How Can We Mess Up Rice Krispy Treats?

Riley and I had a great plan! Instead of buying candy treats for her friends at the babysitter's house, we were going to make Rice Krispy Treats - we even went and bought special sprinkles to make them festive (but Riley picked out stars, so I'm not sure how Halloween-ish they were).

Don't you just love the smear of marshmallow on her face :)

We melted the marshmallows and butter, just like the recipe called for, we dumped the box of cereal in and stirred for what seemed like an eternity to get everything all mixed up. Then we smooshed them in the pan - we made really thick ones because these were going to be a special treat. After they cooled a bit, Riley added the sprinkles and then she sampled the left overs in the bowl.............and then..........we waited for them to cool.So after they cooled, they were not fantastic, they were extra buttery (even though I followed the recipe) or maybe the cereal was stale or something (even though I had bought it at the store not 30 minutes before we tackled the project). Anyway, something wasn't right, they were ok, but definitely not gift-giving-worthy, so we went to the store and bought her friends some candy instead. Anyone want a treat? They aren't the best, but they are ok.......I just wish I knew what went wrong!!

Have you ever had anything like this happen - a seemingly simple recipe, which you've made 1,000 times go not-so-great when you certainly didn't have enough time to make another batch?