Special K (tm) bars

Never let it be said I'm not responsive. I offered the recipe, somebody said yes, here goes.

Now technically, this isn't Big Sis's recipe. At least I'm pretty sure it's one of the standard ones out there and Mom was making it at least a few years before Big Sis. But if you measure a recipe's ownership by who makes it most often, I suspect Big Sis has that one nailed.

If you've ever had a Rice Krispies treat and thought: wouldn't this be amazing with peanut butter and chocolate? Well then, this one is for you.  Unless of course you're under a doctor's care because I suspect this is on no diet plan anywhere.

In a medium saucepan, mix:
1 c sugar
1 c white Karo syrup

Boil until clear. Add:
1 1/2 c peanut butter
6 c Special K

Mix gently (the Special K is going to get munched, no way around it, but you want some texture left so don't beat it to death.) Press that into a 13X9 pan. Do that pretty quickly, okay? The mixture sets up pretty quick and digging it out of the pan just becomes more difficult. By the way, if it's sticking, here's another handy-dandy tip for pressing it flat: wet the palms of your hands. The water keeps it from sticking to you and if you move quickly enough and haven't drenched your hands, you won't leave much of a trace of water on it.  And you don't want a layer of water on it, for reasons that are about to be explained.

Do you have a double boiler? Probably not. Okay, 2 options. One is to microwave melt the frosting, the other is to make a double boiler out of two saucepans, the slightly bigger one with a few inches of water in it, the slightly smaller one set inside the slightly larger one. Whatever you do, the pan or (microwave) bowl in which you do this must be absolutely free of water. When melting chocolate comes in contact with water, it does something the educated types call seizing. It basically glues itself into a hard ball that can never be undone. (Well, technically, there is a way to fix this but since that effectively ruins the chocolate for the purposes of this recipe, best not to go there.)  I've had chocolate seize up on me once. I think I may have cried. It was one of the saddest kitchen sights I ever saw. And basically threw off the timing of the schwarzwalder kirsche torte I was making, making that a total loss. Well, except I still had the kirsch-flavored whipped cream so I was able to drown a few sorrows in that.

But I digress. Surprise, surprise.

If you microwave melt, unless you have perfect control over your machine for time & power based on the quantities provided, just do 30 second intervals at low power til it's melted. And remember sometimes the chips melt but still hold their shape so you'll want to stir to see where it's at. With a DRY spoon. Really. Trust me. With the two pot method, get the ingredients into the upper pot and set it in the lower pot, then get the water in the lower pot simmering. You could get the water simmering first, but you're taking your chances with having the chocolate come into contact with the steam as you're putting it in the upper pot.

Oops, did I forget to tell you what you're melting?

1 small pkg butterscotch chips (these usually weigh in between 8-12 oz, anywhere in that range is fine)
1 12 oz pkg chocolate chips
1 T butter

When it's melted and mixed, frost the Special K mixture with it. Let harden up a little before cutting.

Oh, and one last thing. I've said something similar before, but I'm feeling the need to evangelize. Not only should you use real chocolate, use GOOD chocolate. Guittard, Ghirardelli, all those other sparkly brands your grocery store carries and prices obscenely. With chocolate chips, you pretty much get what you pay for. Now, my chocolate chip cookie recipe? The one that makes grown men cry? It's based on a recipe that came off one of the generic chocolate chip packages. But I don't use generic chocolate chips. Ever. I've even taken to mixing two types of chips just to get what I regard as the ideal blend for my cookies. I'm not really suggesting that here since the power of the peanut butter flavor makes that level of insanity, well, insanity, but do get the good stuff. Same for the butterscotch chips.

And make sure you're making these to take somewhere. Because otherwise, you might just sit down and eat the whole pan. And that would be BAD.

Or is that just me?