Brown Butter Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

These brown butter Oreo rice krispie treats have a flavorful brown butter, soft marshmallows, and huge Oreo chunks. They take 10 minutes to make and about one hour to set, so you can be enjoying them in no time! This 7 ingredient, no bake dessert is perfect for the warmer weather (because who wants to turn on a hot oven?), and is the best snack to grab on the go.

Why you will love these brown butter Oreo rice krispie treats

1. The brown butter. Browning butter is an easy step that takes 5 minutes and is essential to the flavor of these treats. Brown butter is essentially toasted butter, and when you do this it releases a nutty, almost caramel-like flavor and aroma. This just adds a whole new level of richness.
2. They're no bake. I LOVE no bake desserts - they just seem easier in my opinion. Especially in the warm summer weather, who in the heck wants to turn on their oven? This recipe only requires one pot to mix all of the ingredients together and one hour for the bars to set and boom. You're done.

Key ingredients

• Butter: unsalted butter is used here so we can control exactly how much salt goes into the recipe. Make sure to use good quality butter, as the browning step creates so much flavor and is essential to the rice krispie treats.
• Dry milk powder: we add two tablespoons of dry milk powder to the browning butter - this enhances the flavor immensely. When you are browning butter, the milk solids are what begins to brown. The milk powder also browns, so it basically just adds a ton of concentrated brown butter flavor.
• Marshmallows: one 12 oz bag of marshmallows is needed here. Preferably we use regular sized or mini.
• Rice krispies: the key ingredient! we need 5 cups of rice krispies cereal in this recipe.
• Oreos: my personal favorite ingredient of the rice krispie treats. We use about 20 Oreos.

Steps

1. Brown the butter. Brown the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the dry milk powder and whisk vigorously.
2. Soften the marshmallows. Add the marshmallows and immediately turn off the heat. Stir until the marshmallows are evenly coated and softened, about one minute.
3. Add salt and vanilla. Turn the heat back onto low and stir in the vanilla and salt. Stir until the marshmallows are evenly melted.
4. Fold in cereal and Oreos. Add the cereal and chopped Oreos and fold until they are all evenly coated.
5. Let set. Pour the mixture into an 8x8 or 9x9 inch pan lined with parchment paper. Gently pack the mixture down into an even layer. Top with more crushed Oreos and let set for one hour.

What is brown butter?

Brown butter is essentially "toasted" butter. The only ingredient that is needed is, well, butter. It is a simple step but enhances the flavor immensely.

We start by melting the butter in a large sauce pan on medium heat. Once it is completely melted, it will begin to violently crack and sizzle. After this cracking and sizzling subsides, you will begin to see the butter foaming up in the pan.

If you swirl the butter around in the pan, you should be able to see it turning golden brown and the milk solids should be browned and floating around in the butter. Once the mixture is golden brown, it has finished. Be careful at this step because any second longer and you can go from having a toasty and golden brown butter to a burnt and gritty one.

Rice krispie making tips

1. Watch the heat. The heat is important here for a few reasons. One - you don't want to burn your butter during the browning process and have to start all over. Two - you don't want the marshmallows to boil/get too hot, otherwise the sugars may crystallize and you will end up with a harder treat.
2. Store at room temperature. In order to maintain a fluffy and fresh rice krispie treat, store them at room temperature in an airtight container.
3. Use either mini or regular-sized marshmallows. I find that using either regular or mini marshmallows are ideal for this recipe. They seem to melt more thoroughly and evenly.

Baking in grams

While I provide volume measurements for the recipes on my blog, I highly suggest baking these recipes using weight. It is the most standardized and accurate way to bake. I carefully recipe test all of my recipes using a kitchen scale, not by using cups, and therefore I cannot guarantee the success of my recipes when using volume measurements.

Other recipes you may like

• Brown Butter Maple Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Oreo Cinnamon Rolls
• Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Brown Butter Snickers Cookies

Tried this recipe? Make sure to rate and review and tag @sturbridgebakery on Instagram!