The pages of my mom's cookbook from the 1970s are soft and well worn with the stain of age and buttery fingers.
The spine and faded green cover are taped together to keep the book intact. The many well-used recipes are scribbled on in my mom's cursive handwriting, with adjustments, suggestions, notes of who and when the recipe was made and whether it was a good or bad recipe.
Like many of my mom's frequently used and well-loved recipes, the 'Chocolate Scotcheroos' have the word "good" handwritten above the book text.
The bars are a favorite and over the years have morphed into a family tradition. My mom started making them years ago, decades ago in fact, and making them has become a tradition of mine as well.
I recall learning how to make them when I was in high school and over the years I have made them more frequently and for various occasions. My dad would even request I make them now and then, and so I would make a batch for him. They were one of his favorites. It put a smile on his face every time.
Scotcheroo Bars have been a hit with my family and a lot of other people I've made them for. I've made them so frequently over recent years, I remember using the recipe for my public speaking class at UW. It all started though from learning how to make them from my mom.
My mom doesn't recall exactly when she discovered Scotcheroo Bars, or Special K bars. She does remember making them when she first got married and recalls maybe seeing the recipe on the back of a cereal box. With a quick rummage through her old cookbooks, it was evident the renowned recipe wasn't in her cookbook from the late 60s, but it did appear in her book dating back to the early 1970s. So that's when we think it originated.
The Scotcheroo bars are a mixture of peanut buttery, chocolatey, butterscotch, chewy, crunchy goodness and are perfect for peanut butter and chocolate lovers.
She always liked to make them because everyone liked it and it was an easy, fast thing to make with not too many ingredients. She also likes it because it's easy to remember; the measurements are all the same except for the cereal.
Bars are best enjoyed when fresh and chewy. Talking from experience, the bars will harden after a week. They are a good bar to make during the summer months because no baking is necessary; no warming of the oven to heat up the house. This sweet treat is good for any season of the year though and pairs well with milk or coffee. If you are like my family, coffee pairs well with any sweet.
Chocolate Scotcheroos
1 cup sugar
6 cups Special K cereal
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup (6 oz.) chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup (6 oz.) butterscotch chips
Combine sugar and syrup and cook over moderate heat until it begins to bubble. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter; mix well.
Add Special K cereal and stir. Press mixture into buttered 9x13" pan. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together over hot water.
Spread over Special K cereal; cool and cut into bars.
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