adulting is hard

Brown and peanut butter cereal treats. I loved crispy rice treats as a kid and, hilariously, even more as a college student.

I still think they're pretty darn delicious, but as I've (somewhat) matured, so has my palate. This batch, inspired by a recipe from Joy the Baker, uses browned butter and adds in peanut butter and salt for extra flavor. She also adds a few whole marshmallows in at the end, which as far as I can tell doesn't really do anything except make them look a little less boring.

These are really good! They're enough like the treats from my childhood to cause me to reminisce, but they're also complex enough to sate my 34-year-old tastes.

Buttery Cereal Treats
Based on this recipe
(printable recipe)
Makes 12 bars
Ingredients:

• 6 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 (10-ounce) bag mini marshmallows, divided use
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions:
Line an 8-inch or 13x9-inch baking pan with wax paper; set aside.
Place cereal in a large bowl and set aside.
In a large, heavy bottom saucepan, melt butter over medium heat until just browned.
Swirl the pan occasionally to be sure the butter is cooking evenly.
The butter will begin to foam and the color will progress from lemony-yellow to golden-tan to a toasty-brown.
Once you smell that nutty aroma, add all but one cup of the marshmallows and the peanut butter.
Stir with a spatula until the marshmallows are melted and the mixture is smooth.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the vanilla, and immediately pour into the cereal bowl.
Add the salt and mini marshmallows and stir, coating all of the cereal in the peanut butter mixture.
Turn the mixture out into the prepared pan and press to fill all sides of the pan with a spatula.
Let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing into 9 or 12 squares.