The Umami Ingredient Your Rice Krispies Treats Are Missing

Rice Krispies treats stand the test of time for a reason; however, admittedly, they can be a little too sweet at times thanks to all the marshmallows you use to make the treats. Thankfully, there's an easy way to remedy this and balance out all that sweetness. Simply add an umami-rich ingredient, one that's probably already in your refrigerator — miso — when you're making your next batch of Rice Krispies treats. 

When we make brownies, cakes, and cookies, we usually add a little salt or use salted butter to temper the sweetness levels of our baked goodies. In the same vein, we can swap out the salt and use miso instead when making Rice Krispies treats. 

Adding miso to Rice Krispies treats is a relatively simple process. First, pick out a recipe, like our salted caramel Rice Krispies treats recipe. Then, choose either red or white miso. While white miso is milder and often sweeter, we personally like to use red miso in all of our desserts and baking for more flavor and umami notes. Then, after melting the butter and marshmallows over low heat, turn off the beat and incorporate the miso, starting with a teaspoon at a time, and adjust to your taste.

Each bite of your Rice Krispies treats made with miso will taste balanced and not too sweet — an alluring characteristic of Asian baking. Surprising, the miso flavor will also be mellow and not that strong, but just right to temper marshmallow's sweetness. 

Once you've perfected a basic Rice Krispies treats recipe with added miso, it's time to experiment and customize the dish. Since miso is an Asian ingredient from Japan, try adding another Japanese ingredient to change the flavor of your Rice Krispies treats. For example, you can mix culinary-grade matcha into the melted marshmallows and turn the treats verdant and matcha-flavored. Matcha's grassy, umami, and earthy notes complement miso's brackishness well.

Another flavor you can experiment with that goes well with miso is ube. Try mixing drops of ube extract into the melted marshmallows to turn your Rice Krispies treats purple. Ube extract has sweet and vanilla notes that work well with miso. Finally, if you love a little heat and spice, make spicy Rice Krispies treats, try mixing miso with sriracha for umami-laden flavors with a kick.