Cinnamon sugar rice crispy treats

These bars are the perfect sweet treat that require no time in the oven. You'll brown your butter, and then add in ingredient by ingredient to make a crispy treat to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Growing up, I remember loving this cinnamon toast crunch cereal bar that had a sweet "milk" filling, and those flavors inspired these bars. You'll mix in half of your white chocolate chips directly to your rice crispy treat mixture, and the other half will be pressed gently into the top of your bars to make sure you get a little extra sweetness in every bite.

For these bars, it's important to pre measure your ingredients so that you can move throughout the steps of the recipe with speed. The mixture sets quickly so if you pause in between steps to measure, you'll risk having uneven bars at the end or having difficulty pressing them into your square pan to set.

To start, you'll measure your cereal and toss it with your cinnamon. Then, you'll measure out your large marshmallows, mini marshmallows, and white chocolate all in separate bowls so you'll be ready to add them in step by step. It'll also be important to prep your square pan with parchment paper so that once your mixture is ready, you can pour it right in and begin to flatten it while it's still warm.

You'll begin by lightly browning your butter. Because you'll mix your full recipe in your nonstick pot, you want to stop a little earlier in the butter browning process than you normally would to avoid burning your butter. To brown your butter, you'll melt it in a nonstick pot on a medium heat. After it melts, it will begin to crackle. Continue to stir and watch your butter carefully. You'll start to smell a nutty aroma and as you begin to see the color turn to a light brown, turn the heat off and remove your pan from the stove and keep moving. While I do recommend browning your butter because I think it will get you the best end taste, if you'd prefer to just melt your butter you can absolutely move to the next step once your butter is just melted.

Next you'll add in your large marshmallows and mix with a rubber spatula until they fully melt into your browned butter. You can use a little bit of heat from the stovetop if your marshmallows aren't melting, and then you will remove your pot from the heat again. Then you'll pour in your cereal and cinnamon mixture and continue to mix until your marshmallow mixture coats the cereal. Next will go your mini marshmallows, and then half of your white chocolate chips. You'll add these two last because you don't want them to fully melt into your mixture. Then you can pour your mixture into your parchment lined square pan and press it down firmly. This step is important to make sure your bars are flat and also dense enough. Then finally you'll press the remaining white chocolate chips into the top of your bars and allow them to cool.

I don't recommend skipping the white chocolate, but if you do decide to skip you can follow the steps as is without the addition of the white chocolate. For my fellow diabetics who need the carb details, you can find that at the bottom of the recipe including how many carbs come from the white chocolate in case you decide to omit.

In addition to this being a great no bake recipe, I love how quickly it comes together. In about 30 minutes and with 6 ingredients, you'll have some delicious bars ready to enjoy! For ingredients, you can use a generic puffed rice cereal or of course the rice krispies brand cereal. I used Kraft brand jet puffed large and mini marshmallows. You can use any white chocolate chips, but I used Ghirardelli chips for this recipe!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups rice krispies / puffed rice cereal 130g

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

• 3 heaping cups (6oz) jumbo marshmallows 170g

• 1 cup (2oz) mini marshmallows 58g

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter 85g

• 2/3 cup (4oz) white chocolate chips

Total time: 30 minutes

Prep time: 15 minutes

Chill time: 15 minutes

Equipment:

• 9x9 square pan (or 8x8)

• Parchment paper

• Nonstick, heavy bottomed pot

• Rubber spatula

Cooking instructions:

Measure your cereal in a large bowl, then add in your cinnamon and toss to coat your cereal. In separate bowls, pre measure your large marshmallows, mini marshmallows, and white chocolate chips. Set aside.

Prepare your square pan, lining it with parchment paper on all sides - you'll want this to be ready to go for later.

Place your butter into your nonstick pot, on the stovetop over a medium heat. You're going to lightly brown your butter, knowing it will continue to cook when you add in your marshmallows and you want to be careful not to burn it. After your butter melts, you'll hear it begin to crackle. Stir the melted butter and watch it carefully as it can burn easily. You'll start to smell a nutty aroma (you'll know it when it happens). Once you see the color begin to turn to a light brown color, turn your heat off and remove your pot from the stove. Keep moving through the next steps with speed.

Add your large marshmallows into your lightly browned butter and stir using your rubber spatula to melt your marshmallows and combine. If your marshmallows aren't melting, you can put your pot back onto the stove over the lowest heat, continuously stirring until combined. Remove from the heat if you've added back onto your stove.

Next, add in your cereal coated with cinnamon. Continue to stir until your cereal is coated with your butter and marshmallow mixture, being sure to reach into the edges of your pot.

Pour in your mini marshmallows and continue to stir. Then, add in about half of your white chocolate chips. Continue stirring until everything is evenly dispersed - you still want to see mini marshmallows and white chocolate unmelted, but spread throughout.

Into your lined pan, pour your rice crispy treat mixture. Use your spatula to press your mixture evenly across the pan, being sure to reach into the corners and pressing down firmly. You can also use a butter sheet or measuring cup here to help smooth and press your bars down. While still warm, take the rest of your white chocolate chips and press them into the top of your bars.

Allow your rice crispy treats to cool for about 15 minutes. Remove from your pan carefully, use a sharp knife to cut into 16 squares, and enjoy!

These will taste best when fresh the day of, but you can also store them in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days. If you need to stack the bars, use parchment paper in between the layers to avoid sticking.

Carb and serving info:

Carbs per serving (1 of 16): 22

Carbs for full recipe: 354

Carbs from white chocolate: 66

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.