SunButter Scotcheroos

Sweet-salty cereal bars made with sunflower seed butter and covered in dark chocolate. SunButter Scotcheroos are an easy no-bake nut-free snack or dessert!

THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY SUNBUTTER®

If you’ve never heard of or had a scotcheroo, it’s the marshmallow-free still cereal-filled cousin to the rice crispy treat usually made with peanut butter and covered in butterscotch and chocolate. It’s also one of the most joyfully named desserts if you ask me. Show me a sensible human would say no to someting sweet and sticky called a “scotcheroo”, whether he/she had met one before or not.

Personally I say YES to the whole pan. And double YES to just 5 ingredients and no baking. And triple YES to making them with SunButter!

Now obviously we’ve done some heavy tweaking on the traditional scotcheroo, which is usually not vegan or particularly healthy. I will by no means say these are a “health food”, but we did a few things to nudge them closer:

No corn syrup + cup of sugar in our recipe, just a half cup honey or brown rice syrup.
No butterscotch chips melted for the topping, just straight-up silky dark chocolate.
SunButter instead of peanut butter so they are nut-free. This one is less of a health swap and moreso done for deliciousness reasons.

Y’all know about my deep and undying love for SunButter. Nothing against PB, but I just prefer SunButter. Particularly in this recipe I think it makes for a less nutty, more dessert/decadent/caramel-y flavor than peanut butter.

I used the organic variety of SunButter here because that’s what I had, but any of them would work. I wouldn’t even be mad about the crunchy kind, little sunflower seed chunks mingling with the crispy rice cereal…wait now I want to rewind and do that.

To make SunButter Scotcheroos

Melt the honey or brown rice syrup with the SunButter. I was making these at a friends house, and they’re the kind of friends who don’t own a microwave. I love them and all, but I do not love or advise melting SunButter + honey in a measuring cup immersed in boiling water unless you want to burn your hand and spill sticky-ness everywhere. Just fyi.

Mix this hot sticky mixture with the cereal and salt. Large bowl recommended, it can get messy. Press into a pan (greased or lined), and I mean really PRESS. We want them to hold together tight.

Melt the chocolate and spread that good stuff all over the top, extra sprinkle of flaky salt optional.

Refrigerate. Or freeze for my more impatient friends. I actually like them REALLY cold, so sometimes I keep them in the freezer and just let them thaw for a few minutes before eating. Hello EXTRA crunch. But you do you – just an idea.

From the double O in the name, to the cereal in the bars, to the handful of chocolate chips you of course steal and snack on while making, to the sticky fingers you’re left with after that last bite – there is nothing particular mature about this recipe. And that is why I love it ♡