Butter Pecan Rice Krispy Treats

Now first I must say these are not the most beautiful treats I've ever made. I guess you can't tell by the pictures, but they have a funny brownish tinge from the pecan butter. But you know, some things you just can't judge by appearance: Susan Boyle... McDonald's dollar menu... My high school yearbook photo. Ahem. Yes, you definitely can't judge a book by it's cover. These treats are good. Period.

They aren't the quickest treats to make, they do take a little up front grunt work but it's totally worth it. No seriously, it's worth it. You start by making some delicious homemade pecan butter. This stuff is where it's at people (note: you could also go to the store and buy some. But that takes 1/2 the fun out of it. Plus the store bought stuff is expensive)

First you toast your nuts. It's a must, 5-6 min over medium heat until they smell nutty and you're good. Next you start processing your pecans in your food processor. (Or in my case you're super classy blender from Target that has as much power as my pinky) Anyhoo, start blending with whatever appliance you have available. After about 2-3 minutes you may start losing hope, feeling like you are getting nowhere. Your blender may even start smoking. No worries, keep going. (unless it's smoking. In that case take a break for about 5 minutes to let your blender pull itself together again) After about 8-10 minutes the magic starts happening (or so I'm told. For me it was more like around 20 minutes...) All of a sudden this beautiful creamy pecan butter appears. There you have it folks. Liquid gold. In your very own kitchen.

I won't walk you through the rest of making these treats, you're probably bored as it is. But really, you should go try these. You'll agree with me when you're done and munching on this heaven. The extra butter and sugar melted in with the marshmallows gives it the rich butter pecan flavor, then the sugared pecans on top just top it all off. MMmmm. I really don't even like pecans but I loved these. Is that weird? Maybe. All I know is you should go try these. Pronto. Now please excuse me, I have some leftover butter pecan treats calling my name.

Butter Pecan Rice Krispy Treats

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 - 3/4 cup pecan butter (homemade recipe below)
6 cups marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla
6 1/2 cups rice krispies
3/4 cup sugared pecans (heat the nuts with 1/4 cup sugar over medium heat on stove until sugar is melted and the nuts are all nicely coated)

Pour the rice krispies in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Stir together the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until the butter is melted and the sugar starts dissolving. (about 3-4 minutes) Add in the pecan butter and stir until it's liquified. Turn the heat down to low and add the marshmallows and vanilla extract. Continuing stirring until the marshmallows are all melted.

Once fully melted, take them off heat and pour over the rice krispies. Stir lightly to combine. Dump into a lightly greased 9x9 pan and let sit 5 minutes. Then go and lightly press into the pan with greased hands.  Allow them to cool about 20 minutes, then top with sugared pecans. Enjoy!

Homemade Pecan Butter

1 1/2 cups pecans (hint: look for the pecan "pieces" in your store, they are usually cheaper since they are not so beautiful... but you're pulverizing them anyways so that doesn't matter)
pinch of salt


Heat the pecans in a skillet over medium heat, stirring often toasted (you'll be able to smell it - about 4-5 minutes). Pour them into a food processor and process until it turns into a creamy butter texture. This will take about 10 minutes or so, don't worry. Take a minute to scrape down the sides with a spatula every so often. Once creamy, add your pinch of salt and blend again to mix that all in. Yummy! (store leftovers in the fridge)