These bars from Mom on Timeout totally rocked! I sent them into the office with my favorite GI Joe, because they were so delicious there was no way they could stay anywhere that I could reach them.
It appears to be a really lengthy, complicated recipe, but it really wasn’t. Hands-on time was maybe 20 minutes. And I had mini-marshmallows and two jars of cherries in my pantry that I needed to use before we moved. I have no idea why I had not one, but two jars of maraschino cherries…plus another opened one in the frig. I substituted crushed cornflakes for the Rice Krispies, because I needed to use those up, too, before our move. They worked perfectly!
Chocolate Cherry Marshmallow Crunch Bars
24 bars
Ingredients
- Base:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup + 2 Tbls flour
- 2 Tbls unsweetened baking cocoa
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking pwder
- Filling:
- 2 10 oz bottles maraschino cherries, no stems, drained and chopped
- 3 cups miniature marshmallows
- Topping
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 Tbls butter
- 1 1/2 cup Rice Krispies or crushed cornflakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Cream butter and sugar together in a mixer bow. Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly combined. Add in vanilla extract.
- Whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder.
- Gradually add to creamed mixture.
- Spread in a lightly great 9×13 baking dish.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes until set.
- Sprinkle marshmallows on top and bake for another 3 minutes or until marshmallows have puffed up.
- Sprinkle chopped cherries on top of marshmallows and spread evenly using a knife dipped in water.
- Let cool completely.
- Melt peanut butter, chocolate chips, and butter together in a small saucepan.
- Remove from heat and stir in cereal.
- Spread evenly over top of bars.
- Chill for 1 hour or until set. Cut into bars and serve.