Brown-Butter Crispy Rice Treats with Vanilla Bean & Flaky Salt

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The bake-sale bar, rebuilt from the ground up: cereal toasted in the oven so it stays crackly for days, butter browned until it smells like toffee, and toasted milk powder folded into the marshmallow for a caramel depth the boxed version never gets near. Half the marshmallows melt into the base and half go in whole, so every bar has molten pockets. Cut thick, salt the top, wrap for lunches and road trips.

Ingredients

• 8 cup crisp rice cereal
• 8 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
• 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• 16 oz mini marshmallows (one standard bag), divided
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt

• 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt
• 2 oz dark chocolate, chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 300°F. Spread the 8 cups of crisp rice cereal on a large rimmed baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes, stirring once halfway, until it smells nutty and looks a shade darker. Slide it into a very large heatproof bowl and set aside. Leave the oven on.
2. Spread the milk powder on a small foil-lined pan or the corner of a second sheet pan and toast for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes, until it turns pale golden and smells like warm caramel. Watch it closely — it goes from tan to burnt fast. Set aside.
3. Butter an 8x8-inch pan generously, then line it with a sling of parchment and butter the parchment too. Butter a flexible spatula and the bottom of a flat measuring cup as well; you will need them later.
4. In a large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat, melt the 8 tablespoons of butter. Keep cooking, swirling constantly, for 5 to 7 minutes: it will foam, quiet down, and the milk solids on the bottom will turn amber and smell like toasted hazelnuts. Pull it off the heat the moment it's deep golden.
5. Return the pan to low heat. Whisk in the toasted milk powder and kosher salt until smooth, then add 12 ounces of the marshmallows (about three-quarters of the bag). Stir constantly with a silicone spatula for 3 to 4 minutes, until just melted and glossy — do not let it bubble or the bars will set hard. Kill the heat and stir in the vanilla bean paste.
6. Pour the marshmallow mixture over the toasted cereal. Fold quickly with the buttered spatula, and while a few streaks are still unmixed, add the remaining 4 ounces of marshmallows plus the chopped chocolate, if using. Fold 3 or 4 more times only — you want those marshmallows mostly intact.
7. Scrape into the prepared pan. Press with the buttered measuring cup just until the surface is even and the mixture reaches the corners; stop as soon as it holds together. Compacting hard makes dense, tooth-cracking bars.
8. Scatter the flaky sea salt over the top and press it in lightly. Let the bars set at room temperature for 45 minutes to 1 hour — do not refrigerate, which makes them brittle.
9. Lift out by the parchment sling and cut into 16 squares with a long buttered knife, wiping the blade between cuts. Wrap individually in parchment or waxed paper for lunches and travel.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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