Brown Butter Rice Krispies Treats
Toasting the butter until it's golden brown creates a flavor domino effect in our brown butter Rice Krispies treats.
- 1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 packages miniature marshmallows (1 pound each), divided
- 1 package (9 ounces) Rice Krispies
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Line a 13x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, letting the ends extend up and over the sides. Set the pan aside. Place the butter in a large heavy saucepan. Cook and brown the butter over medium heat until it’s golden brown, five to seven minutes. At some point, the butter will start to foam—that’s completely normal. Keep stirring to keep an eye on the color. Editor’s Tip: As soon as the brown butter reaches a golden color, immediately move on to the next step. If you keep the brown butter in the pan by itself, it will continue to cook (even if it’s off the heat) and will burn.
- Set aside 1 cup of marshmallows. Add the remaining marshmallows to the pan of brown butter and stir constantly until they begin to melt. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and salt until they’re fully combined. Some small pieces of marshmallow remaining are ideal! Return the pan to low heat briefly if needed to combine the mixture thoroughly.
- Remove the pan from the heat and gently fold in the Rice Krispies until they’re coated. Fold in the remaining cup of marshmallows.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and gently press it into an even layer without packing it too tightly. Once the mixture is set, remove the bars from the pan using the parchment paper overhang and cut them into squares.
If we were to give our favorite childhood snack a sophisticated upgrade, we’d make these brown butter rice Krispie treats. Browning butter is a French baking technique that toasts butter’s milk solids, unlocking a deeply nutty flavor. We love using it in brown butter chocolate chip cookies, banana bread and even mashed potatoes.
In this recipe, the nuance is like a flavor spark, bringing out the subtler notes in classic Rice Krispies: the malt in the rice cereal and the toasty vanilla notes in the gooey marshmallows. Brown butter makes the nostalgic snack taste like a whole new treat, and it only adds a few extra minutes (seven, tops) to the original recipe. It’s easily one of our favorite Rice Krispies treat variations.
Ingredients for Brown Butter Rice Krispies Treats
- Butter: Make sure you’re using unsalted butter—you’ll be adding the perfect amount of salt later on. Cube the butter so it melts quickly and evenly.
- Mini marshmallows: Buy two packages of mini marshmallows from the store. If you can’t find mini ones, cut regular marshmallows into quarters.
- Rice Krispies: Buy one package of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal or another type of puffed rice cereal. You’ll be using 9 ounces of it in this recipe.
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract adds a delicate, sweet floral flavor to the Rice Krispies treats. Feel free to use vanilla bean paste as desired.
Line a 13×9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, letting the ends extend up and over the sides. Set the pan aside.
Place the butter in a large heavy saucepan. Cook and brown the butter over medium heat until it’s golden brown, five to seven minutes. At some point, the butter will start to foam—that’s completely normal. Keep stirring to keep an eye on the color.
Editor’s Tip: As soon as the brown butter reaches a golden color, immediately move on to the next step. If you keep the brown butter in the pan by itself, it will continue to cook (even if it’s off the heat) and will burn.
