Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars

We’ve had a bit of a heat wave here in the Seattle area, and with houses not having air conditioning, it means that it was time to find some no bake cookies. I had come across these bars a while ago, as they were something that my husband said he used to have as a kid. He said the recipe that he was familiar with had marshmallows and peanuts. I could only find recipes with marshmallows, but I just used fewer marshmallows and added some nuts. Peanuts would be ideal, but I didn’t have any on hand so I used pecans.

This is honestly about the easiest recipe I have ever made. They don’t even have the complexity of Rice Krispy treats where you have to deal with melting marshmallows! You could melt the butterscotch chips and peanut butter in the microwave, but I think you get more even heat on the stove, which helps avoid scorching the chips. Some chips are very finicky, and butterscotch chips are somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of how easily they scorch. (White chocolate chips are the worst, if you were wondering.) You have to let the mixture cool a little before coating the marshmallows, otherwise they would melt completely. They melt a little, but not too much.

Make sure you allow these bars to set for several hours in the refrigerator. They need to be super cold when you cut them, or they will be unreasonably soft and sticky. I also had to store mine in the refrigerator, as the house was too warm, and they started to melt after even a couple of minutes out of the refrigerator. The butterscotch/peanut butter mixture does harden, but not so hard that they are impossible to cut. This recipe doesn’t make a huge batch, but the bars are very sweet, and you want to cut them in small squares. I’m personally not the biggest fan of marshmallow, they’re ok, but I think these bars are nice. I like the added crunch from the nuts.

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars

4-1/2 cups mini marshmallows

¾ cup peanuts or chopped nuts

11 ounces butterscotch chips

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

7 tablespoons butter

Line an 8” square pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the marshmallows and nuts. In a medium saucepan, combine the butterscotch chips, peanut butter, and butter. Heat on medium, stirring frequently, until the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.

Pour the butterscotch mixture over the marshmallows and fold the mixture with a spatula until the marshmallows and nuts are completely covered. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Refrigerate until set, several hours, before cutting into bars.

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