Browned Butter and Sea Salt Marshmallow Rice Squares

via Smitten Kitchen

The Info
Time Commitment: maybe 20 minutes, plus time to cool (another 10 minutes, maybe)
Servings: well, as many as you’re willing to share!

Ingredients
4 ounces/1/4 pound/1 stick of unsalted butter, in pieces
10 ounces of marshmallows (there are 10-ounce bags, if you can find them…)
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt (or coarse kosher salt)
6 cups puffed rice cereal (I really like Erewhon’s Brown Rice – Original)
Additional butter or flavorless oil (like canola) to grease the pan

Hardware
LARGE pot (like a stock pot, or another large container) which will hold all of the ingredients
9-inch square cake pan or casserole dish (two inches deep)

The Directive

Butter (or oil) the pan/casserole dish; set aside.

In the large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat (emphasis on the low). First, the butter will melt (2 minutes), then foam (another 3-5 minutes), then clarify (two more minutes) and finally, start to turn a golden brown and give off a mellow aroma. (Yes, aroma) Stir frequently! And don’t even think of taking your eyes off that butter — it only takes a few seconds to go from ‘browned’ to ‘burnt’.

As soon as the butter is lightly golden, immediately turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows…. this might be a little more difficult than you think because they tend to slide around the bottom of the pot because of all the butter… If the heat from the butter isn’t enough to melt them, you can turn the heat back to low until they are smooth.

Remove the pot (and marshmallows) from the stove and stir in the salt + cereal; if it makes crunching noises, don’t worry so much. Quickly (as in, now) spread the mixture out in the buttered pan, using either your hands (it might be hot) or a spatula (it might stick). If you’re feeling particularly phobic, use a sheet of waxed paper + cooking oil/spray and use it to press the mixture firmly into the corners of the pan.

Let cool, cut into squares and try to pace yourself…

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