I had the best intentions of sharing a super moist and fudgy chocolate zucchini cake with you this weekend, but alas, my computer containing the pictures is quite dead. It needs a serious dismantling to adjust the parts so it can power up and I can get all the pictures safely off, and I think then it will be time to thank it for more than a decade of service and send it to its final resting place. I am such a creature of habit, and so averse to change, that it’s hard to imagine blogging on anything else – that trusty old laptop and I have spent many a lovely evening together, in 4 different houses, 2 different provinces, 3 different cities. It has been dropped, sat on, fought over by children, and I think given me carpal tunnel with all the writing it has inspired.
Sigh. It was a good run.
But all is not lost! A couple weeks ago when we had a great kitchen moment I happened to upload some pictures to the blog for the benefit of my future self, and this easy no-bake recipe is perfect for the hottest 3 days of summer I’m staring down straight ahead. I can’t complain – this summer has been spectacular for beautiful days without excessive heat – but it does mean I’ll be doing everything I can to avoid turning on my oven for a few days, and recipes like this are just what we need when we want to be productive in the kitchen on a hot and sticky day.
I am crazy about Rice Krispies – not as cereal, but as an ingredient in other things. I put them in energy balls, granola bars, cookies, brownies…and I make the classic Rice Krispie squares or shape them into whatever a birthday child wants. It’s just a cereal I believe a person should have in their cupboard most of the time, not to put with milk, but for when the urge to add some texture strikes.
I am less crazy about butterscotch. It’s just not a flavour that gets me out of bed in the morning – kind of like caramel with an edge of ‘too much’, yes? But hey, a couple of my dear family members are big fans of the butterscotch muchness, and I aim to please.
These are thick, sweet, and incredibly addictive, even for a person who doesn’t love butterscotch. They also happen to be incredibly easy, as Rice Krispie treats should be. There are no marshmallows, so the sweet doesn’t make your teeth shiver – it’s just a perfect balance of caramelized crunchiness, topped with a thin layer of chocolate to balance and smooth things out. It reminds me a lot of that old sponge toffee candy, or a Crunchie bar, one of my great delights.
Did I mention you don’t need to turn on your oven? Summer no-bake treats, at your service :)
- 8 cups Rice Krispies cereal
- 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 cup corn syrup
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups butterscotch chips
- TOPPING:
- 1½ cups dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 Tbsp butter
- Grease a 9x13" baking pan and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place the Rice Krispies in a large mixing bowl - you'll need them soon.
- In medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter and stir in the sugar and corn syrup. Bring mixture to a boil and remove pan from heat. Add the butterscotch chips and stir until melted and smooth.
- Pour the butterscotch mixture over the Rice Krispies and stir well to coat. Press the cereal mixture firmly into the prepared pan. (Spray the back of a spatula - or your hands! - with cooking spray to make pressing them down very easy and non-sticky.)
- In a clean medium bowl, melt the chocolate chips with 1 Tbsp butter in the microwave for 45 seconds. Stir well and continue microwaving in 10 second increments as needed to completely melt the chocolate. Pour the melted chocolate over the cereal mixture and spread evenly with the back of a spoon.
- Transfer to the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to let chocolate almost set before using a sharp knife to cut into bars. (I always set a timer for this and check at 1 hour - if you let it cool too long before cutting, the chocolate is more likely to crack when cutting.)
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, or freeze for longer storage.
A little different than my No Bake Cereal Bars. Mine has butterscotch and chocolate melted on top and peanut butter in the base instead of the chips.. It’s always a hit around here, too. I agree with the Rice Krispies, we don’t eat cereal but you will often find RK in the cupboard for baking.
I couldn’t get butterscotch to melt nicely for the top! I have a peanut butter one with chocolate on top that is a Christmas classic for our family, always so good!