These homemade Scotcheroos are a delicious no-bake dessert that’s SO easy to make using ingredients you probably already have at home. A chewy, sweet, peanut butter rice cereal base is smothered in a layer of chocolate butterscotch and left to set before being cut into squares. These bars are an easy addition to a bake sale, holiday gift, potluck, or birthday party! I guarantee they’ll be a hit wherever you take them.
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
This recipe brings me back to my high school days in Massachusetts. (Shout out to my fellow Medway Mustangs!) My high school sweetheart’s grandmother’s Scotcheroos were my first introduction to this addictive dessert, so I must give credit where credit is due. She was a lovely woman who raised a wonderful family, and I always think of her family gatherings whenever I make this sweet treat!
What Are Scotcheroos?
These delectable bars are like rice krispie treats…but better! The main ingredient in this recipe is puffed rice cereal, but instead of marshmallows, the cereal is mixed with peanut butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Then, chocolate and butterscotch chips are melted and poured on top to create a smooth and creamy topping. The original recipe for these treats actually dates back to the 1960s after being printed on Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal boxes. But nowadays, they’re a super popular dessert in the Midwest, and it’s not hard to see why!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make the best ever Scotcheroos recipe:
- Smooth Peanut Butter: I use creamy peanut butter to give these bars a classic peanut butter flavor.
- Granulated Sugar & Brown Sugar: These sugars are mixed with the peanut butter and corn syrup to create a sticky mixture to pour over the rice cereal. I like using a combination of both sugars for flavor!
- Light Corn Syrup: A must-have for that chewy, sticky texture!
- Puffed Rice Cereal: It doesn’t matter if you use name-brand Rice Krispies or a store-brand version—I promise! They’ll both work out either way.
- Salted Butter: For buttering your baking dish to prevent sticking.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips & Butterscotch Chips: For the delicious chocolate top layer. Feel free to use milk or dark chocolate chips if you prefer. However, don’t skip the butterscotch chips; they’re needed to put the ”scotch” in scotcheroos!
- Sea Salt: I sprinkle a little sea salt on top of the melted chocolate and butterscotch chips before it sets. It adds a nice balance to the sweetness of the bars.
Can I Use a Different Cereal?
For me, this recipe needs puffed rice cereal as the base. It’s part of what gives these bars their signature texture. However, I’ve seen other recipes made with Special K (known as Special K Bars!), Chex, and Cornflakes. I haven’t personally tried these variations, but I don’t see why they wouldn’t work out. Let me know if you give it a try—it could be a fun way to use up leftover cereal!
Tips for Chewy Scotcheroos
This recipe is seriously easy (it’s up there with my ”Do Nothing” cake in terms of simplicity!). But I know we all love a good tip to ensure success in the kitchen. Here are two tried and true tips for making perfectly chewy bars every time:
- Don’t overheat the peanut butter, sugar, and corn syrup mixture. We just want it to melt and heat through. There should also be some bubbles, but not a full rolling boil. Boiling sugar and corn syrup together is how you make hard candy… which isn’t what we’re going for here. Overheating the mixture will cause it to harden too much once set and create crunchy bars rather than chewy ones!
- Only refrigerate your bars if you really need to speed up the setting process. I’d only chill them for 15 minutes to harden the melted chocolate. Any longer, and they’ll become too hard to cut into bars! They’re best stored at room temperature for maximum chewiness. If you do refrigerate them for longer than 15 minutes, let them come to room temperature before cutting and serving.
Stretch this Recipe Further!
Scotcheroos are SWEET, so I recommend cutting your squares even smaller than mine, which will stretch this recipe even further for a large group. This would also reduce the total price for each individual serving! Budget-friendly and enough to feed a crowd? Talk about a win-win!
How to Store
Keep your homemade scotcheroos in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Don’t store them in the refrigerator unless your kitchen is hot and you’re concerned the chocolate will melt. As I mentioned, refrigeration can make them too hard, so be sure to let them sit out for a bit before serving if you do refrigerate them.
For longer storage, you can also freeze these bars for up to 3 months. I’d wrap each square individually in plastic wrap before freezing so they don’t stick together. Let them thaw at room temperature before enjoying.
Scotcheroos Recipe
Servings 15 squares (1 square per person)Ingredients
- ½ Tbsp salted butter ($0.07)
- 1 ½ cup smooth peanut butter ($1.45)
- ½ cup sugar ($0.36)
- ½ cup brown sugar ($0.40)
- 1 ¼ cup light corn syrup ($1.85)
- 6 cups rice cereal* ($0.96)
- 1 cup butterscotch chips ($2.15)
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips ($1.98)
- ⅛ tsp sea salt ($0.01)
Instructions
- Butter a 9×13” baking dish and set aside. Combine peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan and whisk together over medium heat until warm, bubbly and melted together.
- Pour peanut butter mixture over rice cereal.
- Transfer the “dough” to greased baking dish and press it out, firmly. I like to use a piece of parchment to press and smooth out the Rice Krispie dough.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine butterscotch chips and chocolate chips. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between intervals, until the chocolate butterscotch chips are fully melted and pourable.
- Pour melted chocolate butterscotch over the pressed out Rice Krispie dough.
- Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Let everything set for 30 minutes before cutting into it. If you need to serve them right away, pop them in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up the topping.**
- Cut into squares and serve!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- 9×13 Baking Dish
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!how to make Scotcheroos – step by step photos
Butter a 9×13” baking dish with ½ Tbsp salted butter and set aside. Combine 1 ½ cup peanut butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup brown sugar, and 1 ¼ cup corn syrup in a saucepan and whisk together over medium heat until warm, bubbly and melted together.
Pour peanut butter mixture over 6 cups rice cereal.
Transfer the ”dough” to greased baking dish and press it out, firmly. I like to use a piece of parchment to press and smooth out the Rice Krispie dough.
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine 1 cup butterscotch chips and 1 cup chocolate chips. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between intervals, until the chocolate butterscotch chips are fully melted and pourable.
Pour melted chocolate butterscotch over the pressed out Rice Krispie dough
Sprinkle with ⅛ tsp sea salt.
Let everything set for 30 minutes before cutting into it. If you need to serve them right away, pop them in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up the topping.** Cut into squares and serve!
This easy recipe for Scotcheroos is sweet but salty and perfect for any occasion. But fair warning, once you try them, you’ll be hooked on these delicious no-bake bars! 😉
These are my favorite! My grandma used to call them “calorie bars!”
Haha! She’s not wrong! :)
I’d forgotten this yummy kid pleasing recipe–my own children loved it, but, sadly, it had passed out of my repertoire before my now grown grandkids came along. I think I used crunchy peanut butter to get some tiny peanut bits into bite. Thanks for reviving this treat. I think the salt is your new addition to the cookies, but is the absolutely perfect final touch.
It’s definitely a fun, nostalgic recipe! We can’t have them in the house because we eat them all. I lose all self control around Scotcheroos!
Ooh, I love scotcheroos! My favorite way to make them is with cornflakes. I always thought they were just a Midwest thing, but it’s fun to hear you grew up with them out East!
Amy, I’m also originally from the Midwest (MN) and grew up making these with Special K cereal. Any version is wonderful and brings back childhood memories of baking with my mom.
That sounds awesome- I would love that texture!
Through my research, I learned they are a midwestern thing! My friend’s Grandma is the only person who ever made them for me before learning to make them myself, so maybe she had some midwestern roots!