I made these to bring in to my new job, because that’s only right and correct – it’s a gift for people who already like me, and a bribe to people who don’t know me yet. If you start a new job and don’t bring in delicious baked goods, you might be a jerk. Or, y’know, maybe you don’t bake or something. You decide. Anyway, I sent around an email saying these little beauties were sitting around waiting to be eaten, but I had to let everyone down when I explained that despite their name, they don’t contain any actual scotch.

I got the recipe from Appeale. Apparently these little delights are an Iowa thing. I may have Canadianed them up a bit, though – I thought I had enough Karo syrup, but it turns out I had more like half of enough. I ran up to the Hi-Lo to try and grab some more, but it was MLK day and they were closed! I didn’t have time to go to the real grocery store, which I knew was open, so I came home and substituted the rest with maple syrup. Guys. This is a very good idea. You might think that with the peanut butter, chocolate, butterscotch, and now maple, there would be too many flavours competing in your mouth, but they all go together really well. It is pretty sweet, though, and sticky, so small pieces are the best way to go.

Maple Scotcheroos

Ingredients
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter (or I suppose you could use crunchy, but bear in mind it’s going to be mixed in with a bunch of crunchy cereal)
6 cups – ahem – crisped rice cereal
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks or hacked bits off a block, it doesn’t matter, you’re going to melt them anyway
1 cup butterscotch chips

Method
Get a pot big enough to hold all the cereal and pour the syrups and sugar into it.
Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is bubbling.
Remove from heat.
Stir in peanut butter until it’s fully melted and incorporated.
Gently stir in all the cereal until it’s all well coated.
Spray a 13×9 pan (or be cool like me with my 8×12 casserole dish) with cooking spray.
Spread the mixture evenly into the pan.
Put your chocolate and butterscotch chips in a bowl and melt them together in the microwave.
Spread evenly over the cereal mixture in the pan.
Throw the pan in the fridge to cool completely (seriously, completely – otherwise you get gooey stretchiness and drag the chocolate coating around with every cut if you just leave it to sit on the counter until it’s no longer particularly warm) before cutting.