Made from just 8 ingredients, these no-bake scotcheroos cereal bars are chewy, crispy, and downright irresistible. Combining butterscotch, real chocolate, creamy peanut butter, sea salt, and rice krispies cereal, these are as easy as they are flavorful. Most traditional recipes call for corn syrup, but I use honey instead.
This recipe is part of my annual holiday cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. Scotcheroos definitely count as holiday cookies. In fact, I can’t think of any holiday where these bars aren’t welcome. 😉
What are Scotcheroos Bars?
Scotcheroos are a no-bake cereal bar similar to rice krispie treats. Replace the marshmallows and butter with sugar and peanut butter, then add a chocolate butterscotch topping. They’re chewy, soft, and crispy all in one. Obviously this is a dessert you need to make today and every other day of the year. They smell like a dream and literally FLY OFF THE COOKIE TRAY whenever I bring them anywhere. They cause an absolute frenzy.
And they’re wildly easy to make.
Homemade Scotcheroos Without Corn Syrup
The original scotcheroos recipe comes from Kelloggs. It’s divine, as you can imagine, but I’ve been switching a few things based on what I have on hand. The original recipe calls for 1 cup of corn syrup and 1 cup of sugar, but I actually use 1 cup of honey and 1/2 cup of sugar. The bars are still plenty sweet and I appreciate *a little* unrefined sugar where I can get it. (Obviously these are not health food, but you get the idea.)
These scotcheroos are made without corn syrup, have a little less sugar, and are topped with sea salt to offset some sweetness. I also increase the ingredients in the topping so we have a thicker layer of chocolate butterscotch. YES.
Just 8 Ingredients
- Honey: I use honey instead of corn syrup. Honey adds flavor too!
- Sugar: You need 1/2 cup of regular granulated sugar to mix with the honey.
- Peanut Butter: Natural-style would be totally fine, but for best texture, I recommend a creamy peanut butter like Jif or Skippy. You need 1 cup.
- Vanilla Extract: A splash of vanilla extract is totally welcome with these flavors! I don’t make rice krispie treats without it either.
- Crispy Rice Cereal: This cereal is the base of the scotcheroo filling.
- Butterscotch Morsels: We’ll use butterscotch morsels (like chocolate chips, but butterscotch flavor) in the topping. See below for more info!
- Chocolate: You need 6 ounces of chocolate for the topping, which is 1.5 four ounce baking bars. I really like Ghirardelli or Bakers brand, found in the baking aisle.
- Coconut Oil: Coconut oil thins out the chocolate butterscotch topping. Without it, the topping would be stiff and clumpy. Butter works too.
And sea salt for a little garnish!
How to Make Scotcheroos
- Simmer the sugar and honey together on the stove. Make sure it doesn’t come to a boil. The purpose of this step is to melt down the sugar, so it’s a little less granular.
- Add peanut butter and vanilla extract.
- Stir in the crispy rice cereal. Taste it. Fall in love.
- Spread into a 9×13-inch pan. Use a spatula to softly spread the mixture evenly into the pan, then lightly pat it down. Don’t compact it too much, though. Packing it down too much will lend you thin and hard bars. We want soft and chewy. 🙂 I recommend the same technique when making white chocolate Lucky Charms treats, too.
- Melt chocolate, butterscotch, and coconut oil together. I recommend using the stove.
- Spread on top. Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired.
- Chill until set. This takes about 2 hours.
Chocolate Butterscotch Topping Success
Scotcheroos are typically “frosted” with a chocolate butterscotch topping made from butterscotch morsels/chips and chocolate chips. If you’ve ever tried melting butterscotch morsels before you know that… they don’t really melt. And if you’re lucky enough to melt them down properly, the consistency is stiff, chalky, and thick. I’ve found that butterscotch morsels melt down much easier the fresher they are. Old bags are impossible to melt down, but I have better luck with newer bags.
Same goes with chocolate chips. They aren’t made to melt. That’s why we use them in chocolate chip cookies and such—so they hold their chocolate chip shape! Anyway, we can avoid all the melting headaches by combining butterscotch morsels with real chocolate and coconut oil. Real chocolate = the 4 ounce baking chocolate bars found in the baking aisle. That’s what I always recommend you use when you want to melt down chocolate.
And if you don’t have coconut oil, replace with a Tablespoon of butter. We need a fat that is solid at room temperature, so don’t try using another oil.
The topping is thick, but spreads easily. Top with a little sea salt for extra flavor.
Trust me, you’re going to be VERY happy about all this:
Sally’s Cookie Palooza
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
- Chocolate Ginger Cookies
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Hot Cocoa Cookies
- Oatmeal Scotchies
For more holiday dessert inspiration, see my full list of 75+ Christmas cookies.
Scotcheroos Recipe
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star4.8 from 40 reviews
- Author: Sally
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
- Yield: 20 squares
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: American
Save Recipe
Description
Made from just 8 ingredients, these no-bake scotcheroos cereal bars are chewy, crispy, and downright irresistible. Most traditional recipes call for corn syrup, but I use honey instead.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (340g) honey
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (250g) creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 cups (180g) crispy rice cereal
- 6 ounces (170g) semi-sweet chocolate, chopped*
- 1 and 1/2 cups (270g) butterscotch morsels
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) coconut oil or butter
- optional: sea salt for topping
Instructions
- Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper. No need to grease the parchment. Set aside.
- Combine honey and granulated sugar in a medium or large saucepan over medium heat. (Larger size because we’ll add the crispy rice cereal in the next step.) Stirring occasionally, bring to a gentle simmer. Allow to simmer for 1 minute without stirring. Do not bring to a rapid boil—that’s too hot. After 1 minute of simmering, remove from heat.
- Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla extract until combined, then stir in the crispy rice cereal until it’s all completely coated.
- Transfer mixture to prepared pan. Using a silicone spatula, gently spread mixture to fit the pan. Very gently press the mixture down into the pan. Do not pack it down with force, just lightly press down so it’s secure in the pan.
- Combine chopped chocolate, butterscotch morsels, and coconut oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until it’s melted together. Mixture will be thick. Spread evenly over bars. A small offset spatula is helpful for this. Top with a sprinkle of sea salt, if desired.
- Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 2 days. Lift the scotcheroos as a whole out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into squares.
- Cover and store leftover squares at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze squares in layers between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a freezer container for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Glass Baking Pan or Metal Baking Pan | Parchment Paper | Large Saucepan/Pot | Silicone Spatula | Small Offset Spatula
- Chocolate: Use 6 ounces/170g of real chocolate (that’s 1 and 1/2 of the 4-ounce “baking chocolate” bars found in the baking aisle). I prefer Baker’s or Ghirardelli brands. You can use semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or even white chocolate. Candy melts or almond bark work too. Do not use chocolate chips, as they contain stabilizers preventing them from melting into the proper consistency; this isn’t a good idea, especially paired with butterscotch morsels, which aren’t made to melt either!
- Butterscotch Morsels: If you don’t have access to butterscotch morsels, you can use peanut butter chips instead. Or melt 8 ounces of chocolate with 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter (skip the coconut oil) and spread on top.
- Adapted from Kellogg’s
