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A small pile of scotcharoos slices on a serving plate
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Scotcharoos

No bake, easy-to-make, scotcharoos for any and all seasons! An off-the-charts delicious, portable treat to pack for picnics, potlucks, and parties.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword no bake dessert recipes, rice krispies, Scotcheroos
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 18 servings
Calories 355kcal
Author Kathleen

Ingredients

  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 6 cups Rice Krispies
  • 1 cup butterscotch chips
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Generously butter a 9x13 inch baking pan. Set aside.
  • In a large pot, mix together corn syrup (1 cup), sugar (1 cup), and peanut butter (1 1/2 cups). Cook over medium heat, stirring until peanut butter melts. 
  • Bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat, and fold in the cereal (6 cups).
  • Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and gently press (if you push them into the pan with too much force, they will be hard when they cool) into an even layer. 
  • In a medium saucepan, over medium-low heat and stirring constantly, melt chocolate chips (1 cup) and butterscotch chips (1 cup) together until smooth. Spread over the top of the bars and let the bars cool. Cut into squares.
  • Let the mixture come to room temperature and set. Then cut and serve.

Notes

  1. Scotcharoos too hard: If the final product is too dense, you have made one of two mistakes: boiling too long or packing too tightly.
    1. In order to avoid creating rock-hard scotcharoos, you must remove the corn syrup, sugar, and peanut butter mixture from the heat at the very first sign of a bubble.
    2. With continuous stirring, the sugar should have fully dissolved at the first sign of a boil.
    3. If you bring the mixture to a full boil, you will end up needing to throw out the baking pan along with the scotcharoos! You might also destroy the knife you were trying to cut them with!
    4. Also remember to gently pack the mixture into the pan. If you press too hard, you will run into these same density problems. We certainly don’t want any broken teeth!
  2. Melting butterscotch chips: I know it is tempting to make every step of scotcharoos microwave style, but remember that butterscotch chips scorch very easily. For this reason I recommend melting the chips on the stovetop instead of in the microwave. With the stovetop, you are able to stir constantly and keep a closer eye on the melting progress.
  3. Serving suggestion: These are best served at room temperature. If served too warm, they may melt messily; if served too cold, they may be tough to chew.
  4. Topping: I think the chocolate butterscotch layer is a more than adequate topping, but if you want to beautify the treat for a party, you could use mint, candied ginger, chopped nuts, shaved coconut, sea salt, orange zest, colorful sprinkles, or small candies like m&ms. The ideal time to add the additional decorations is while the chocolate layer is still warm.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 355kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 191mg | Potassium: 190mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 40g | Vitamin A: 635IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 4mg