Recipe | Mars Bar and Rice Krispies cake bites

Mars Bar and Rice Krispies cake bites: just 5 basic ingredients make this easy, sweet treat!

After last week’s brownies, this week I was looking for another tray bake, although what I’ve found doesn’t actually require any baking.

These Mars Bar and Rice Krispies cake bites are quick and simple to make. As there’s no oven involved and you can do all the melting using a microwave, they’re also a good option if you want to “bake” with the help of little people. I got the original recipe here at GoodtoKnow. I made a couple of small changes, mostly to the decorative final layer.

A note on Mars Bars and Rice Krispies

If you can only get your hands on the original brands, that’s fine. But most supermarkets do their own, far cheaper versions of both these ingredients. I used Tesco’s own version of Mars Bars (any bar containing nougat and caramel coated in milk chocolate will be fine) and Rice Krispies because they were half the price of the original brands (see pics below).

Ingredients (makes 16 to 32 Mars Bar and Rice Krispies cake bites depending on how big you cut them)

250 g / 8.8 oz Mars Bars (an individual bar is 51 g / 1.8 oz; bars which come in multipacks are usually smaller, about 40 g / 1.4 oz, so you’ll need either 5 or 6 bars depending on how you buy them)
300 g / 10.5 oz white chocolate (the original recipe calls for 200 g, but my experience in using chocolate to coat tray bakes is you always need more than you think to get a nice thick, even layer)
50 g / 1.7 oz milk chocolate (this is an optional decoration extra – use chocolate flakes, sprinkles, nuts… anything you like!)
150 g / 5.3 oz butter
Approx. 100 g / 3.5 oz Rice Krispies, enough to absorb the melted mixture. Remember that any version of puffed rice cereal will work just fine.
2 tbsp golden syrup

Method

Grease and line a rectangular baking tin with baking paper. My tin measures 24 x 20 x 4 cm (approx. 9.5 x 8 x 2 inches). The original recipe uses a 15 x 30 cm tin (6 x 12 inches).

Chop the Mars Bars and butter into small pieces and put in a heat-proof bowl.

You can melt the Mars Bars and butter by putting the bowl over a pan of simmering water, or you can use the microwave. If you use the microwave, heat the mixture in 30-second bursts, stirring between each burst. Add the golden syrup to the melted mixture and stir through.

Add the Rice Krispies to the liquid ingredients and stir through until completely coated.

Spoon this mixture into your lined tin and press down until you have an even, tightly-packed layer.

Leave the mixture to cool and set. Wait for at least 30 minutes before the next stage. If you’re in a hurry, you can pop the tin in the fridge to accelerate the process.

Break the white chocolate into chunks and melt – again in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or using the microwave (be careful if using the microwave as it’s easier than you think to go too far and burn the chocolate).

Pour all the white chocolate over the top of your Rice Krispies base and smooth out using a spatula or the back of a spoon to form an even layer.

You can finish the decorating there if you like. If you want to use the milk chocolate too, melt it and drizzle over the top.

At this point you could also add sprinkles, mini marshmallows, grated chocolate… the choice is yours! I used various sprinkles on half the tray:

Put the tray to one side and wait for the chocolate to cool and set. Slice into as many pieces as you want. I try to do this initially while the tray bake is still in the tin and before the chocolate has set completely to prevent it cracking.

As you start to peel the Mars Bar and Rice Krispie cake bites off the greaseproof paper, you’ll discover the base is very sticky.

So it’s best to store your Mars Bar and Rice Krispies cake bites on sheets of greaseproof paper, particularly if you’re going to stack them in a tub (as I have).

Given the warm, humid weather we’re experiencing at the moment, it would be best to keep these in the fridge. However, if you’re making them at a cooler time of year, they should be fine in a cool, dry spot, out of direct sunlight.