Cake Mix Rice Krispy Bars with Salted Caramel and Homemade Marshmallow Frosting

Cake Mix Rice Krispy Bars with Salted Caramel and Homemade Marshmallow Fluff

a.k.a. the dessert with the longest name ever

But that's what makes it great: if you say its name a few times, you burn enough calories to make up for the calories you just consumed :)

I am entering these Cake Mix Rice Krispy Bars with Salted Caramel and Homemade Marshmallow Fluff in the Creative Recipe Contest hosted by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and Cookies and Cups.

I was inspired by Shelly's Caramel Stuffed Krispie Treats. I thought, why not take the textures and flavors of rice krispie treats and caramel and put them into a bar. Made with a cake mix. So easy and delicious!

The bar starts out with a cake mix and has rice krispies for a nice crunch. Add a to-die-for salted caramel layer, and top it off with a homemade marshmallow fluff, and you've got one amazing dessert!

Cake Mix Bar
1 box white cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups rice krispy cereal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the cake mix, eggs, and butter until well combined. Stir in the rice krispy cereal. Press the dough into a greased 9 x 13" pan. Bake for 20 minutes. The edges should be golden brown. Let cool completely before spreading on the caramel and marshmallow fluff.

Salted Caramel
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix all ingredients except for the vanilla in a small saucepan and cook over medium low heat. Stir frequently and cook until it bubbles. Stir in the vanilla and remove from heat. Allow the caramel to cool for a few minutes before pouring it into a bowl and refrigerating it.

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Marshmallow Fluff
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup water
3 egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix together the sugar, cream of tartar, and water in a saucepan over medium high heat. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves. Then let the mixture boil without stirring until it reaches 240 degrees. While the mixture is boiling, beat the egg whites in a stand mixer until they reach soft peaks. Once the sugar mixture reaches 240 degrees, pour it in a small, steady stream into the bowl with the egg whites with the beater going. Add in the vanilla and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Adapted from cooks.com

Once the bars are completely cool, spread the cooled caramel over it. Spread the marshmallow fluff over the caramel. Cut into squares and enjoy! Store in the fridge.

Take 5 Cake Mix Bars

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! I know I certainly did. Lots of family and lots of food :) And Santa (my sweet husband) gave me this:

Isn't she a beauty? I was so excited to try it out! In honor of its first mixing, I created a sweet treat that I hope you'll enjoy as much as I did!

You get the salty pretzel, chewy caramel, creamy peanut butter, and delicious chocolate flavors of a Take 5 bar sandwiched in cake batter! 

 

Take 5 Cake Mix Bars
1 box yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons milk
2/3 cup broken pretzels
1/3 cup + 1/4 cup peanut butter
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups caramel candies
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cake mix, 1 egg, butter, and milk until it comes together as a thick batter. Divide the batter in half. In one half of the batter, mix in the pretzel pieces. Press that mixture into a 9 x 13" pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 8 or 9 minutes, until the batter is barely set.

Next, cream together the other egg, peanut butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Carefully spread that mixture over the pretzel mixture. For the caramel part, I used those caramel squares you can buy in bulk at the grocery store. Feel free to use whatever caramels you like. Since the caramel squares were pretty big, I cut them in half. Sprinkle the caramels over the peanut butter mixture. 

Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the peanut butter mixture, too. Feel free to be generous with the sprinkling :)

Now flatten little pieces of the remaining half of the cake batter to evenly cover the top of the bars. 

Bake for 18-20 more minutes. The cake batter on top should be golden and puffed. 

Let cool and enjoy!