Salted Nutella Rice Crispy Smores Bars

I didn’t have the heart to tell my friends that these weren’t brownies.

They were so happy, with fingers sticky with salted chocolate, giant grins, sugar highs. Lots of mmm-mmm’s and “these are the best brownies EVER” and “yay brownies” and “my favorite thing you ever made” and heads nodding in agreement.

But technically they’re not really brownies. They’re closer to fudge. There’s not a speck of flour in them, no egg, not even any baking time. I mean, I guess I could call them Flourless, Eggless, No Bake, Fudgey Salted Nutella Rice Crispy Brownie-Like Bars. Is that too much?

Or maybe Crunchy Nutella Smores Fudge? Nutella Rice Crispy Smores Hybrid? Crunchy Chewy Gooey Smores Squares? Crack Bars?

Crack Bars seem appropriate. The inspiration for these were Crunchy Top Brownies, which were inspired by a recipe called Better Than Crack Brownies. I made these for the same friend who was the recipient of those crunchy top brownies. He really likes rice crispy treats (but who doesn’t?)

So these Crack Bars. I mean, these Salted Nutella Rice Crispy Smores Bars. Are insanely good!  So it doesn’t really matter what I call them. Or what you call them. All it matters is that these treats are made with Nutella. And rice crispies. And smores. All smooshed together in a glorious pan of sugar high-inducing deliciousness.

It’s really sweet and soft and fudgy, which makes topping it with espresso salt even more logical. The logic being that salty-sweet desserts aren’t cloying, which means I can eat more.

These bars have a great combination of textures. I love the crunch of the rice crispies and the graham crackers, and the mixture of melted marshmallows in the fudge base and unmelted ones folded in.  This is also super easy to put together – another No Bake Dessert that’s perfect for lazy summer days.

Salted Nutella Rice Crispy Smores Bars

2 cups Nutella
1/3 cup salted butter
15 oz dark chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 10 oz bags)
16 oz mini marshmallows (about 1 1/2 10.5 oz bags)
2 cups rice crispies
2 cups chopped graham cracker cookie squares
1 tablespoon espresso salt (or use any other coarse salt you have)

In large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add Nutella and dark chocolate chips. Constantly stir until smooth and melted, about 8-10 minutes. Add 10 ounces (1 bag) marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

Add rice crispies and graham cracker squares. Stir until well coated. Fold in the remaining marshmallows until evenly distributed. Press mixture into a buttered 13×9 pan. Sprinkle with espresso salt. Cool completely or place in the fridge before cutting into squares.

They may look like brownies, they may taste like brownies, but they are better than brownies in more ways than one.

Tagged as: brownies, crack bars, espresso salt, fudge, marshmallows, no bake, nutella, rice crispies, rice crispy, rice krispies, smores, smores bars