I don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden we’re on a huge Rice Krispie Treat kick in our house. When I cleaned out my pantry and got it all organized and stocked again, several boxes of Rice Krispies (and several bags of marshmallows) wound up on my shelves…and we’ve already blown through them all. And it’s not even me. I’m not guilty. It’s my kids, specifically my two middle children. It’s like something has been awakened in them, some deep need they never knew they had, and they can’t be truly happy in life unless they’re mixing dry rice cereal with marshmallow goo.
And making a mess of their mother’s kitchen.
Needless to say, you can only make regular Rice Krispie treats for so long before you start throwing in some variations here and there. And since, according to my new maniacal pantry organization, the Nutella Center is approximately six inches away from the Marshmallow Center on the third shelf from the bottom, that was a natural place to start.
The Cast of Characters:
Butter
Marshmallows
Salt
Nutella
Mini-Marshmallows
Pecans, very finely chopped
Semi-sweet chocolate
Chocolate sprinkles
Let’s have some crispy, crunchy fun!
First of all: This ingredient will come last, but we’re going to get it ready first. Throw some semi-sweet chocolate (either squares or chocolate chips) into a glass bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir it around until it’s all melted and smooth, then set it aside so it cools down a little bit.
Throw four tablespoons of butter into a saucepan…
And melt it over medium-low heat.
And there you have it! Nutella Krispie Treats! Enjoy, guys.
Just kidding.
I’ll never get tired of doing that.
Throw in a bag of large marshmallows…
And (you can’t see this, but that’s where faith comes in) a good dash of salt. These treats do not lack in the sweet department, and the salt helps balance that a bit.
Stir around the marshmallows…
Until they’re totally melted…
And perfectly smooth.
Grab a big ol’ spoonful of Nutella…
And plop it on in there.
Then decide that wasn’t enough Nutella and add some more.
Stir around the marshmallow/Nutella mixture until it’s all combined…
And at the very end, throw in a little more butter just to finish it off and also to be naughty.
Throw a bunch of Rice Krispies into a large bowl and pour in the Nutella/marshmallow mixture while folding with a big spatula. This is always a sticky, gooey mess, and the more gradually you can add in the sticky mixture, the better.
When it’s almost totally mixed together, throw in some mini-marshmallows…
And keep mixing until it’s all combined. You might need to get in there with your (very clean, sprayed with cooking spray) hands if the spatula isn’t doing the works.
Then press the mixture into a 9 x 13-inch pan that’s been generously, liberally, abundantly sprayed with cooking spray.
Sprinkle on some chopped pecans all over the surface…
And here’s where you can change it up however you’d like! Walnuts, toffee pieces, chopped up cookies…anything goes!
Use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate all over the surface…
And keep going until it’s chocolatey enough for you! I like the richness of semi-sweet chocolate, but you can also drizzle on milk chocolate almond bark OR white almond bark. (Or both, if you want both colors going on.)
(Or—double yum—you can do melted caramels/sweetened condensed milk and a little more salt for salted caramel treats. Mmmmm.)
After the chocolate goes on, sprinkle on some more pecans.
Set the pan in the freezer just long enough to set the chocolate (so it won’t make a huge mess when you slice the treats)…
Then slice ’em into squares!
If you love Rice Krispie treats, these will make your skirt fly up. Unless you’re a boy. Or unless you’re like me and haven’t worn a skirt since 1999.
What I’m trying to say is this: Dig in!
Enjoy these, guys. They easy and fun.
