(Caramalized) Browned Butter Krispie Treats

 My new FAVORITE "way" 

for making Krispie Treats...

As of right now, I am all done with making Krispie Treats the "regular way".  I'm all over the taste that comes from making one little change to the original recipe-- that "little change" is letting the butter brown a bit before adding the marshmallows!

Makes:  1  of 9x13" pan, plus 1 of 8x8" pan.  Perfect sized batch for pot luck affairs-- take the 9x13-inch, and keep the 9x9-inch for "future use"--and, I think we all know what THAT "future use" means!   (BUT!,... if you DO only want to make a small batch, use the ingredient number that is printed in blue.)

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INGREDIENTS:

• 12 oz. (or 3 sticks) unsalted butter, plus a little extra for greasing the pan. (4 oz. or 1 stick)
• 3 bags of 10.5 oz. mini-marshmallows (1 of 10.5 oz. mini-marshmallows)
• Optional, a dash of vanilla?
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt-- omit this if you used salted butter.  (1/4 teaspoon salt)
• 18 cups of dry Krispie cereal.  (6 cups dry Krispie cereal)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Butter the pan(s) you plan to use.
2. Measure the cereal into a large bowl right now so that it's ready at the end.
3. In a large pot-- preferably one with a thicker kind of bottom, melt butter over medium-low heat.  It will first melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty.  Watch VERY closely-- stirring all the while, and scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan as it starts to darken.  This butter can go from "light brown" to burnt in a hurry--  so watch it closely to prevent that from happening.
4. When butter is evenly browned (or turns a nutty color), turn off the heat, remove from burner and quickly stir in the marshmallows to keep the butter from continuing to darken with its own heat. 
5. Turn heat back on to LOW and keep stirring the marshmallows into the butter mixture until all is smoooooooooooooth.
6. Turn off the heat, again. Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the salt.  OPTIONAL:  You could also also add a scant teaspoon of vanilla (1/4 teaspoon) at this point. 
7. Dump this hot mixture over the Krispie cereal and mix well, very gently working the cereal up from the bottom of the bowl and to the top until all is coated.  
8. Scrape this coated cereal mixture into the prepared pan(s) and press down lightly.  If necessary, butter hands to gently press mixture flat. Let cool, and cut into squares or bars.

My interest in making these treats like this started a few months ago. Both my daughter and I were asked to take something to church for a funeral dinner-- me, a casserole; her, some bars.   She made these.   Well, after all was over, she asked me to take her container home with me.  Since there were a few Krispie Treats left in her very large pan, I.................... helped myself.  I immediately concluded they tasted better than any I'd ever made.  I asked her what she did differently.   At first, she couldn't think of anything-- then, she asked, "I wonder if it is because I let the butter brown a little bit before adding the marshmallows?"  YES!, that had to be it.    After that, while checking around on the Internet, I found actual recipes calling for doing that-- yes, letting the butter brown before continuing with the recipe!!!  From now on, I will always be making these  like this!