Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats
- Apr 4, 2015
- 3 min read
“Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ."” ― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
Friendship is a funny thing. There are so many kinds of friends and I've always found it fascinating to note the differences in my friendships. Granted, I've heard it said that "adults don't have 'best friends' anymore" but i'm not so sure that's true. Sure, I don't have on 'best friend' in the whole world, but I have best firends from different phases of my life.
During my psuedo-spring break, I've decided to drive up the coast to visit some friends in Boston. This group consisted of: my college roommate who had lived and worked at the same company as me in Wisconsin for 2 years, my officemate from my Wisconsin job, and my best friend from my time in Wisconsin. I hadn't seen this group in what ranged from one month to one year. I was excited, but I was also nervous about whether our group dynamic would still work out.
Needless to say, it did and I had a wonderful time. What I want to talk about is the slight differences in those (and all) friendships.
My college roommate and I have an easy, laid back relationship. We lived together for one year and fell out of touch afterward, but when we rekindled our friendship it was even stronger. When we see each other, it's equal parts reminiscing and forming new memories.
My old officemate and I have a lot of laughs together. We spend the greater part of our time telling old stories and reminiscing about times we had together. We spend the entire time laughing until my stomach hurts, but we spend very little time forming new memories. We have very different personalities, so oftentimes we spend a great deal of time listening to her sharing stories from her eventful, crazy life.
My best friend from work and I fall right back into our old rhythm. He was the one I hadn't seen in the longest time. Prior to our reunion I was so excited, but when I saw him, I felt that no time had passed at all and I had just seen him yesterday. We made new jokes, shared new stories, and spent a little time making fun of people we used to know.
I'm not going to make a value judgment on these different kinds of friendships. They all serve me in different ways and all of those friends make me happy. I do often wonder though how sustainable friendships built on past experiences are. Maybe it's just my weird introspective nature, but I'll continue to observe my interactions with friends as we all reunite on the other side of winter.
(the Rice Krispies were made and brought to Boston because, to me, they signify my Madison friendships. I used to make these in batches that we'd eat warm right out of the pot)
Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispies
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Ingredients:
3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalter butter*
1 bag marshmallows (10-oz)
1/4 tsp sea salt*
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (about half a box)
Instructions
1. Spray to grease a 8-inch cake pan and set aside.
2. In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir and continue to heat until butter foams then turns a brown color. (Continue to stir while browning butter).
3. When butter browns (notice the nutty smell) turn down heat and stir in marshmallows until melted and smooth.
4. Remove the pot from the stove and stir in salt and cereal. Remove quickly and pour into cake pan pressing down with spatula to compact and even out. Let cool then cut into squares.
*I've used salted butter for these and it works just as well, however, you'll still want to sprinkle some sea salt in there
**I like a greater marshmallow-to-rice krispie ratio in mine because they stay nice and chewy for longer (not that these last more than a day)
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