I grew up in an extremely religious community. The kind of community that would band together and deliver whenever a child was born, a person was sick, or a person died.  Including me, I come from a family with five children.  I am the second child and I have three younger brothers. I remember the onslaught of casseroles that came rolling through our front door when each of my brothers was born.  Families would literally bring us food for the duration of what seemed like a couple of weeks, it was probably more like one week.  The food was very church going in nature, downhome in style, and so comfortingly wonderful in taste!  I am sure, at the time, I wondered why my mother did not have babies more often!  Sometimes families would even bring dessert.  And inevitably that desert would be a pan of Rice Krispy Treats.  I love Rice Krispy Treats and I always forget that I love them until I am presented with them over and over again in life.

One thing that strikes me as really funny about them is how basic the recipe is, but how different multiple pans from different people can turn out. Some are light and gooey (they sort of melt and conform). Others are dense and crunchy.  I am sure that the prepackaged ones at the store boast the correct consistency, and I like their consistency, but their flavor is processed and off.  They just do not taste homemade.

So a couple of weekends ago I decided to make some of these sticky, sugary, marshmallow treats.  Only, I could not just stick with tradition.  I had to Julie’s Jazz the cereal bars, and here is what I ended up with:

-1 c. waffle pretzels (broken up)

-2 c. Peanut Butter Captain Crunch

-2 c. Cocoa Puffs

-3 c. Rice Krispy’s

– ¼ c. butter

– ¼ c. creamy peanut butter

– 6 c. mini marshmallows

– 8 Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups

– ½ c. peanut butter chips

– ½ c. milk chocolate chips

Line a 9 X 13 cake pan with parchment paper. Sprinkle the bottom of it with chocolate and peanut butter chips. Melt butter and peanut butter in a large sauce pan.  Add marshmallows and stir constantly until they are completely melted. Add all cereal and pretzels.  Remove sauce pan from heat. Stir and turn cereal in marshmallow mixture until all cereal is well mixed and coated.  Pour half of the cereal mixture in pan over chocolate and peanut butter chips try to spread out evenly.  Place peanut butter cups evenly over first layer.  Top with remaining cereal mixture.  Spread out evenly and press down a little (not too much or they will get too dense) with your hands. (I coated my clean hands in canola oil before handling the mixture, because it is extremely sticky) Let sit for about 1 hour to cool. Remove from pan with parchment paper.  Turn over onto a cutting board.  Remove parchment paper. Cut into 8 bars. EAT!