Rice Krispies Treats are a timeless confection that are just as easy to find at the grocery store as they are to make from the comforts of your own kitchen. In fact, a DIY Rice Krispies Treat recipe calls for just three ingredients: Puffed rice cereal, marshmallows, and butter. Because it requires such little effort, it’s easy to reinvent the nostalgic treat with exciting new ingredients and flavors, from chocolate chips to crushed up M&Ms. Enter potato chips, the pantry essential that instantly upgrades your Rice Krispies Treats dupes with a fun, salty twist.
Although rice cereal is the central ingredient of a prototypical Rice Krispies Treat, it has no distinct flavor of its own. By using potato chips in place of rice cereal, you introduce a salty new dimension of flavor that harmonizes with the sugary taste of sticky-sweet marshmallows. Because salt enhances flavor, alongside being a flavor on its own, it amplifies the candied taste of the melted marshmallows while simultaneously balancing out any potentially cloying notes.
Not only do potato chip Rice Krispies Treats diversify the flavor palate of the old-school confection, but they also jazz up the mouthfeel with a more prominent crunch that complements the silky, chewy softness of the marshmallow melt.
Tips for making potato chip Rice Krispies Treats
The best part of this sweet and salty Rice Krispies Treat facelift is that they’re just as easy to make as the original recipe. However, it’s helpful to keep a few tips in mind to ensure that this semi-sweet treat is lip-smacking good. Before combining all of your ingredients, crush your potato chips into smaller pieces (the variety you use ultimately depends on your preference). Breaking up the chips facilitates a more evenly-spread flavor and texture in each bite. To crush them up, you can simply grab them with clean hands and crumble them into your baking dish. Or, for a less haphazard technique, use a rolling pin to crush them in their bag before pouring them in.
Classic Rice Krispies Treats do not require any time in the oven, so the baking dish is simply a vessel for molding the amalgam of ingredients into a giant square. The only time you need heat when making potato chip Rice Krispies Treats is when you’re melting the marshmallows and butter over the stove. Once you chill the heaping block of salty-sweet crunchy goodness, you’ll need a knife to cut it into those familiar Rice Krispies Treat squares.
Since you’re already shaking up a classic recipe, why stop there? There are endless ways to zhuzh up potato chip Rice Krispies Treats. Introduce an umami bomb by sprinkling in bacon bits, drizzle with melted chocolate for a decadent trim of richness, or garnish with peanut butter for a nutty top note.
