Whip up some magic Lucky Charms Rice Krispie Treats: a delightful twist on classic Rice Krispie treats. These bars are cereal bar heaven with just four ingredients, including browned butter and vanilla bean paste.
Line an 8x8 or 9x9 inch square pan with parchment paper for easier clean up and cutting, or butter the pan well.
Melt butter over medium heat in a large pot, if browning the butter, continue over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally, the butter will foam up and get really quiet, then as you swirl the pan you will start to notice some brown flecks in the bubbles, continue until the butter smells nutty. Be patient and don't rush this step.
Pour in mini marshmallows and stir over medium-low heat until they are just about melted. Remove from heat and continue stirring until fully melted. Stir in salt and, if desired the vanilla bean paste.
Add cereal all at once, stirring until it is all coated. Dump into the prepared pan aarchment paper, plastic wrap or buttered hands, press the mixture lightly into the pan. Allow it to cool for about an hour before cutting.
Store in airtight baggie or container up to one week, best eaten within 2-3 days. If Lucky Charms bars get too hard, place in microwave for 10 seconds at a time until softened, or heat in 300 degree oven for a few minutes.
Notes
Do not compact | When pressing into the pan, do not press or push hard, if you do you will have really hard Lucky Charms treats.
Use a pot large enough to be able to stir the cereal in after all of the melting.
Thick Bars I This cereal bar recipe yields, big, fat Lucky Charms bars. If you want thinner bars stretching further, press into a 7x11 inch pan or 9x13 pan.
Fresh Mallows | Be sure your marshmallows are fresh, trust me on this one, I used some older, stale marshmallows in a test batch and it yielded really hard Lucky Charm bars, they still tasted good, but definitely give you a jaw workout.
Salt | I use salted butter in pretty much all of my baking, these have a lovely sweet-salty flavor, if you are not a fan, either omit the additional salt all together, or cut it in half. It’s not overpowering, but some may not care for it.
Press a few additional Lucky Charms marshmallows into the top of the treats right after pressing into the pan.
Use parchment to line your baking pan for easy clean-up and to easily lift out of the pan for easy cutting.
Add more marshmallows to your Lucky Charms rice krispie treats! Maybe you have some left over from another recipe, go ahead and toss them in whole when stirring in the cereal.
Use another type of cereal | You could use Cheerio’s or other toasted oat style cereal.
Stir in ½ cup of chocolate chips when you stir in the cereal, or try the same amount of m&m candies if you want these really over the top!