Copycat Star Crunch

I really love Little Debbie snacks but I very rarely have them. I don’t like eating things that are full of unpronounceable ingredients and preservatives. Plus, I greatly prefer to make things myself. My favorites have to be Oatmeal Creme Pies and Star Crunch. I am still looking for a perfect Oatmeal Creme Pie copycat recipe, but this recipe for Star Crunch is absolutely perfect.

These cookies are a fantastic combination of caramel, chocolate, and crunchy crisped rice cereal. They keep in a sealed container for a week, or in the fridge for a month. Next time you crave Little Debbie Star Crunch, try your hand at making your own!

Ingredients:

Recipe Credit: Adapted from Stella Parks

1/2 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon vanilla paste

3 ounces of milk chocolate chips (use a chocolate for baking; some versions of “eating” chocolate contain too much fat. When your combine this chocolate and the caramel together, the mixture can split instead of emulsify)

1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Method:

Mix the water, sugar, and salt in a 4-quart saucepan with a thick bottom over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is bubbling swiftly. Stop stirring; if you stir at this point, your caramel may crystallize. Instead, swirl your pan. Simmer until the syrup turns light amber; this will take about eight minutes. Meanwhile, measure out your heavy cream so it will be ready to add as soon as your caramel is ready. Add your vanilla paste to the heavy cream.

When the syrup turns light amber, add your cream mixture and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, whisking constantly, for about 6 minutes until the bubbling becomes less violent and the mixture thicker. Continue cooking while whisking, until the caramel reaches 245 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

For the caramel into a metal bowl and allow it to cool until it reaches 140 degrees F; this will take about a half hour. Stir in your pre-measured milk chocolate until it is completely melted, then fold in the Rice Krispies.

On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, drop on 12 equal mounds of the Star Crunch mixture. I used a heaping eighth of a cup to measure them out. Flatten the mounds down, and allow to cool and set for at least an hour. Dig in!

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