DARCI HANNAH: In honor of the upcoming Labor Day holiday, and my summer release, MURDER AT THE CAMPFIRE COOKOUT, I want to talk a little bit about my all-time favorite cookie bar recipe, the delicious, no-bake, Special K Bar. I make this recipe a lot and have brought them to more back yard barbecues and kids’ play dates and sports events than I can count, and they are always a bit hit. Then one day someone ate one and said, “You made Scotcheroos. I love Scotcheroos!” I had no idea what they were talking about. I’ve never had a Scotcheroo and didn’t know what they were. However, once it was explained to me that I had made Scotcheroos only I had used the wrong cereal, I had to consider that there was another similar recipe floating around out there in other recipe boxes with a very different name.
This is where the great Scotcheroo vs the Special K bar debate begins.
According to my quick internet research and a deep dive into Kellogg’s cereals, the recipe for Scotcheroos appears to have come out in the mid 1960s and was printed on the back of the Rice Krispies cereal box. Nobody quite knows who invented this genius rice-cereal based addictive recipe, but one thing was clear. This person really knew what American tastebuds were clamoring for—that magical combination of peanut butter coated rice cereal topped with a layer of chocolaty butterscotch. Crazy as it sounds, this recipe swept across the American Midwest, becoming a staple of backyard picnics and summer holiday treats.
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My mom, whom I suspect was late to the Scotcheroos party, somehow got her hands on another Kellogg’s cereal box that had a suspiciously similar recipe printed on it, only the name had changed to reflect the cereal. It was the Special K box, making me think that someone in the marketing department over at Kellogg’s had gotten lazy… or maybe they were just an evil genius. Because on the back of that box was printed the exact same recipe, only the cereal had changed along with the name. The result was the same delicious treat with a slightly chewier peanut butter base due to the flatter, denser structure of the cereal flake. Ironically, Special K had been marketed as a diet cereal—a healthier choice to reduce the waistline. Maybe that’s why my mom had been attracted to this version of the recipe? Special K bars have a healthier ring to them, making them an acceptable breakfast option as well, after all, they’re fortified with 11 vitamins and minerals. Honestly, if they were called Scotcheroos I’d still eat them for breakfast. Whatever name these diabolically tasty treats go by, all I know is that if you bring them to your next picnic or outing, everyone will thank you.
Happy Labor Day!
Delicious No Bake Special K Bars
Prep time: 15 minutes. Makes one 9 x 13 pan. Serves 24
Ingedients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup creamy peanut butter
6 cups Kellog’s Special K cereal
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
Butter for greasing the pan
Directions:
Using butter, grease the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 pan.
Place the Special K in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Combine sugar and corn syrup in a 3-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture boils, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture boils remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter until well blended. Pour the mixture over the Special K and stir until all the cereal is coated. Pour the warm Special K mixture into the pan. Gently press into the pan. To prevent the mixture from sticking on your hands you can coat your hands with butter. Set aside.
In a microwave safe dish, melt the butterscotch chips, heating it for 30 seconds at a time and stirring well after each time. Once the butterscotch is melted, stir in the chocolate chips until melted and well blended. You may need to heat the mixture another 30 seconds to melt the chocolate. Once the mixture is smooth, spread evenly over the cereal mixture. Cool until chocolate is set, then cut into bars. Enjoy!
You can print a copy of the recipe HERE!
Let’s continue the debate! Scotcheroos or Special K Bars, which do you prefer?
If you’ve never had one of these, let me know what your favorite cereal bar is.
Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you.
Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com
Instagram: @authordarcihannah
Facebook: @Author Darci Hannah
Murder at the Campfire Cookout
By Darci Hannah
Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series
When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .
Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.
Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.
But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire . . .
Because no one is out of the woods yet.
A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle
By Darci Hannah
Book #2 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .
Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well.
After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .
COMING FEBRUARY 23, 2027
A TOAST TO AGATHA CHRISTIE’S GHOST
By Darci Hannah
Book #3 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
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https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/shop/a-toast-to-agatha-christies-ghost
Chef Bunny MacBride has gotten roped into a ghost-hunting reality show called Food & Spirits, creating dishes to whet the appetites of apparitions. Along the way, she’s discovered she has some supernatural gifts of her own—and an eerie knack for solving murders…
The cast and crew are on Burgh Island, at a restored Art Deco hotel that boasts Agatha Christie as its most famous guest—and now its most famous ghost. They’re filming at a murder-mystery weekend, and Bunny expects it to be more kooky than spooky. But she’s excited to meet the renowned resident chef and delighted to run into her Granny Mac playing the role of Miss Marple. As a bonus, her romance with costar Brett continues to simmer.
The downside is dealing with arrogant guests like Buckley Thorne, who sends back her beetroot salad and demands whipped cream for her peach Melba. Then the show’s phony psychic, Giff, insists on playing Poirot, complete with an absurdly bad accent. When it turns out the victim role is assigned to Buckley Thorne, she feels a touch of satisfaction—until she realizes he’s doing too good a job of playing dead . . .
Shocked to learn Buckley’s true identity, Bunny has to change course once again from cook to crime-solver. She’d sensed an undercurrent of drama at the dead man’s table—and with help from the spirit of the world’s greatest mystery writer, she’s looking closely at the victim’s handsome son, much-younger wife, and elegant circle of friends to conjure up a solution . . .
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