The best ever no-bake scotcheroos (soft and chewy!) 

These are the all-time, best ever, no-bake scotcheroos!

A Midwest classic treat made with simple ingredients. They’re soft, chewy, and addicting.  

Scotcheroos are such an easy dessert.

A no bake treat that’s perfect for any occasion!

Jump to Recipe

It’s a good  to keep all the ingredients in the pantry so you can whip them up at any moment’s notice. 

Just beware…it’s hard to have just one! 

This is a slight variation on the classic recipe for scotcheroos that has been a part of midwest culture for years. I have always liked the no bake dessert, but I wanted a way to make them softer and more gooey. 

This is it!

Also, don’t be surprised if your family will ask for these instead of birthday cake, or even wedding cake. (Seriously, my brother-in-law wanted these instead of cake for their wedding!)

If you’ve never heard of a scotcheroo let me tell you about them.  

They are amazing. The bottom is a gooey, peanut buttery rice krispie treats layer. The topping is made of a combination of chocolate and butterscotch chips melted together into a fudge-like consistency with a slightly butterscotch flavor.

It’s simple, yet so profound. 

The first step for these EASY no-bake scotcheroos is gathering all the supplies.

It’s super important to gather all the ingredients before you begin, so you don’t get halfway through and realize you need to run to the store! (A good thing for any cooking/baking endeavor.)

I always like to prepare my “landing area” first.

Grease the 9×13 pan you will make the bars in. You could also line the pan with some parchment paper if you’re concerned about sticking.  In my experience, glass pans are pretty non-stick with a quick brush of coconut oil, or cooking spray. 

Measure out 5 cups of crispy rice cereal into a large bowl.   I like to use my favorite (large) glass mixing bowl. 

Generic rice crispy cereal works perfectly fine in these!

Next measure a cup of sugar into a medium pot.

Then add in 1 cup of honey. 

Now, the original scotcheroos recipe includes a corn syrup mixture. I’ve swapped out the light corn syrup with honey for a couple reasons. 

-It makes them softer.

-Honey has a better flavor.

​-It’s more expensive.

Just kidding. I know it’s a bit more expensive, but if you find a local honey source (which is a wonderful thing to do!) it will be a bit more affordable. 

Local honey is also known to help ease the effects of seasonal allergies in your area.

After you’ve measured out the rice cereal, sugar, and honey, you will measure out a cup of creamy peanut butter. Notice we’re only dirtying one measuring cup?

Yep, I don’t love doing dishes either.

You can load your measuring cup with peanut butter and have it ready to go. But don’t add it just yet!

Cook!

Next you’ll turn the heat to medium heat and cook your honey and sugar mixture. 

This is important. You’re not making a brittle, you’re making a ooey gooey mixture to hold the rice cereal together. You will only cook the sugar mixture until the sugar dissolves. 

No timers, don’t walk away.

Watch closely!

Just watch and stir gently as you see it come together. You’ll watch the mixture turn into a more fluid, sauce consistency. You will have a little boiling around the edges. Then you can kill the heat. (Only 3 minutes or so from cold to simmered.)

Mix it up!

After you have your melted sugar and honey mixture all ready to go, you can add in the peanut butter. Give it a good whisk, then add your splash of vanilla extract. (Homemade is even better!) 

Now is where the timing becomes a bit more important.

If you left your sugar mixture to cool in the pan for too long, you’d end up with a very delicious, yet not super useful substance.

You need to immediately pour it over your rice cereal you’ve already measured out in the large bowl.

If you have kids helping you in the kitchen be sure to supervise closely because this peanut butter mixture would burn little hands. 

Give it a good stir (right away!) and pour the cereal mixture into your prepared pan. 

Pour into prepared pan.

Spread your cereal bars into an even layer in your baking dish and set them aside to cool.

Topping Deliciousness.

The midwest origination of this recipe shows in the final step.

The topping is made by melting 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 cup butterscotch chips together in a microwave safe bowl or double boiler.

If you’re microwaving the semisweet chocolate chips (or milk chocolate chips) and butterscotch chips make sure you stir between 20 second increments so it doesn’t seize. 

​Once your melted chocolate chips and butterscotch chips come together (I like to mix with an offset spatula) you can spread it over your cereal bar layer.

This is where the kids always like to add a little bit of sprinkles to the top while the chocolate is still melted. You can forego the sprinkles if you’d like.

Waiting, waiting, waiting….

The hardest part of this whole process is waiting for them to set up before eating them.  The scotcheroos will take a couple hours to harden up so you can cut and serve. 

Keep them at room temperature and store in an airtight container.  They never make it more than a couple days at our house, but I’d say they need to be consumed within 5 days for food safety.

These hold their shape so nicely and can be individually wrapped in plastic wrap for any bake sale or church potluck. 

This recipe isn’t exactly the classic scotcheroos recipe, but give it a try!

These are sure to be a family favorite!