Butterscotch Haystacks

No one in my house can remember what these things are called! And it’s hilarious! Brutus and Husband are having a particularly hard time with it and I have laughed at their expense all week long! Especially since I torture Brutus by telling him he can’t have one until he gets the name right.

They have called them fence posts, hay bales, scarecrows, barn doors, farm boys, straw stumps and more that I can’t even remember.

All they know is they like them. A lot. I was worried we wouldn’t eat them all and when I checked last night, they were all gone! Poof.

I grew up with these things so I was shocked when Husband didn’t know what they were. If you’re like Husband and haven’t heard of them, they eat a lot like a chocolate covered pretzel. They’re sweat and salty, creamy and crunchy all at the same time.

Traditional haystacks just have chow mein noodles in them but I thought it would be fun to add dry roasted peanuts. And packing in a little extra protein is never a bad idea. They lose their haystack shape a little this way but I don’t think anyone minds. Feel free to make them without the nuts – just double the chow mein noodles and the recipe works perfectly.

Butterscotch Haystacks
2 11-oz. bags butterscotch morsels
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 5-oz. can chow mein noodles
1 1/4 cups salted dry-roasted peanuts*
Wax paper or parchment paper

Gently melt butterscotch morsels, peanut butter and vegetable oil over medium-low heat in a saucepan (or in a double-boiler), stirring constantly, until morsels have melted and mixture is smooth.

Add noodles and peanuts to a large bowl. Pour butterscotch mixture over noodles and peanuts and gently stir until everything is evenly coated.

Use two tablespoons to drop little “haystacks” of the mixture onto wax paper or parchment paper. Leave haystacks to firm up for approximately 4 hours. Once set, store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Makes approximately 45 haystacks.

*you can omit the peanuts and double the chow mein noodles for traditional haystacks

This recipe was featured at the Weekend Potluck!


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