Avalanche Bars

Avalanche Bars on a cooling rack with mini marshmallows, mini chocolate morsels, and a spoonful of peanut butter.

Get the Recipe: Avalanche Bars

Avalanche Bars are crispy, melty, and delicate confections held together with melted chocolate and peanut butter.

5 from 1 rating

Yield9 bars

Prep5

Cook5

Chill2

Total2 10

Ingredients

3 cups rice Krispies
⅓ cup semi-sweet, mini chocolate chips
¼ tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
1½ cups mini marshmallows
12 oz white chocolate bars
2 tbsp toasted milk powder, optional
¼ cup creamy peanut butter

Equipment

1 sauteé pan optional for toasted milk powder
flat edge spatula
measuring Cups
Measuring spoons
1 cutting board optional
1 chef knife
parchment paper optional
1 heatproof, large bowl
1 9in x 9 in (23cm x 23cm)

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Instructions

TOASTED MILK POWDER* (SKIP IF YOU ALREADY HAVE THIS INGREDIENT)

*This recipe only requires 2 tablespoons (12g) of toasted milk powder. Unfortunately, making any amount is a labor of love and it can’t be purchased pre-made. So, I suggest making at least 1 cup (100g) of toasted milk powder at a time and keeping it in your pantry for later use. Lucky for you, it is also an optional ingredient if you don't have the time.
Now that we have established that, to make toasted milk powder, add as much powdered milk as you'd like to make to a pan. Turn the burner to low/medium-low temperature for about 1 hour. Just like a roux, keep moving the powder around the pan so it doesn’t burn. Breakup any pieces that begin to clump together as best as you can. The powder will go from an ivory color all the way to a toasted deep golden color.
If too much of the milk powder is sticking to the bottom of the pan and you are having trouble scraping it up, turn your heat down or remove the pan from the burner to scrape and then return it to the heating element to continue. When you achieve a warm light brown color, remove from the burner and set aside to cool.

Start by prepping a 9in x 9in (23cm x 23cm) pan by spraying it with cooking spray. Then, measure out the rice Krispies, chocolate chips, salt, and mini marshmallows into their own bowls and set aside. Next, chop the white chocolate bars into small pieces and set aside.
Prepare a double boiler by filling a medium pot with roughly 1in (2.5cm) of water. Nest a heat safe bowl into the pot and place it on your stovetop. Turn the burner to heat the water in the below pot and add in the white chocolate pieces. As the bowl heats and the white chocolate begins melting, measure out and add in the toasted milk powder and peanut butter. Mix in the toasted milk powder and peanut butter until fully incorporated and all of the white chocolate has melted.
Remove the bowl from the top of the pot and set it on your counter. Pour in the rice krispies and mix until they are fully and evenly covered. Let the mixture cool just a little bit and mix in the marshmallows, again until fully incorporated and evenly mixed.
Using a spatula, scrape the avalanche bar mixture, thus far, into your prepared pan. Gently spread and press the Krispies mix into the pan. Let them cool for another 2-3 minutes, so they can cool to the point that the chocolate morsels won’t melt. Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the top of the avalanche bars. Then, let the finished bars rest at room temperature for 2 hours or until the chocolate has fully cooled and hardened.
When ready, pop the whole square out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Then cut 9 - 16 individual avalanche bars and serve.

Notes

If you don’t want to create a double boiler to melt the white chocolate, see the FAQs for microwave instructions.

To speed up the chilling/resting time, put the bars in the refrigerator. As soon as they lift as one square without bowing/bending, they are ready to cut and serve.

I’ve added the toasted milk powder into my version of avalanche bars for a browned butter flavor, but it is technically optional. So add it or don’t depending on what you like, if it’s already in your pantry, etc. (See FAQ for more information on toasted milk powder.)

If you still want easy avalanche bar removal, but don’t want non-stick cooking spray touching your bars, spray the pan and then insert parchment paper on top of the spray. Once the bars have hardened, pull the parchment paper up and place it on your cutting board. You might want to skip the spray completely, but it helps hold the parchment paper in place while you spread out the warm avalanche bars. I don’t recommend skipping it.

Want more than 9-16 bars? No problem. This recipe easily scales up to any multiplier. Just make sure to consider the container size you are using when increasing the recipe.

Nutrition