Catastrophe Kitchen | Burnt Marshmallow Rice Krispie Treats

Rice Krispie treats are delicious, but two small tweaks can catapult your bars into caramelized, toasted perfection, making the absolute best version of this standard. Instead of melting the butter in the microwave, you’ll do it on the stovetop, letting it continue cooking past the melting point until the milk solids start to brown and caramelize. Then, you’ll torch the marshmallows– really torch them, just like when you’re camping– to pull even more toasty caramel out of the sugar. Nothing can prepare you for the complete difference that these two tiny steps will make in your final product. Trust me, I have made them about 8 times in the last month. You will need a kitchen torch or a broiler for this. The kitchen torch is MUCH easier and is what I recommend using, but the broiler will work, too. It just might be a little messier. And please, USE CAUTION when operating a flame and torching the marshmallows. Don’t touch the fire or the burning marshmallows. Use common sense. You’ll need: 1 16-oz bag mini marshmallows4 oz (1 stick) butter12 oz (about 8 cups) Rice Krispie cerealOptional: Sprinkles!Special tools: butane torch or broilerUnwrap your butter and add it to a large pot over medium high heat. Use the wax from the butter to grease a 9”x13” oven-safe pan and set it aside. Let the butter melt, then continue to cook it, swirling the pot gently now and then, until the bubbles subside into a quiet foam and the milk solids on the bottom start to get a toasty brown. You’ll hear the difference as the bubbles stop– keep a close eye on it at that point; you don’t want the butter to burn. It will brown pretty quickly once the bubbling stops. Use a spatula to scrape through the foam and keep the milk solids in view.Once the solids brown, turn off the heat and turn on the fan above your stove (you may even want to open a window, just in case). Grab a potholder.If you have a kitchen torch: Add your marshmallows to the pot with the butter. Thoroughly torch the tops of the marshmallows– some will be a nice golden brown, but go ahead and light a few of them on fire, then blow them out. Give the marshmallows a stir and repeat the torching and stirring a few times. You want at least half of the marshmallows toasted on one side, and about a quarter decently burned. If you’re using a broiler: Put your oven rack in the top position. Turn on your broiler. Put your butter into the 9”x13” dish. Add the marshmallows on top of the butter. Pop the pan into the oven but DON’T shut the oven– this will happen really fast, and you need to be able to pull the pan out and blow out any fires that start in your pan. Watch the marshmallows carefully, waiting with a potholder in hand to pull the pan out. Don’t worry if the marshmallows catch on fire– you want some of them to really burn. But you’re aiming for about 50% toasted and 25% burnt.  Once your marshmallows are sufficiently browned, stir the butter and marshmallows together until they goo up and the marshmallows are melted in. You may have to turn the heat on briefly to get things to melt properly, but you don’t want this heating to the point that it bubbles (that will make your treats hard). Add your cereal and quickly stir it together, then dump it into your pre-buttered pan. I like to use clean buttered hands to squish it all down into the pan, but you can use a buttered spatula or the paper the butter came in to do it, too. Add sprinkles if you’d like, then wait at least 30 minutes for the bars to cool (they don’t cut well until they’ve cooled down). Remember to keep extras in an airtight container or they will get stale. Not that you will have any extras. But just in case.