Reeses Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

This pregnancy has me craving things I would not normally want to eat. Rice Krispie treats have never been big on my list, and I definitely do not gravitate towards the chocolate peanut butter combo that my husband loves. That's his thing, and I'm happy to make that for him...but it's never been my thing.

I was making dinner for our small group last week and wanted something easy that I could pull together quickly. A simple text to my foodie girlfriends erupted in lots of ideas. When one suggested Rice Krispie Treats, another quickly added that she had recently tried a Reese's version that was to die for. Bingo! I had my dessert for the night. A soft and ooey-gooey marshmallow treat with chocolate and peanut butter sounded so good, my mind was made up.

The grocery list is short and simple:  A box of Cocoa Krispies, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Butter, Karo and Mini Marshmallows. I added a Peanut Butter and Nutella drizzle to the top of my dessert in the end.

Start by chopping up some peanut butter cups. I found bags of 6 on sale for a dollar a piece, so I bought three packages and used 18 total peanut butter cups. I cut them two times horizontally and two times vertically to get 9 pieces from each peanut butter cup.

To the chopped peanut butter pieces I added 6 cups of rice krispie cereal. Mix and set aside.

In a large pot set over low heat I melted 5 tablespoons of butter, added 3 tablespoons of light karo syrup and a 16 ounce bag of miniature marshmallows. I wanted these to be really gooey so I added the full 16 ounces. I think you could easily get away with just the 10 ounce bag of marshmallows.

While over low heat, stir continuously until melted.

Stir.

Stir.

Stir.

Ah! Now that is the consistency I was looking for!

Turn off the burner and add the rice krispie cereal and the chopped Reese's peanut butter cups to the marshmallow mixture.

Stir the cereal gently to get it all mixed together and dump into a  9x13 pan that has been coated with non-stick spray.

I used the back of a wooden spoon to gently flatten the mixture into the pan. To keep the spoon from sticking, I gave it a quick shot of the non-stick spray as well.

Finally, I melted a couple tablespoons of smooth peanut butter in the microwave, transferred to a small zip top bag, snipped the corner and decorated the top of the rice krispie treats in a cross-hatch pattern. I then melted a little Nutella in the microwave, and repeated the process of using the zip top bag as my pastry bag and zig-zaged over the peanut butter.

Oh man oh man were these good. The tiny pieces of reeses melted into the hot marshmallow making these so ooey and gooey that when you pulled them apart with your fingers there were strings of marshmallow. If served warm, plan on licking your fingers.  These came together so quickly, I hope you give this recipe a try the next time you need a fast and delicious dessert!

Reese's Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

6 cups Cocoa Krispies Cereal
18 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, diced
5 Tbs butter
3 Tbs light Karo syrup
1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
3 Tbs smooth peanut butter
3 Tbs Nutella

Prep the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups by chopping into a small dice. Add the Cocoa Krispie Cereal and set this aside. Prep your 9x13 pan by coating with a non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large pot melt butter over low heat. Add karo syrup and marshmallows and stir continuously until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and add cereal mixture into the pot and fold together just until cereal is evenly coated. Gently press the mixture into the sprayed 9 x 13 in. pan.

In a small microwave safe bowl, add peanut butter. Microwave for 30 second to a minute to melt. Transfer to a zip top bag, snip the corner and pipe over the top of your rice krispie treats. Do the same with the Nutella.

Either let treats sit at room temperature to allow chocolate to set up, or you can pop the pan into the fridge for about 5 minutes to speed up the process. Cut and serve.

Makes a 9 x 13 in. sheet of treats.

Recipe adapted from Food Snobs.