Easy, super sweet cereal treats made with butterscotch chips and topped with chocolate – these tiger bars are perfect if you have a serious sweet tooth!
This recipe for tiger bars comes from the back of the Chipits butterscotch chips bag, but with a few small adjustments. I’m quite certain that it’s only on the packaging sold in Canada – which is really a shame, because these cereal treats are so delicious and need to be shared with everyone. Essentially, you make a brown sugar butterscotch sauce using butterscotch chips that’s mixed with Rice Krispie cereal. The mixture is pressed into a pan and a layer of chocolate goes on top.
If you love eating butterscotch chips from the bag – then you’ll love these. They’re extremely sweet and have a deliciously crunchy texture. There’s no marshmallows in this recipe, so they aren’t gooey like traditional Rice Krispie treats.
Making Tiger Bars – Tips & Tricks
Making the recipe is very simple. You’ll first melt together ¼ cup butter, ¼ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup corn syrup in a large saucepan over low-medium heat. The butter will first melt and then you’ll bring the mixture to a gentle boil for about a minute while gently stirring. You want the brown sugar to be melted and you want the sauce to be an even-colored liquid, instead of seeing pools of melted butter on the top.
Then remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in a little vanilla extract and salt. These 2 ingredients are not used in the original recipe, but I really enjoy the additions because it rounds out the flavor and makes the bars slightly less sweet. Then you’ll stir in ½ cup butterscotch chips. The warm sauce will gently melt the butterscotch chips. They melt quite slowly, so don’t be alarmed if it takes quite a bit of stirring.
Then in go 2 cups Rice Krispies. The mixture is pressed into an 8×8 inch (20×20 cm) pan that’s either lightly greased or lined with parchment paper. I do not recommend using a 9×9 inch (23×23 cm) pan for this recipe, as the bars are quite thin already.
1 cup of melted chocolate chips (180 grams) gets spread overtop. You’ll then melt an additional ¼ cup of butterscotch chips with 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil (or canola oil). Butterscotch chips don’t always melt smoothly, so the oil really helps with that. The melted chips are drizzled over top of the chocolate layer. I typically spoon the melted chips into a freezer bag and cut off the very bottom corner and use this as a homemade piping bag for drizzling. But a spoon works too.
Note: This recipe uses ¾ cup butterscotch chips in total. So you’ll only need 1 bag and have some leftover chips.
To Double the Recipe: Simply double all the ingredients listed below and use a 9×13 inch pan (23×33 cm).
More butterscotch recipes to love:
- Butterscotch Cookies
- Confetti Squares – AKA butterscotch marshmallow squares
- Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Butterscotch Blondies
Tiger Bars
Equipment
- 8x8 inch (20x20 cm) pan
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter* (56 grams)
- ¼ cup brown sugar (50 grams)
- ¼ cup dark corn syrup (60 ml)
- ½ cup butterscotch chips (90 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups crispy rice cereal
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (180 grams) or dark
- ¼ cup butterscotch chips (45 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil or canola oil
Instructions
- Lightly grease an 8x8 inch (20x20 cm) pan. Alternatively, line with parchment paper leaving an overhang around the edges.
- Add the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup to a large saucepan over low-medium heat.
- Gently stir the mixture as the ingredients melt. Once melted, bring the sauce to a gentle boil while stirring. Boil for about a minute, or until you no longer see pools of melted butter on top of the sauce.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and salt.
- Add in ½ cup butterscotch chips. Gently stir the mixture with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, allowing the chips to melt into the sauce.
- Once the chips have entirely melted, stir in the cereal until its evenly covered in butterscotch goo.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and press into an even layer.
- Add the chocolate chips to a heatproof bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds at medium power (not high power, which is often the default). Remove from the microwave and stir. Repeat the process until smooth. Alternatively, melt on the stove in a double boiler.
- Spread the melted chocolate over the Rice Krispie treat layer.
- Add the butterscotch chips and oil to a small heatproof bowl. Microwave for 45 seconds on medium power. Remove from the microwave and stir. Repeat until smooth. Or melt in a double boiler.
- Drizzle the melted butterscotch chips over the chocolate layer. I spoon the melted chips into a freezer bag and cut off the bottom corner. Then I used the bag as a homemade piping bag to drizzle the melted chips.
- Let the bars firm up and the chocolate set. I prefer to do this on the counter at room temperature (it will take about 2 hours). You can also pop them in the fridge to firm up, which will be faster. However, the chocolate can sometimes discolor in the fridge.
- When ready to slice, cut with a thin, sharp knife. If you lined the pan with parchment, lift the bars out of the pan and place on a cutting board. Then slice.
Notes
- Butter: Butter can be substituted with margarine or salted butter. If using salted butter, remove the salt from the recipe.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- Nutrition: Details provided are an estimate only and based on 1 bar, assuming the pan is sliced into 12 equal-sized pieces.
Made these and they were buttery and delicious, definitely added to my rotation!