Brown Rice & Brown Butter Crispies

This recipe is due to a mistake that first annoyed me but then made me wonder if I was on to something. I had some vegan marshmallows in a pan on the stove and accidentally scorched them because I didn't add the butter in with them at the time. It was a mess! But it smelled kind of great in a weird, s'mores way, so I went ahead and made crispies with them anyway. They were good! I couldn't stop marveling at the results of my dumb mistake. So I started to think about getting a similar, smoky effect -- but on purpose this time.

Brown butter is everywhere lately, so I had to see what all the fuss is about. For these crispies, start with brown butter and add in a bag of (gelatin-free!) marshmallows, and use those arm muscles to incorporate some healthy brown rice cereal. These taste even better than the ones from childhood.

Brown Rice & Brown Butter Crispies

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

4 1/2 cups of puffed brown rice cereal

1 pkg. vegan marshmallows (I used 10 oz. Chicago Soydairy Dandies.)

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly. You want a toasty color, and you cannot turn your back on it for a second; once it's too dark, it's gone. Once you see some browning, take it off the heat and add in the marshmallows. Stir constantly and put on low heat to melt. (This takes at least 3-4 minutes.) Take off the heat again and add about 4 1/2 cups of puffed brown rice. Stir it up until cereal is coated and then press the mixture tightly into a pan. Wait about 30 minutes to cut them.