I am a Failure

I can cook. I can bake. But I have met my match with one of the simplest recipes out there. Rice Krispie Treats. I love, love, love to eat them (especially the school's version with peanut butter). I hate, hate, hate to make them because I can't do it. It was kind of a class project for me tonight. Several students made some for tomorrow and I felt like a good role model would make some also. One student did bring store bought ones, but I had already bought the ingredients so I couldn't back out and cheat too. The whole problem started with the ingredients. The recipe called for 10 oz. of marshmallows. I had 16. Okay, so I will use 3/4 of a bag. Of course, by the time I figured this out, my butter was past melted by about 2 minutes. So I put in my marshmallows and started stirring. Wasn't looking too good. So I got some more butter and lobbed it in there. Then I thought maybe I put too much, so I let it melt some and dug it back out. Mixture turning light brown around the edges so I stopped scraping the sides of the pan. Then I added my peanut butter. Didn't look too bad. So I added it to my rice krispies (why doesn't the recipe and the box measure in the same amounts?). Then I began stirring. Then I was stuck. Then I stuck my clean hands in. Then I broke out in a sweat. I had strings of goo flying and was scared my fingers would become stuck like my spoon was. Even though all the cereal wasn't mixed in, I decided to aim for the pan to start pressing it in. Oops, I forgot to butter my hands, but did remember to spray the pan. Not a good combination. I finally scraped my hands as best I could, washed them, and then buttered my hands. Press, press. Didn't look too bad. Cut and test one. Okay, not exactly what I was going for. I think mine are still a little stringy and certainly not as peanut buttery as the school's. Help! I don't have enough cereal to make another batch tonight, but some day my children are going to bring home a note asking for these treats for class and their failure of a mother is going to cry. Here is my recipe. Someone please tell me what I am doing wrong! Also, does anyone have a recipe using marshmallow creme. I think this would be so much easier, wouldn't it?

3 tablespoons butter
10 oz. marshmallows, grrrr
1/2 cup peanut butter
6 cups cereal, grrrr

ps - I used the stove instead of microwave, because I think the last time I used the microwave and didn't have great results either.