salted brown butter rice krispies treats

I cleaned out my pantry today. It took 2 hours, and I discovered all sorts of long-lost staples, including a massive supply of marshmallows. I decided to do something about it.

These rice krispies treats have a richer butter flavor, which comes from doubling the butter and browning it. smitten kitchen is so brilliant!

Weirdly, eating them reminded me of childhood, not because my mother made these--she never did--but because I remembered that there's a very similar Chinese equivalent, which we ate quite often. They were call "sachima" and came in a pink box from the Chinese bakery.

I was thrilled to see that the LA Times has a good post on sachima, although it surprised me to read that there is in fact no rice in what many call "rice puffs." http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2011/03/eat_this_now_rice_puffs_at_que.php

Ingredients

8 tbsp butter
10 oz marshmallows
1/4 tsp kosher salt
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

16 squares

Directions

Butter or spray an 8" baking dish.

In a large pot or deep frying pan, melt butter over medium-low heat. (Basically, you're clarifying the butter and browning the solid impurities. Yum!) Stir to prevent the butter from burning.

When the butter solids finally brown (about 10 minutes), lower the heat to low and add the marshmallows. Stir until smooth, with the butter and marshmallow coming together into a sticky tan mass.

Turn off the heat. Sprinkle the salt on the marshmallows, and then add the rice krispies. Stir quickly to fully incorporate the cereal. Time is ticking; as it cools, the mass will harden.

Once fully combined, quickly spread it into the baking dish, pushing it down to make sure there are no gaps.

Let cool before cutting.

1 hour