Easy, no bake Scotcheroos are chewy, sweet cereal bars with bold flavors like peanut butter, chocolate, and butterscotch, all in one decadent treat!
Scotcheroos
Scotcheroos are no bake cereal bars, kind of like classic Rice Krispies treats. But these bars are even more delicious than their plain likeness.
Scotcheroos feature bold flavors, such as peanut butter, chocolate, and butterscotch. If you’re like me, you might be worried those flavors don’t actually all go together. But believe me. They do. And it’s delicious.
Because peanut butter, chocolate, and butterscotch are all bold flavors, none is too overpowering over another. So the result is rich, decadent, and delicious.
How to Make Scotcheroos without Corn Syrup
Corn syrup gets a really bad rap because of its evil cousin, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). While HFCS is pretty bad for you and something I try to keep myself and family away from, plain light corn syrup is actually a safe glucose-based sweetener.
That being said, if you still want to skip the corn syrup or just don’t have any on hand, you can substitute it for honey. Use the same amount called for in the recipe for an easy substitute, and follow the same directions.
Why Do Scotcheroos Get Hard?
Hard scotcheroos are one of the most common problems that people run into when making these.
The likely culprit is that the corn syrup and sugar mixture (step 2 in the recipe) was cooked too long.
This mixture only needs to be cooked long enough for the sugar to be dissolved. As soon it starts bubbling, it’s done! Remove from heat! This will keep the mixture pliable and soft, like a chewy caramel.
If it’s left on longer than that it enters into what’s known in the candy-making world as the hard-crack stage, which is how you make hard candies and lollipops. This mixture will harden as it cools, and crack instead of bend. So leave your corn syrup and sugar on the heat only as long as necessary!
Another way Scotcheroos can become hard is if you press the cereal mixture too hard into the pan. Just gently press into the pan so that it’s level and even.
How to Make Scotcheroos
In a large saucepan, combine sugar and corn syrup (Photos 1 and 2). Heat to dissolve sugar, and bring to a boil (photo 3). As soon as it reaches a boil, remove from heat.
Add peanut butter to the saucepan, and stir until fully combined (photo 4). Then fold in cereal (photo 5). Spread this mixture into a buttered 9″x13″ baking dish, and press together to make a large, smooth bar (like a Rice Krispies Treat) (photo 6).
In a medium microwave-safe bowl, add chocolate chips and butterscotch chips (photo 7). Melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each increment, until smooth (photo 8). Pour melted chips over pressed cereal mixture, and spread evenly (photo 9).
Allow to cool and set completely (chocolate may still be slightly soft). Then cut into 16-24 bars.
Pro Tips
- Do not boil your corn syrup and sugar mixture too long! This will result in hard Scotcheroos!
- Chocolate lover? Try this recipe using chocolate crispy rice cereal!
- Peanut Allergy? You can substitute another nut butter such as almond or cashew, or a nut-less butter such as Sun Butter or Wow Butter.
- Cut bars at room temperature for easy cutting.
- Storage: Store covered at room temperature for up to a week.
- Freezer Instructions: To freeze, allow topping to set, cut into bars, and place in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, let sit out at room temperature.
More Easy Dessert Recipes You’ll Love
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- Classic Vanilla Meringue Cookies – a light airy cookie with just 4 ingredients!
- Homemade Caramel Popcorn – popcorn smothered in easy homemade caramel then baked to crunchy perfection.
Scotcheroos
Ingredients
- 6 cups crispy rice cereal
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup corn syrup
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1½ cups butterscotch chips
Instructions
- Butter a 9"x13" baking dish. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan, combine sugar and corn syrup. Heat to dissolve sugar and bring to a boil. As soon as it reaches a boil, remove from heat.
- Add peanut butter to corn syrup mixture, and stir to combine.
- Add cereal and stir until fully covered and incorporated.
- Press mixture into prepared baking dish.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, add chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. Melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each increment, until smooth.
- Pour melted chips over pressed cereal mixture, and spread evenly.
- Allow to cool and set completely (chocolate may still be slightly soft). Then cut into 16-24 bars.
Notes
- Do not boil your corn syrup and sugar mixture too long! This will result in hard Scotcheroos!
- Chocolate lover? Try this recipe using chocolate crispy rice cereal!
- Peanut Allergy? You can substitute another nut butter such as almond or cashew, or a nut-less butter such as Sun Butter or Wow Butter.
- Cut bars at room temperature for easy cutting.
- Storage: Store covered at room temperature for up to a week.
- Freezer Instructions: To freeze, allow topping to set, cut into bars, and place in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, let sit out at room temperature.
Nutrition
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These are my favorites, peanut butter, butterscotch and chocolate. These are going to be my new favorite treat. Very addicting.
I’ve never had scotcheroos! Isn’t that crazy?!?! But, I do have a HUGE box of rice cereal and I’m absolutely going to try this recipe. I love all the tutorial pictures!
My niece and nephew loved these scotcheroos and I’ll be making them again! Such an easy recipe!
Rich, decadent and delicious – that’s how you described them and they are!! All the flavors go together perfectly. My granddaughter loves these and I love that they are no bake!
I love rice krispies, but have never tried scotcheroos before. All the flavors in this are my favorite, definitely will make this. And they sound like the perfect treats for gifting too. 🙂
I am in love with everything about these! Starting with the adorable name… but the name isn’t even as good as how awesome these are! They were so fun to make with the kiddos, and such a great treat! Will definitely be making these again.
Can you believe that I have never had one of these?! I really love anything butterscotch so I know I must be missing out! My kids would love them too!
I love these!!! I just made a gluten free & sugar free version for my own blog, but I love indulging too! 🙂
I made these scotheroos for dessert last night and OMG they were incredible! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
A big mistake of reading through your post whilst hungry! I wish I could magically make these bars appear in front of me! Can’t wait to try making them myself!