Peanut Butter Cup Pretzel Rice Krispie Treats Recipe
I had a LOT of deep thoughts yesterday. Thanks for sticking with me. As a reward, you get a sweet recipe. And I really do mean sweet.
Before I give you the excellent recipe from my mad scientist rice krispie treat experiment, I have to share a secret that I learned from Laura (from Sprint2theTable) the other day.
Apple cider vinegar (ACV) has a TON of health benefits, and I have a big bottle of it right in my kitchen cupboard, so instead of taking certain OTC drugs, I thought I’d give ACV a try … so I took a shot of it before I ran out the door yesterday AM. Then this twitter convo between Laura, Jenn (from Peas and Crayons) and Amanda (from Diary of a Semi-Health Nut) happened (and I apologize for my typos *cider and *desperate):
And of course we managed to drag in Blend Retreat and Lindsay (from Lindsay’s List)’s tequila experience. But to sum it up, ACV is good for you, so if you’re interested in any of the healthy benefits listed on the website I linked to, give it a try.
OK. Enough of that. It’s recipe time!
Are you ready for this?
If you follow me on Instagram, you might have been wondering when the heck I was going to post the recipe for these ridiculous krispie treats I made this week. Chillax. It’s happening. Now.
I used to love to bake. Then I realized my GI issues were caused by gluten. So I quit baking, except my once-monthly cookie experiments that I send to my dad and grandpa, which are typically gluten-free anyway.
Last month’s cookie of the month experience led my curiosity in the direction of rice krispie treats. What flavors can I make? And how much sugar can I really cram into one treat? The answer: this much.
Mark has been working late and I typically like to make him a plate for dinner and leave it in the fridge, or bake for him when he works long hours so he knows that I’m thinking of him. He’d already eaten dinner that night. I opened the cupboard and realized I still had half a bag of crispy rice cereal. Rice krispie treats are Mark’s favorite, and he didn’t get any of last month’s haul. So I made him his own creation (and took a good chunk to work to share too).
peanut butter cup + pretzel rice krispie treats
Ingredients
- 1 16.5 oz bag of mini marshmallows, with about 1/4 the bag reserved
- 4 T butter
- 1 t vanilla
- 1/4 c Peanut Butter & Co.’s Smooth Operator (or smooth pb of choice)
- 1/4 c Peanut Butter & Co.’s Dark Chocolate Dream (or use 1/2 cup of regular pb of choice)
- 1 8 oz bag of Reeses minis (or chop up 8 oz of peanut butter cups — your call. I’m lazy)
- 6 c crispy rice cereal of choice
- (optional — I only put on half) 1 c crushed pretzel bits, reserve some for sprinkling on the top if you desire
Directions
- In a large, microwave safe bowl, melt marshmallows (except the few you set aside) and butter, stirring every 30 seconds. Mixture should look translucent when ready.
- Remove from microwave and mix in vanilla and peanut butters.
- Pour cereal and pretzels in the mixture and stir until mostly combined.
- Add marshmallows and peanut butter cups and stir to distribute. This needs to happen fast because your peanut butter cups will start to melt.
- Press into a 9×13″ pan, cool until hardened, and cut into 24-30 squares.
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table
LOL! I’m changing my blog name to “Sprint 2 the Bathroom.”
Thanks for the shout out. Please pass me a krispy treat. (Did you do the sugars, btw?)
chimes
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Tablelol I talked about bathroom stuff on twitter 4x total yesterday. So I think I should change my name to life + bathroom activities. Not as catchy as sprint2thebathroom.
PS sugars … yeah. I will check on that. I’ll update the nutrition on Livestrong and take a new screenie.
chimes
chimesUPDATED.
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table
chimesyou rock! and that’s not nearly as bad as i thought it would be. 😉
Bonnie
Loved reading that conversation! 😉 Hilarious. I, too, take some ACV each morning with lemon and water (not straight up – that’s intense! I like it). Thanks for laying out more of the benefits in this post! And that recipe looks delish – gotta give that a shot before summer’s over for a BBQ!
chimes
BonnieDefinitely a recipe to share. You don’t want these babies hanging around for long.
Amber
Ive never actually drank (or ate) ACV, but I use it to clarify my hair since I don’t use shampoo… now I’m curious to try it…
Doris
Damn those look good. Too bad I’m off sugar again. Thanks for the ACV info, had not idea…
chimes
DorisI’m actually working on modifying them so they’re a little better … protein powder and no pretzels or PB cups. If you use the PBs I used OR use fresh ground instead and no reeses cups, they aren’t too bad sugar-wise for one bar. One bar right now is less sugar than a 6 oz container of flavored yogurt.
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table
chimesthey make sugar-free Reese’s now. no idea how good they are, but that would cut down the sugar content.
chimes
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Tabletrue story. but sugar free reeses probably have poison in them. you could do dark choc. chips if you want some crunch! 🙂
And I never thought I’d be defending nutrition content in this recipe. I am really surprised by how non-horrible they were.
Lauren @ Oatmeal after Spinning
Lol- your exchange is hilarious!
I can’t make these. I would die. I would eat them ALL and not stop.
Damn, they look good.
Evil bitch.
Calee (@chimes)
Lauren @ Oatmeal after SpinningI so sabatoged them with gluten. I had a few! I dumped pretzels on top and brought the rest to work.
My trick is to baggy them up right away and put a label on the baggy as to who they go to and TELL somebody you are bringing them X amount of treats. It holds you accountable. I do this every month w/ the cookie of the month club. 😉
Jenn L @ Peas and Crayons
bahahaha that conver was the highlight of my night! I actually want to run to the kitchen to take my ACV shot but I’m skurrrrrd! Will it be as smooth as my strawberry vodka? Probably not… =)
Love the recipe chickadee!
Amanda @ Diary of a Semi-Health Nut
So I used that AVC in a BBQ recipe (Dr. Pepper ribs if you feel like looking it up) and wow that stuff is intense! But of course if you dared me to I would! 😉
That recipe looks delightful! Dave’s mom microwaves her rice crispy treats too and she is known for them!
Also I LOVED our twitter thread yesterday!
Amanda @ Diary of a Semi-Health Nut
Also, where do you get that calorie counter thing?? I’d love to try it for all my baking experiments. I think…unless it gives me a number I don’t want to see… 😉
Denise
I’d try the ACV shot if I got one of those bars in return!!
chimes
Denisehaha. I’ll probably make some more sometime soon. And cookie of the month club is coming up very quickly. 🙂