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4.91 stars (32 ratings)Sep 27, 202152
I know, I know, people take their scotcheroos very seriously! This happens to be my favorite (new and improved) version. So simple, so yummy!
People aren’t kidding when they say scotcheroos should be taken VERY seriously. These classic treats have been around forever, and they inspire intense loyalties and ardent feelings.
Generally, I think most classic recipes are fine just the way they are. But over the years, I’ve tweaked the scotcheroo recipe that graced my family’s recipe vault so that it is…well…how do I say it? Better.
Scotcheroo purists might say I’ve messed with a good thing. Good thing we can agree to disagree, because as for me and my house, we’ll take this new and improved version any day of the week. 🙂
What Makes a Scotcheroo a Scotcheroo?
Scotcheroos are essentially rice krispies smothered in a peanut buttery, caramelly mixture and topped with chocolate and butterscotch. Interesting and yummy! (Also: slightly addicting.)
The classic scotcheroo recipe uses corn syrup, granulated sugar, and peanut butter. My version is slightly different (but not any more difficult) by:
- adding a *little* butter and vanilla
- amping up both the corn syrup and peanut butter just a bit
- using half brown sugar, half granulated sugar
- increasing the rice krispies to compensate for the other ingredient boosts
{I will giggle a bit if anyone comments that I made this recipe less healthy by adding butter. :)}
Once the rice krispies are added, everything gets a gentle mix (no aggressive crushing of the cereal here, ok?) until the rice krispies are evenly coated with the magical chewy peanut butter mixture.
Press all this goodness lightly into a 9X13-inch pan. Compressing it too much will make the bars hard instead of soft and chewy. So again, go easy here.
Scotcheroo Topping
The topping for scotcheroos couldn’t be easier. It’s two simple ingredients:
- chocolate chips
- butterscotch chips
You can use milk chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate chips. I’m going to really try to resist telling you which variety I think you should use, cough, semisweetforlife, cough.
That butterscotch flavor peeking through the chocolate just screams scotcheroo!
Scotcheroos for Life
While scotcheroos won’t win any fancy pants gourmet dessert awards, they still remain one of my favorite treats of all time.
They are simple. Quick. Crazy delicious. And my family is always ecstatic when I make them (particularly Brian, they are probably one of his favorite treats of all time).
If you have a favorite scotcheroo recipe (I’m guessing it might be the classic standby recipe floating around on all the blogs that have ever lived on the internet!), I’d say stick with it.
But if you’re looking for a new and improved scotcheroo recipe, this is the one!
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Scotcheroos {New and Improved}
Yield: 24 bars
Prep Time: 25 minutes mins
Cook Time: 5 minutes mins
Total Time: 30 minutes mins
4.91 stars (32 ratings)
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Ingredients
- ¼ cup (57 g) salted butter
- 1 ¼ cups (425 g) light corn syrup
- ½ cup (106 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (106 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups (320 g) peanut butter (see note)
- 8 cups (227 g) crisp rice cereal (like rice krispies)
- 1 cup (170 g) chocolate chips (milk or semisweet)
- 1 cup (170 g) butterscotch chips
Instructions
Lightly grease a 9X13-inch pan with butter or cooking spray or line with foil/parchment and grease the foil/parchment. Set aside.
In a large saucepan or pot, add the butter, corn syrup, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Cook on low heat until the butter is melted. Bring to a simmer and immediately remove from the heat.
Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until well-combined.
Add the cereal and stir gently (so the cereal doesn't get crushed) until evenly coated with the peanut butter mixture.
Press the mixture lightly into the prepared pan. Don't compress too much or the scotcheroos will be too firm.
Add the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips to a microwave-safe bowl and cook for 1-minute increments at 50% power until melted. Stir until well-combined.
Spread the melted chocolate mixture evenly across the bars. Let the chocolate cool and set before cutting into bars and serving.
Notes
Peanut Butter: I always make these with creamy peanut butter (like Jif or Skippy). Feel free to experiment with chunky peanut butter or with a natural-type peanut butter or nut butter alternative.
Pan Size: if you want the scotcheroo rice krispie base a bit thinner, you can use a larger pan. You can also play around with the rice krispie amount – adding more or less – for a gooier/less gooey version, depending on how you like them.
Author: Mel
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Method: Stovetop
Serving: 1 bar, Calories: 285kcal, Carbohydrates: 42g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 12mg, Sodium: 186mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 33g
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posted on September 27, 2021 (last updated April 1, 2024)
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52 comments on “Scotcheroos {New and Improved}”
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Holly — Reply
I think the extra corn syrup helps keep them chewy. I like this recipe much better than the one I’d used before. Out with the old, in with the new and improved!
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Mary — Reply
Can’t consume that corn syrup anymore now that I’ve learned how horrible it is for us. I sub in honey and it’s great.
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Lorie — Reply
Ohhhh these are the BEST scotcheroos I have ever tasted. WOW! Perfectly balanced flavors with just the right crunch. Might be my new favorite snack! I did 1/2 cashew butter and 1/2 peanut butter. Will definitely make again and again and again….
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McKenna — Reply
The chocolate is so rich and soft it is perfect :McKenna 10
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Kristy Chavez — Reply
Love this! Never knew there was a name for this treat—beyond what our family has made and called them — Peanut Butter Bars. Our recipe is a bit different; but, I will definitely have to try adding in a bit of vanilla next time!
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Megan G — Reply
This is the best recipe for Scotcheroos in the world. This time, I realized I needed to double it at the last minute and couldn’t run to the store. So I used half Rice Krispies and half pb + chocolate Cheerios that we had on hand and WOW, that is a great combo! These get rave reviews from everyone who tries one.
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RJ — Reply
too sweet for me!
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Camille — Reply
Scotcheroos are my kryptonite – love them. I’ll definitely be trying this updated version. I always do 1 1/2 cups of both chocolate and butterscotch chips. Actually, I’ve even tweaked that a bit and usually do 1 3/4 cups chocolate chips and 1 1/4 cups butterscotch chips. For me, that’s the perfect flavor combo. And although I love milk chocolate, these are just better with semisweet chips. Haha.
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Valerie — Reply
Delightful and so easy! I can’t stop eating them!! I used a mixture of jif peanut butter, natural peanut butter and cashew butter because that’s what I had on hand. Also used dark choc chunks (Mel, you’d love that!!) because I didn’t have semi-sweet. Amazing!
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Kathy H — Reply
Scotcheroos have always been my guilty pleasure! Now they are even better, oh oh! I love your version & will toss my recipe that was cut from the box of cereal eons ago. I have to confess to doubling the choc/butterscotch topping, well half again as much really. Yum! Thanks for the updated version Mel!
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Stefanie — Reply
Where I come from in the MidWest, we make the frosting with equal parts milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate and butterscotch chips. Sooo good – and makes the frosting layer a bit thicker, which we like too!
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Monette Dahle — Reply
We love scotcheroos with a balanced mixture of rice crispies, cheerios, and corn flakes. YUM!
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Thora — Reply
I love how soft these are! ISome scotcharoo recipes make me feel like they are going to break my teeth. I make them with peanut butter chips and chocolate chips for the topping – heresy, I know, but I just don’t love the taste of butterscotch chips.
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Jan — Reply
This is pure protection ❤️ Delicious
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Jan — Reply
* Perfection
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Maren — Reply
Hi Mel,
I just made these and noticed the weight of my ingredients varied from yours on several items! I weighed out the cereal first and thought it looked like a lot. I was weighing other things in my measuring cups – and things were not adding up right! I went to just measuring instead, and remeasured the cereal – and there were 10 cups in my bowl! I love your recipes, and this is the first time I’ve seen a discrepancy like this!-
Mel — Reply
Hey Maren, I appreciate you commenting to let me know this, and I owe you a huge apology! When I looked at my notes, it looks like I had typed in the gram amount for the rice krispies wrong. The 8 cups should weigh right around 227 grams. I am so sorry about that (I fixed it in the recipe above)!
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Venessa — Reply
Has anyone tried this with Rice Chex so they can be gluten free?
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Brina Anderson — Reply
Malt-o-meal brand has gluten free rice cereal! I had a friend make them with cheerios and they were good too!
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Andrea — Reply
I haven’t made this specific recipe, but I use slightly crushed rice Chex in scotcheroos all the time. I give them a little crunch in my hands before measuring to make them closer to the size of rice krispies and keep them from chewing up the roof of my mouth.
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Mandy — Reply
We always make them with cheerios which are gluten free and they are amazing!
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Carla — Reply
This is the scotcheroos I have dreamt of. Soft and chewy and all things incredible. Throwing out my old recipe that I thought was wonderful.
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Mel — Reply
Thanks, Carla!!
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Margot — Reply
My mom has made these for as long as I can remember. She’s 97 and I’m 62 – so a very long time. My family has always followed Mom’s lead and topped our Scotcheroos with Hershey bars. I’ll be trying these soon!
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Jen — Reply
Mel, do you happen to know if these can be made ahead and frozen? Thanks!
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Mel — Reply
That’s a great question – I don’t know! I”m sorry. I haven’t frozen them…I worry about the cereal getting kind of soggy, but it might be worth a try to see!
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Janell — Reply
You can freeze them. Sometimes the chocolate comes out looking spotted though. They still taste good!
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Mel — Reply
Good to know!
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Jenni — Reply
Yes!! I freeze them all the time. Pre-cut into squares, put in ziplocks, freeze. They last a couple months!
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SharonLynn — Reply
Here it is: I am 62 and have NEVER had a Scotcharoo. Yeah, I said what I said….
However, this recipe sounds way too good and I will be giving it a try. So, for me, your changes will automatically register as delicious perfection!! Thanks for sharing!!
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Gary — Reply
Very good recipe. I think next time I might substitute all chocolate for the topping ( just for comparison). The butterscotch chips quality out there leaves a lot to be desired compared to the quality of chocolate chips.
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Melissa — Reply
To be made healthier, they need to be made with Special K bars – hahahaha 🙂
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Anne C — Reply
You’ve done it again Mel! I love this classic and your version makes it even better. Love it!!
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Madison — Reply
Forgot to leave a rating with my comment! Definitely 5 stars.
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Mel — Reply
Thanks, Madison!
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Madison — Reply
These were so yummy! I hadn’t made Scotcheroos in a long time and my family was delighted with this treat. Your version was very delicious. I used Nestle chocolate chips and butterscotch chips and they did not melt well. They were quite grainy, but thanks to the texture of the rest of the scotcheroos, you couldn’t really tell when it was all together. Next time I will use a higher quality chocolate chip for melting purposes!
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Rebecca — Reply
Made these today and they were excellent! Thanks for another great recipe!
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Mel — Reply
Thank you so much, Rebecca!
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Lisa — Reply
Scotcheroos are my families favorite as well. In fact a couple of them request these instead of birthday cake when they get to choose their treat for their big day. My recipe is similar, though without the butter. But I did want to mention that in the last few years, I use half honey and half corn syrup instead of all corn syrup. This has made our scotcheroos say soft in the pan for much longer!
I know honey can be pricey, we just happen to have bees on some of our land, and the beekeeper pays us in honey. How lucky are we??-
Mel — Reply
That’s a great tip, Lisa! Thank you!
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Colleen Collier — Reply
I have been making Scotch ‘O Roos for as long as I can remember and they are addicting! I like to use semi-sweet chips and chunky peanut butter – probably because that’s all I ever had on hand. Looking forward to trying your recipe!
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Alyson Everett — Reply
If you want to have less dishes, I’ve learned this trick from my MIL. Sprinkle the chocolate and butterscotch chips over the top of the rice Krispy mixture once it’s in the pan. If you can cover it with a lid or a sheet pan it will help melt the chips. Come back a little later and spread out the melted chips. I hope that makes sense. Thanks Mel! Can’t wait to try this version.
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Kristine Clarke — Reply
Our family LOVES Scotcheroos!!! Leave it to you to try to make them better! I can’t even imagine! I will definitely be trying these out soon. Thanks for keeping our tastebuds happy!!!
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Teri Thomas — Reply
Love your recipes and beautiful outlook on life. Just for your FYI there was a repeated advertisem*nt with a sweatshirt printed with a vulgar word with the recipe.
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Mel — Reply
Ugh! I’m sorry about that, Teri! I’ll try to track it down.
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Charlotte Tingey — Reply
Have you ever tried using special k cereal?? Our recipe is the same other than that and we love the texture and crunch.
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Eileen — Reply
Scotcheroos prove that complicated isn’t always best! I don’t know anyone that doesn’t love them. Definitely giving your version a try asap! Thanks Mel for keeping it real!
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Tiffany — Reply
My secret ingredient was to always add a little vanilla. You’re right hitter and brown sugar must be the best…will have to try it!
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Lori — Reply
My recipe has vanilla in it too. Makes the classic recipe so delicious.
This new version sounds incredible as well!
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Katie — Reply
I am excited to try this! I enjoy them, but have never made them myself.
I went to print the recipe and the name of the recipe is missing. 🙂
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Jeanelle — Reply
I’m intrigued! I’ll come back and comment when I give this recipe a try. My normal practice is to use the regular recipe then spread in a big baking sheet and then I use 2 cups each of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips melted together and spread on top. Also, I always told the young women I worked with at church to make these at college for the boys because they will for sure get dates/proposals when they do!
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Katherine — Reply
Looking forward to this! My go to move is to up the topping to 1 1/2 C of each chip. The more frosting the more better!
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