In honor of the 4th of July, I’m posting my favorite 4th of July treat. Probably most people think it’s hard to mess up Rice Krispie treats, but not with the recipe that’s on most packages. My brother Jeff discovered a secret, though, to great rice krispie treats, which is to double the butter and the marshmallows from the amount that’s on almost every Rice Krispies box and marshmallow bags. Most of these recipes only use 1/4 c. butter and a bag of marshmellows to a box of Rice Krispies. Try this ratio instead.

Gooey Rice Krispie Treats

1/2 c. butter
6 c. mini marshmallows (it’s important that they’re mini)
5 c. Rice Krispies
1 t. vanilla
1 c. chocolate chips, or m&m’s, or colored sprinkles, etc. (optional)

Butter a 9×13″ pan (and line with wax paper, if you want). In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat (cut it into pieces to speed up the process). Add the marshmallows, and stir constantly until most the marshmallows have lost shape, but not all of them (if you wait too long and all the marshmallows have melted, you will have a firmer rice krispie treat). Take the pan off the heat, add the vanilla (the mixture will bubble), and stir in the rice krispies, as well as any optional ingredient. Mix thoroughly and then immediately spoon into the prepared pan. Wait ten minutes, and then push the top of the rice krispies down to pat them in more uniformly, either with your fingers or the bottom of a measuring cup. Wait an hour or so in order to cut them, but they will be sticky!

Note: if you add chocolate chips, they will melt and you will have chocolate rice krispie treats. If this is not what you want, consider sprinkling chocolate chips on the top of the rice krispies after they have cooled a little or using m&m’s instead.