Are you tired of cake pops and looking for an alternative? I kid. Who would ever get tired of cake pops? They’re delicious. And cute. What I meant to ask was “do you think cake pops look really hard to make and want an easier option? It’s difficult to pick a favorite treat from when I was a kid – as there were many – but Scotcheroos certainly rank right up there. This is a great, fun (dare I say hip? can a dessert be hip?) way to serve them. Modernizing the “bar” style of a classic dessert, if you will.

 

I like to use an ice cream scoop to mold the peanut butter balls – makes the size uniform and helps with the sticky mess on your hands.

Reality Check. Similar to the ginger snap recipe (included at the bottom of this post), restraint goes out the window when these are in front of me. It’s like my stomach, head and taste buds are completely disconnected and I eat one after another after another. I thought that the cute “pop version” wouldn’t be as easy to devour as the bar variation, but no such luck. Plus, you have the sticks to remind you exactly how many you’ve eaten. That’s okay. They’re worth it.

Recipe
Peanut Butter Pops (a.k.a. Scotcheroos)
~ makes approx. 10 large pops ~

Ingredients

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Combine sugar and syrup in a 2 quart saucepan.
Bring to a full boil, stirring continuously.
Remove from heat.
Add peanut butter and vanilla and stir until smooth.
Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal and combine well.
Cool just until you can handle.
Form into round balls about the size of a golf ball (dampening  your hands slightly with water will keep the mixture from sticking to your hands).
Place on parchment or wax paper and cool slightly; insert sucker sticks.

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals.  Stir and repeat if necessary to make a smooth mixture.
Spread gently on the bottom half of pops.

Pan version:
Place mixture into a buttered 9″ square pan.  Top with chocolate.  Cool and cut into squares.