Healthy Scotcheroos (Peanut Butter Butterscotch Krispy Treats with Dark Chocolate!)
I absolutely love butterscotch flavor, it’s so intense, warming, and rich, it’s the perfect match for peanut butter and decadent chocolate, yes? Yes. These Healthy Scotcheroos have got it all: peanut butter, butterscotch, and dark chocolate. They’re unbelievably sophisticated and unique, and of course, 100% addicting. It’s hard to stop at one! With every bite it feels like you’re cheating on your diet, when really, you’re not. These are some treats you can feel good about eating. They’re low sugar, high protein, and gluten free, but you’d never know it!
These Healthy Scotcheroos are nothing like those marshmallow treats prepackaged in bright blue plastic at the grocery store. These are some stunning, fancy-looking treats. Everyone is in awe when I gift these away. They look like they’re from a fancy bakery, not homemade. And after a bite, everyone is usually in a state of shock.
They look and taste so unhealthy when they’re actually secretly good for you. It’s hard to believe.
They’re sweet from the butterscotch, rich from the peanut butter, and indulgent from the dark chocolate topping. These are simply gratifying.
Healthy Scotcheroos
Ingredients
- 120g (4 cups) Crispy Brown Rice Cereal
- 168g (½ cup) Honey
- 128g (½ cup) Natural Peanut Butter
- 1 tsp Natural Butterscotch Flavor
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 64g (⅔ cup) Vanilla Whey Protein Powder
- 3 oz Bittersweet Chocolate (melted; I used 70% Cacao)
Instructions
FOR THE SCOTCHEROOS:
- Line an 8x8” brownie pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the crispy brown rice cereal.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, stir together the honey, peanut butter, butterscotch avor and salt. Microwave at 10-second intervals, stirring between each one, until the mixture is runny. Stir in the protein powder.
- Fold in the rice cereal. When everything is fully incorporated, scoop the mixture into the brownie pan and atten it out with the silicone spatula. Be sure to press it down so you get a nice and compact cereal treat.
FOR THE CHOCOLATE TOPPING:
- Pour the melted chocolate over the base and tilt the pan around until the chocolate covers the entire surface. Tap the pan on the counter to set the chocolate and get rid of any air bubbles. Refrigerate until rm (~1 hour).
- Lift the mixture out of the pan. Slice into 15 bars (5 slices x 3 slices). Store in a tightly sealed container in the fridge with each treat placed on a square of parchment paper to prevent them from sticking (keeps for ~1 week).
Recipe Notes
Recipe republished with permission from the Naughty or Nice Cookbook!
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Enjoy 🙂
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Be happy.
Live fully.
Eat protein bars.
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With love and good eats,
– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
asdfghjkll;’ this looks delicious! <3
Hello,Jessica! I LOVE this. I am sooo addicted to sugar and yet I WANT to live a healthier lifestyle – WITHOUT giving up sweets. I just can’t help it. And these Scotcheroos sound healthy AND sweet – to me a PERFECT combination! By the way, I’n going to substitute agave syrup for the maple syrup. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
I can’t tell you how nice it is to meet another sugar addict like me!! 😉
I’m sure the agave will work, hope you like it!
-Jess
i love how you put two nuts like that! 😀
Is it weird that I think that they look too pretty to eat? Because they do! But I’ll still eat one hehe.
Oh, nothing is TOO pretty to eat 😉
Hello again, Jessica! I made your Scotcheroos on Tuesday – 15th. They are WONDERFUL! They really do taste as good as they look. I did sub the agave for the maple – AND I didn’t have, and couldn’t find, butterscotch extract, so I sub’d rum extract instead. AWWWSOME! Then, because just eating them for desert wasn’t enough, I made a ‘snack’ of them later by spreading them with MORE peanut butter and eating them that way. Oh,yes, these are definately a favorite now. Thank you so much for sharing! Louise 🙂
OH.MY.GOSH. RUM EXTRACT?! That sounds amazing! I might just run over to the grocery store to find that… like, now. I’m so glad you liked it, it’s good to know that the agave worked out 🙂
-Jess
tastes great buuuut…is the mixture supposed to be very crumbley before pressing it into the pan?
No, the mixture should stick together well and flatten easily
Oh wow, these look amazing, and so does the ingredient list! Love your food styling and photos – so glad to have found your site!
Again, wow, these look delish. Do you think I can omit the oats? Also, I noticed that your marshmallow recipe uses vegetable glycerin so I bought a bottle, hehe. DO you think that ingredient can be used here?
Thanks again, Kasey!! I’ve made these without oats before and it worked out just fine 🙂
I haven’t tried making krispy treats with glycerine but now that you mention it, I really wanna give that a shot! I’m afraid it might need some extra flax or protein powder to help it bind together because glycerine isn’t as thick and sticky as brown rice syrup. If anything, I would try using half glycerine and half brown rice syrup first. If that works out, you can try it again with the glycerine.
I hope this helps!
-Jess
Sweet! Thanks! Speaking of sweet, I’m trying to cut the brown rice syrup and making this as “sugar free” as possible. I purchased some sugar free maple syrup, but am not sure if I could use that and vegetable glycerin in place of the brown rice syrup. Seeing if there are ways to cut cals but still keep the outcome tasty! Maybe 1/2 the peanut butter with peanut flour? Haha, I suck at recreating things!
Kasey-
I would try using half of the maple syrup and half of the glycerine. Also, you will need to “rehydrate” the peanut flour to make it thick like peanut butter before adding it to the recipe. If the maple syrup and glycerine you are using are sort of thin and watery, you can add an extra tablespoon or two of peanut flour to thicken it up.
I hope these subs work out for you!
-Jess
Hey Jess!
Just wanted to let you know that I tried this with your suggestions and it turned out tasty. I used half PB and half Peanut flour.
Kasey-
I’m glad it tasted good! Too bad the texture wasn’t the same as the original, which I suspect is from the glycerine. My scotcheroos were just like regular krispy treats — firm, crunchy, chewy, sweet!
I guess real maple syrup is the secret ingredient here 🙂
-Jess
I am so making these!!! I think I will add some real cinnamon that helps regulate blood sugar to be even a bit more healthy!!
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