I hope those of you who like making festive goodies to share with friends for the holidays will enjoy this treat — Scotcheroos.
This is another recipe from the collected recipes of LaVera “Gran'mommy” Mitchell, a member of the Thompson and Austin families + married into the Mitchell family.
These little cereal bars made regular appearances at family gatherings at Gran'mommy and Poppy’s house, especially around Christmas.
In addition to her own neatly typed recipe card, Gran'mommy’s recipe box also included a card with a similar version from the collection of her older sister, Lloyd Ola “Doda” Bearden (a member of the Thompson and Austin families + married into the Bearden family).
Get the downloadable + printable version of this recipe (PDF)
About Scotcheroos
Scotcheroos were apparently invented by the cereal company Kellogg’s; in the 1960’s, their official recipe was printed on boxes of Rice Krispies. This is the most likely origin of the recipes saved by LaVera and Lloyd Ola.
Ingredients + Equipment
9x13 inch baking pan, a large saucepan, and a small microwave-safe bowl
Sugar, 1 cup
Light corn syrup, 1 cup
Peanut butter, 1 cup
Puffed rice cereal, 6 cups
Butterscotch chips or morsels, 1 cup (6 oz) or more
Semi-sweet chocolate chips or morsels, 1 cup (6 oz) or more
Instructions
Combine the sugar and syrup. Heat in a large saucepan over medium, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved and the mixture starts to boil. Remove from heat.
Stir the peanut butter into the sugar + syrup mixture.
Stir the cereal into the peanut butter mixture.
Melt ½ of the butterscotch and chocolate together in the microwave. In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the morsels for 30 seconds, then stir. Repeat 2–4 times, depending on microwave strength, until evenly melted.
Stir the melted butterscotch + chocolate mixture into the cereal mixture, then press all into the baking pan.
Melt the remaining butterscotch and chocolate either together or separately in the microwave; pour the melted ingredients over the cereal mixture.
Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes; cut into 18 pieces to serve.
Notes
Method suggestions:
Be careful to avoid overheating the butterscotch and chocolate morsels in the microwave. This will result in the ingredients seizing, or becoming clumped and stiff instead of melting. If this happens, discard the seized ingredients and start over with a clean bowl.
If no microwave is available, a double boiler may be used to melt the butterscotch and chocolate on a stovetop instead.
Topping options:
Shared family versions of the recipe alternatively call for pouring all the melted-together butterscotch + chocolate morsels on top of the cereal mixture after pressing into the pan, instead of blending with the cereal mixture, which is consistent with the currently-published version of the recipe from Kellogg’s.
Shared family versions of the recipe also call for adding chopped nuts.
Get the downloadable + printable version of this recipe (PDF)
Call for Comments + Family Recipes
Do you make a version of this dish?
Visit this post on Substack to comment about variations or ask questions, or just send me a note via email!
Do you have an inherited recipe to share?
If there’s a dish that’s extra special because it always made an appearance at family events or because the recipe was taught to you by an older relative, I’d love to hear about it. If you’re comfortable with sharing, I’d be happy to make the dish in my own kitchen and write it up in a shareable format, like this one — just respond to this email to reach out!