Chocolate & Nutella Rockslide Bars

I had attempted the semi-sweet rendition of these bars once before, but, as I quickly found out, it wasn’t quite as easy as substituting dark chocolate for the white chocolate and Nutella for the peanut butter. I’m assuming it is the softer nature of the white chocolate to begin with, but the chocolate version crumbled and shattered in a brittle mess. In the end it took a good bit of butter, some cream, and almost twice as much Nutella as peanut butter (you need more Nutella for the flavor to hold its own against the semi-sweet chocolate).

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups puffed rice cereal
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup nutella
• 12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips or chopped semisweet chocolate
• 2 cups mini marshmallows
• 1/2 cup mini or regular white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Line an 8-by-8-inch square baking pan with lightly greased parchment paper. This recipe can easily be doubled to fit a 13-by-9-inch baking pan.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter together with cream over medium-low heat. Add nutella and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips, stirring until the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. The residual heat should be enough to melt the chocolate, but if necessary, return it to very low heat until completely melted.
3. Place the rice cereal in a large bowl. Pour over melted chocolate mixture and gently toss until completely coated. Fold in the marshmallows.
4. Spread into prepared pan, compressing lightly with the back of your spoon. Don’t press too hard or you’ll crush the cereal. Sprinkle with white chocolate chips and press lightly to adhere. Refrigerate until set, at least 30 minutes, then cut into 2-inch squares and serve. Bars will keep, covered in the refrigerator, for up to 5 days.