Our Little Secret

They vanished.  A whole pan full of them just vanished.  I set them out on the picnic table and they vanished.  It's no wonder really.  After all, they are the perfect snack - crispy & gooey at the same time, sweet, chocolaty, and easily justifiable (you know, as a "protein" dish).

My cousin, Diana, showed me how to make them.  So easy!  I thought it was a recipe she had made up.  I had NO idea that they had a 'real' name.  She called them Crispy Dudes.  That's the only name I've ever known.  It turns out that the rest of the world HAS heard of them.  Only, they're call Scotcheroos.  I have to say I was a little crushed to find out that I didn't have a secret recipe.

Imagine my surprise the first time I took them on a camping trip.  I'm picturing the look on people's faces as I gently peel back the aluminum foil from my pan to reveal my secret recipe sweet snack.  Instead of oohs and aahs, I get "Oh, cool, Scotcheroos."

And that's when it happened.  The whole pan just disappeared.  Well, not the actual pan.  Just the Crispy Dudes.  Vanished.

They are simple as pie to make - actually, they are much simpler than pie!  You just melt some corn syrup with some sugar.  When that's all warm and syrupy you add some peanut butter.  Once that's all gooey, you add the Rice Crispies and press it into a pan. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips and pour that on like frosting. Ta-dah! Crispy Dudes!  Oh, the hardest part of the recipe comes next...you have to wait for them to cool and firm up.


A word of advice.  When you make these, you should always cover them with aluminum foil.  Not for the reasons you might imagine, though.  You need to cover them, first, so no one will know what you brought to the party (make them wait for the big 'reveal') and, second, so no one will know how many you've eaten (I seem to have a problem staying out of them myself).  Keep 'um covered, people!  It's our little secret.  Shhh!

Crispy Dudes

INGREDIENTS

1	cup corn syrup
1	cup granulated sugar
1	cup creamy peanut butter
6	cups Rice Krispies cereal
1	cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1	cup butterscotch chips

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, cook corn syrup and sugar over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to boil.  Remove from heat.  Stir in peanut butter.  Mix in cereal.  Press in buttered 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan.

2. Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips and butterscotch flavored chips in microwave (30 seconds at a time, stirring between times) until smooth.  Spread over cereal mixture.

3. Chill until firm (15 minutes).