Spiced Marshmallow Popcorn Bars

Crispy rice treats are exactly the kind of food I’ve tried to keep a secret from my kids. While their monolithic sweetness doesn’t do it for me, marshmallow deserves some credit for being a versatile and transformative product. This recipe, which uses popcorn in place of puffed rice, takes full advantage of marshmallow’s ability to bind ingredients together, saving you from having to break out a candy thermometer to make a homemade cooked sugar syrup. Marshmallow is produced using a similar technique but on an industrial scale.

Instead of using plain melted butter, I melt marshmallows into an Indian tadka-inspired mix of butter flavored with cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and mild chile flakes. The savory spices do wonders to counteract the marshmallow’s sweet flavor, while popcorn adds nutty character of its own. The result is salty-sweet balance in every bite. —Chris Morocco