Peanut Butter Cup Rice Krispie Treats

Our home is finally clean after all the holiday festivities.  I'm finally feeling better after a week long cold.  So it's time for me to get back in the kitchen and make some sweets.  Uh oh...I'm still out of flour...I ran completely out on Christmas eve when I was making our Cinnamon Rolls for Christmas morning.  I used two sheets of wax paper to help me roll out the dough and had my Mom holding one side of the paper and my daughter holding the other end.  We looked like the 3 stooges.

I organized my bookmarked recipes into categories yesterday on my laptop so I can easily find what I'm looking for.  I finally got smart and now print recipes right before I plan to make them.  Otherwise, they get lost in my kitchen drawer.  Seriously, my printed recipes are a good 2 inches thick now!  I've only made a small portion of them.  So many recipes and not enough time.

I easily found this bookmarked recipe from Brown Eyed Baker for Peanut Butter Cup Rice Krispie Treats under my desserts.  It does not require flour and we had all the ingredients in the pantry and fridge.  This little treat is a layered bar with the crunchy marshmallow rice krispie treat topped with creamy peanut butter and mini Reese's peanut butter cup pieces, then drizzled with milk chocolate.  I also topped mine with more milk chocolate chips to make them look pretty and help me portion the treats.  My girls and I loved them!  They are almost as good as the Marshmallow Peanut Butter Crunch Brownies I also made from Brown Eyed Baker.  She has so many peanut butter and chocolate recipes to choose from, and I plan on making ALL of them!  Thank you Michelle for being such an inspiration to me!

Ingredients:

6 cups Rice Krispies
1 bag (10.5 oz) mini marshmallows
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 jar (16 oz) peanut butter
1 bag (12 oz) miniature Reese's peanut butter cups, quartered
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 tsp shortening
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips (for garnish)

Butter a 9x13 pan and set aside.

Add the Rice Krispies to a large bowl.  In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, melt the butter and marshmallows.  Stir occasionally and be careful not to burn.  Add the marshmallow mixture to the cereal and stir well to coat.  Immediately pour into prepared pan.  Use a piece of was paper and the bottom of a metal measuring cup to help you press into the pan in an even layer.

In a microwave safe bowl, heat the peanut butter for 1 minute.  Set aside and let cool for a few minutes.  Meanwhile, unwrap the mini peanut butter cups and cut them into quarters.  Add the peanut butter cups to the thinned peanut butter and gently stir.  Pour on top of the rice krispies layer and use a spatula to spread evenly.  

In a microwave safe measuring cup, melt the milk chocolate chips.  Stir in the shortening.  Drizzle over the peanut butter layer.  Refrigerate for 1-2 hours until set before cutting into bars.  Store in an airtight container and serve at room temperature.  Enjoy!

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