Salted Nut Roll Bars

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I’m not a huge fan of candy bars whatsoever, but I do enjoy the occasional Pearson’s Salted Nut Roll (pause for nut jokes). So when I stumbled across this recipe, I was intrigued, to say the least. Of course, after I found a dead spider and some webbing in the first bag of cookie mix I opened, I was slightly disgusted, but I went ahead with the recipe anyway. And I’m glad I did. Adding more marshmallows than what the original recipe called for to give it more of a gooey texture, I was very pleased with the results. And while it doesn’t taste exactly like a salted nut roll, it’s the closest I have come with any dessert I’ve attempted to make.

1 - 17-oz. package peanut butter cookie mix

3 cups miniature marshmallows

1 - 10-oz. package peanut butter baking chips

2/3 cup corn syrup

1/4 cup butter, cubed

2 cups crisp rice cereal

1-2/3 cups salted peanuts

2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, prepare peanut butter cookie mix according to package directions. Press the mixture into the bottom of a greased 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Sprinkle marshmallows over the crust and bake a couple minutes longer until marshmallows begin to puff. While the crust is baking, combine the baking chips, syrup and butter in a large saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in the cereal, peanuts and vanilla. Spread the cereal mixture over top of the crust. Cool completely.