The Quintessential Midwestern Bar
With everyone's bar opinions
This bar ought to be on the state flag of every state in the upper Midwest.
It has been at every graduation party, potluck, grill out, funeral, and any gathering larger than 10 people for my whole life. Known by many names, I grew up with a mom who had the absolute best recipe for “peanut butter bars.” These were a family specialty, and it was always so sweet to see people’s faces light up as they chewed their way through the soft yet a-little-crunchy bar my mom was known for.
Because of nostalgia, her recipe is obviously my favorite, but every time I make them, someone new says that they are the best bar of this kind they’ve ever had. Maybe I should enter them in a county fair?
Here’s how I learned to make them: Start with boiling white sugar and corn syrup (#midwest) in a pot, and then once boiling, you add peanut butter, vanilla, and some rice krispies. Once that is all combined, you spread that in a pan of your desired size. The smaller the pan, the thicker the cereal layer, which is important for getting the ratio of the layers perfect (for you). For the top layer, my mom’s recipe combines a handful of semi sweet chocolate chips and a whole bag of butterscotch chips. Melt the chips together and once smooth, spread them on the cereal layer. Let them cool and then cut them up to serve!
As an adult I’ve been known to sprinkle flaky sea salt on top of the almost cool bars, and just like my mom did, I always cut the bars into various sizes. This allows for everyone to get the exact right size of bar that they’d like and helps to avoid the Minnesotan tendency to cut everything in half until one single crumb is left in the pan. I also wrote about this in a previous post about bars.
You can read all about some history of the “Scotcheroo” here, which summarizes that Minnesotans are much more likely to call these bars “Special K bars” compared to other states in the upper Midwest. Check out these trend reports for Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin - fascinating!
When asking my friends on social media about these bars, the answers were mostly affirming and some were baffling! I asked:
1. What do you call these bars?
Most people that follow me call the bars Scotcheroos or Special K bars, and one other person called them peanut butter bars. Of course they have special names for certain families like “Grandma’s bars” or “Baseball Bars” or “Dad’s Favorite Bars”. But it seems like most people call them Scotcheroos. That’s what I call them now as an adult, thanks to my college’s foodservice calling them that, and now I can’t go back!
2. What cereal did your family use for the bottom layer?
The most common cereals were predictably Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, and Special K. But a few wildcards said that their family used Cheerios, which I had never heard of before! Cheerios?! Wild.
In my humble opinion, if you are calling them Special K bars and not using Special K as your base, then what are you even doing? If you are using Rice Krispies, then I think you have to call them Scotcheroos.
3. What did the top layer consist of in your family growing up?
Most people said that they use some combination of butterscotch and chocolate chips. Some people said that the chocolate was semi-sweet and others swore by milk chocolate. There were a solid group of people that said that the top was just melted chocolate, which, if you’re calling the bars Scotcheroos, the “scotch” has to come from somewhere, no?! If there’s no butterscotch, then I think those have to be Special K bars then. Two people said that the top layer in their family is made of peanut butter (chips) and chocolate combined.
For me, the top layer just HAS to be a butterscotch and chocolate chip combo, with the combination being mostly butterscotch chips.
4. What is your ideal ratio for top and bottom layer?
The picture I posted had a 1:5 ratio and it was fun to see what everyone said was their ideal ratio. Lots of people loved the ratio as it was in the picture, but some were bold enough to say that they wanted it to be 1:1! Imagine half and half?! So dreamy!
The good news is that to get your perfect ratio, all you need to do is to choose the right size dish to cool the bars off. If you like a thick bottom layer, choose a smaller dish, and if you like a thicker chocolate, it’s always easy to whip up more of the chocolate layer to add to the top. Or if you don’t like chocolate, you can leave that top layer off entirely and I can personally vouch for how delicious just the peanut butter cereal layer is on its own.
The key for me is to spread it pretty evenly across the middle section, and get slightly more chocolate around the perimeter of the dish so people who want more chocolate can choose the edge pieces.
5. What events are these present for in your life?
I joked that I need Scotcheroos at my funeral, which is morbid, but true. A Deep North funeral just wouldn’t be complete without a version of these bars. My friends love them at potlucks, summer dinners, picnics, every family event, school events, baptisms, graduations, and cookouts. One person even said that her grandma kept a batch in her freezer for “just in case” times and pulled them out as needed!
No matter what combination you do for your top and bottom layer of your Scotcheroo or Special K bar, I for one would never turn one down, and I know there’s several states that stand behind me on that!
Tell me all about your best memories with these bars! Who is the person in your family who is known for these?
Things I Like
This post about Summer SAD
My post from last year on How to Store (and eat) Early Summer Produce - I’ve been referencing this as the first summer CSA boxes come in!
Treadmill Strut Playlists from Allie Bennett on Spotify - great for hot girl walks and work sessions alike!
Being a wedding guest! My husband and I absolutely love celebrating others’ love.
This guide via @plutopaula on Instagram
May your week be gentle and may you eat well. 🌲🥣
Was just at a cookout yesterday and the hosts mom made 2 pans of these knowing they’d be a hit 😂.
I am ashamed to admit that I have never actually made this bars myself, but why would I need to? Someone else is guaranteed to bring them everywhere I go! And around here, pretty much everyone makes them exactly the same, so I don't need to worry if it's the "right" way or not :-) But you have inspired me ~ 2024 shall be the year that I finally make a Scotcheroo!