes all the difference in the taste (especially if you use the best butter you can find/ afford – with so few ingredients it really makes a difference).

What is browned butter?

The Kitchn gives a great explanation:

As you melt butter in a pan or pot, the milk solids begin to separate from the fat. Because they’re heavier, they fall to the bottom of the pan. The direct heat from the pan toasts the milk solids, which begin to turn brown, creating that nutty flavor. (They don’t burn, unless you let them cook too long.)

It’s that nutty flavour you’re after here that is subtle in the finished product but noticeable!

Let’s talk about marshmallows!

I’ve played around with the amount of marshmallows here, finally settling on the amount that is a typical bag of mini marshmallows in Canada (because what’s worse than a handful of leftover marshmallows languishing in the pantry?). I’ve put the quantity in weight because to measure in cups doesn’t work here – marshmallows are of different sizes and shapes so 1 cup might be a very different amount that will change the texture of the final product. Mini marshmallows work best in this recipe because they are easier to melt.

Now let’s get baking!

Yield: 16

Browned Butter Holiday Rice Krispie Squares

Rice Krispie Treats made with browned butter and holiday sprinkles!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Additional Time 30 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

113g (1/2 cup/ 8 tablespoons) salted butter
400g mini marshmallows
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 cups puffed rice cereal
Holiday sprinkles/ nonpareils

Instructions

Prepare your baking pan:

Lightly grease a 20cm (8-inch) square baking pan and line it with parchment paper, making sure you have some overhang on at least 2 sides (this will help you lift the treats out when they are set).

Brown the butter:

Melt the butter in a large pot (you’re going to need to fit the 6 cups of puffed rice cereal in this, so make sure it’s big enough) over medium heat for 3-4 minutes until it starts to get foamy on top.
Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook, stirring often using a heat-resistant rubber spatula. Eventually, the butter will stop bubbling, and you’ll notice the (white) milk solids turning golden brown. Continue to cook until the solids are dark brown (not black) and the liquid butter is deep golden brown and smells nutty – this may take up to 7 minutes, depending on your pot and the heat setting.

Assemble:

Take the pot off the heat and add the marshmallows, stirring with the rubber spatula to coat the marshmallows with the butter.
Once the marshmallows are more or less coated with the butter, put the pot back on low heat and stir constantly until the marshmallows are melted. This might take 3-4 minutes, depending on your pot and the heat setting.
Stir in the vanilla, then the cereal with the rubber spatula, working quickly to coat the cereal.
Pour the cereal into the prepared baking pan. Try to spread it evenly in the pan (slightly damp, clean hands can help here, too!).
Before the mixture cools down too much, top it with the sprinkles.
Allow to cool at room temperature for around 30 minutes, then use the parchment paper “handles” to remove the treats from the pan.
Place the treats on a cutting board and use a sharp serrated knife to gently slice into 16 pieces.

Notes

Treats will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for around a week.

Recommended Products

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Couldn’t be easier, right?

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s recipe

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1 thought on “12 Days of Holiday Treats 2024: Browned Butter Holiday Rice Krispie Squares”

Mr. Neil

December 2, 2024 at 07:23

Love me a good rice crispy square: but only home-made. The commercial ones are generally sickly sweet, chemically, and vaguely feel like nibbling corrugate.

The browned butter just adds a nice extra element to these. The challenge is not to have *too many* before the run. 😉

Scroll to the bottom of the post to get ALL the “12 Days” recipes from 2019 – 2023!

The Twelve Days of Holiday Treats!

What is browned butter?

Let’s talk about marshmallows!

Ingredients

Instructions

Prepare your baking pan:

Brown the butter:

Assemble:

Notes

Recommended Products

did you make this recipe?

Baking up a storm this holiday season? Shop my Sweetapolita store!

Check out 2023’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:

Check out 2022’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:

Check out 2021’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:

Check out 2020’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:

Check out 2019’s 12 Days of Holiday Cookies:

Buy my books! In the French kitchen with kids and French Food for Everyone: le goûter (after school snacks), le dîner (dinner) and le petit-déjeuner (breakfast) are out now! Click here for details and how to order!

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1 thought on “12 Days of Holiday Treats 2024: Browned Butter Holiday Rice Krispie Squares”

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