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. ๐
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. (Baker’s tip: Grab an extra large box so you can make s’mores rice krispie treats, too!)
- 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. ๐ 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 suchโso 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:
For more holiday dessert inspiration, see my full list of 75+ Christmas cookies.
Scotcheroos Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
- Yield: 20 squares
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: American
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 9ร13-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 boilโthat’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 itโs 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 โbaking chocolateโ 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
Reader Comments and Reviews
I like thick scotcheroos. What smaller size pan could I use to get thicker bars? Thanks sal
Hi Chrissy, you could try using a smaller pan, such as a 9-inch square pan or an 11×7-inch pan, but we haven’t made this recipe using those size pans, so are unsure whether it would all fit. If you give it a try, let us know!
This was a very good recipe. I made these for a friend who said this is her favorite dessert, I had never heard of them before though! She said they were perfect so I think the recipe must be a good one! I used a 4oz chocolate bar instead of 6oz since they come as 4oz each at the store, and then just added a little extra of the butterscotch morsels (did the whole bag) and that worked out well.
I made these for a small gathering of about a dozen people. Big hit. Someone said they’re like a Reese’s and a Rice Krispie treat all in one. I think the salt topping is important. Another great recipe from Sally and her team! Thanks y’all!
Sally does it again! This recipe was delicious. I loved that it used honey rather than corn syrup. Amazing flavor! They were also very very soft. Will definitely make again.
What can I use instead of peanut butter due to allergies. Got to be nut free
Hi Dee, You could use a nut-free spread like cookie butter or sunflower seed butter instead. Let us know how it goes!
Can I omit the granulated sugar?
Hi Elise! We don’t recommend it.
I found them extremely sweet. Something I would cut into small bars next time. I wonder if itโs the honey that made them so sweet. I found the recipe very easy to follow and they turned out great.
These were a big hit!
Iโve never heard of scotcharoos before this recipe, and they are so good!
My favorite cookies!
These are seriously SO good. To the people reviewing these negatively because โthe ones with corn syrup are so much better!โ, the whole point of this recipe is to have scotcheroos without totally poisoning yourself. As someone who grew up on the original Kellogโs recipe and wanted to stop eating corn syrup, these have been an amazing alternate recipe that has been a huge hit every time Iโve made them for family, work, etc. I constantly get requests from coworkers to make these. Do yourself a favor and try them!! And be sure to let them warm up to room temp before eating since honey gets pretty chewy when itโs cold.
Does anyone think this would work with Rice Chex or are Rice Krispies essential for the texture/body?
Oooomg. These are to die for.
Just wanted to add a note that o made these again for the second time in a week lol. second time I didnโt have butterscotch and I used peanut butter instead and still delicious. I also used semi sweet choc chips for The topping because thatโs what I had in the house and it worked fine for me. i just melted it in the microwave. soooo yum. now just need to not eat them all in one day ha!
The best scotcheroos ever!! I make this recipe almost every time we are asked to bring dessert to an event. It’s always a big hit and we can’t get enough of them!! So glad to have a corn syrup free option that tastes so amazing.
Has anyone tried different cereal for this recipe? Iโd like to use up cornflakes I have in the pantry but not sure how it will work out.
Hi Gabrielle, we haven’t tested these with other cereals, but you certainly give it a try. The texture will of course be different, and we’re unsure if the ratios will change. Let us know if you try anything out!
A tasty alternative to crispy rice cereal is Special K
I made these once with Special K for about half, since I ran out of Rice Krispies and they were great! I crushed the Special K a bit so they mixed in better and the texture was kind of a nice change
Delicious recipe! I used slightly less honey (6 oz) because it was all I had, but my husband says these are top 5 best things Iโve ever made
This was the first recipe I ever used and it got high marks from longtime scotcheroo makers.
We did not live this recipe. The original is much better. Corn syrup is much better tasting in this recipe than the honey. Also use semi-sweet chips on place of the chocolate. Everything was just “off”. FIRST recipe is Sally’s that I’ve made and did not like. Usually everything is wonderful. But this just didn’t work in our family.
Jesu Cristo! Ay! These are evil! I want to calculate the macrosโฆ I donโt want to calculate the macros. You are a genious! I am going to post your picture on my refrigerator. I have never heard of these before, but I made them for a young friend who swore these were incredible. I searched for a recipe online that did not use corn syrup, and I found yours. Thank you so very much!
Sorry. I’m old school on this one…With this recipe simpler is better. My grandmother had the original recipe that Rice Krispies/Kelloggs put in newspapers in the 1950’s and then it was on the boxes sometimes while I was growing up in the 70’s, maybe at Christmas. It calls for 1 c sugar 1 c corn syrup 1 c peanut butter and 8 cups cereal…then one bag of chocolate chips and one of butterscotch chips! It’s a simple and amazing combination! The flavors of this can’t be messed with by adding honey and vanilla and eliminating most of the butterscotch. That ends up making it convenience store fodder.
I have not tried Sallyโs current recipe but will. I too have used your Grandmothers recipe but the topping was just the choc chips no butterscotch. People love it. I think the thing with honey in many recipes is to use a mild flavored honey. To my palatte clover honey for instance is very strong. I again, my opinion, but something like wildflower honey is more mild. Just my opinion. I canโt wait to try this recipe of Sally’s. I also wonder if one could substitute coconut sugar for regular.
I didnโt have honey so used brown rice syrup, and I reversed the proportions of semi sweet chocolate and butterscotch chips (because I find butterscotch to be very sweet). They are excellent!!