Marshmallow Cereal Bars

I made these for book club tonight. Only problem is, book club was canceled. Oh well. More marshmallow cereal bars for me! (We were reading The Remains of the Day, in case you are interested. I wasn't so much a fan.)

I've never really been a reader of Slashfood. Until, that is, I came across the Marshmallow Cereal Bars recipe posted on the site (it's actually taken from the Cheerios website). And because I had a surplus of mini marshmallows and Honey Nut Cheerios in the pantry, I decided to try out the recipe!

Well, it wasn't AS easy as it seemed. I don't really remember making Rice Krispies treats as a kid (Mom, did we ever??) and I certainly never made them as an adult. So I didn't really have a point of reference going into this recipe. If I make it again, which I probably will, I would do at least one thing differently: make more. My mixture didn't even fit a whole 9x13 baking pan! I'd probably double the recipe next time to remedy this. I mean, I want nice and thick cereal bars. But to spread the mixture out evenly throughout the entire 9x13 pan would have given me super skinny bars. No thanks.

Even just making the recipe as is, I also thought that 5 cups of Cheerios seemed way too much. I stopped at 3 cups. So if I doubled it, I'd try 6 cups and see how that looked. It just didn't look like there was enough marshmallow mixture to go around all of those Cheerios.

Oh, and I used Honey Nut Cheerios, not plain Cheerios. So... yeah.

Also, when the directions say to quickly put the Cheerios into the marshmallow mixture - DO IT FAST! Don't even take time to read. Measure out your Cheerios while the marshmallow mix is in the microwave so that you are ready to go ahead of time. That marshmallow stuff starts to harden real quick.

Alright, ready? GO:

Cheerios Marshmallow Bars
(from the Cheerio's website)
3 tbsp butter
4 1/2 cups (about 1 package) mini marshmallows
5 cups plain Cheerios

Grease or butter a 9x13-inch pan and one side of a large sheet of wax or parchment paper.
In a large, microwave-safe bowl, combine the butter and the marshmallows. Microwave on high at 30-second intervals, stirring each time, until smooth. Quickly fold in Cheerios and pour into prepared pan.
Press into place using the greased wax or parchment paper, making an even layer.
Allow to cool before cutting into 20 bars.
Makes 20.