Rice Krispies

Snickers Marshmallow Treats

July 25, 2016

Snickers Marshmallow Treats. What can I say about these treats to end all treats? They don’t have actual pieces of Snickers in them or anything because that’s not the point of these, although that would’ve taken them to the next level if we’re being honest. Instead, they’re meant to taste just like a Snickers bar because we both know that sometimes plain marshmallow treats just aren’t enough. So a brown butter marshmallow treat base gets a thick caramel layer studded with peanuts and then topped off with melted chocolate. Go ahead and try to tell me that dreams don’t come true. I’ll call you a liar because these prove otherwise. These are what dreams are made of. The best of both worlds. Candy bar meets rice cereal treats.

I’d like to thank everyone who participated in last week’s giveaway, along with all of the past weeks this month! Last week brought us the best response from all of the giveaways so far! I got so many great ideas for cake flavors; I’m adding them to my must-make list. A huge congratulations to last week’s winner (you know who you are). I hope you get good use out of that grill pan. If I were you, I’d start grilling EVERYTHING in sight. Now it’s with sad news that I tell you, we’ve come to the end of the giveaways. You only have this one more chance to win (but honestly there will be more giveaways coming soon, the next one will be on Instagram to be precise). This week’s giveaway is another signed copy of my cookbook The Slider Effect, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, AND I’m happy to announce that you’ll also win a swanky Hamilton Beach Stand Mixer! It comes in a fancy red color, along with the whisk, paddle and dough hook attachment. If you’ve always wanted a stand mixer to make your life easier, now is your chance to win one! Start planning out all of the cookies and breads you’ll be making very soon. Have I mentioned how amazing a stand mixer is?! You’ll definitely want to win this one!

To enter, leave a comment below letting me know what your favorite meal has been at a restaurant. Tell me all of the details like what restaurant, what city and why you loved it so much. Really, I’m just wanting to create a good guide of restaurants around the country so I can write them down and visit them in my travels. Thanks for your help. I can’t wait to read all about them! As always, my mamma will be picking the winner at random. It’s one of her greatest pleasures in life, what can I say? I love reading all of your comments so feel free to elaborate as much or as little as you’d like. Remember, let’s keep things fair with only one entry per person, and if you win this prize (or won last prize), you can’t enter the following weeks or this week. Sorry but I want everyone to have a fair chance. You have until Friday night to enter! Good luck, I’m rooting for you!

…

Neapolitan Marshmallow Treats

April 13, 2016

I used to eat rice cereal treats as a kid all the time. Literally all the time. My mamma would make them for my sisters and I on occasion and whenever she did, it was basically the greatest day ever. She also would make flan all the time, but I’m not a fan of flan so she’d make these for me whenever she’d make flan for my sisters. On another note, I also really loved neapolitan ice cream. Mainly because I was able to get chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream all at once. I wasn’t forced to pick just one flavor, which I really liked, because I was able to eat all three in one scoop. That my friends is what you call a kid’s dream come true. I’m just going to go on record and say that this is probably the best food invention ever invented. So with that being said, I recently teamed up with Delish Dish, Better Homes and Gardens’ blog to take one of their recipes and make it my own. When I was looking through the BHG site, scanning through all of their delicious recipes, these multi-layered cereal treats kept calling out to me. “Make me, make me,” they kept saying. And make them I did, with a few changes here and there to make them my own. Make sure to read below so that you can see how I did it! They’re super easy to make, so don’t worry too much about all of the layers and steps.

The way I look at it, these are the best of both worlds. You get the awesome flavors from the classic neapolitan ice cream but without the fear of melting ice cream and creating a mess. They’re perfect for kid’s parties and adult gatherings or dinner parties (aka for EVERYTHING in your life) because they’re a great recipe to make ahead of time. Whip these up the next time you’re in need of a show-stopping dessert that will for sure make your friends and family happy as clams. The added chocolate chips to the middle chocolate layer takes these over the edge, along with the dried cherries or dried strawberries (if you can find them) in the strawberry layer. Let’s fight those mid-week blues and celebrate one more day closer to the weekend by eating our weight in marshmallow treats. I think that’s the way to do it.

…

Ty’s Bunch-A-Crunch Cookies

September 19, 2011

A friend of mine just celebrated a birthday last week, so I wanted to give him something home baked as a gift; after all, doesn’t a warm soft baked gift from the oven mean so much more than a present from a store? I know, for a fact, that it’s much more well received than something store bought. Even if the something home baked is awful and doesn’t look like a work of art, it still means a lot because its the thought that counts, in the end. Right?

Well, this friend happens to be a fellow artist, and a great guy who pours his energy working with autistic children. I had the pleasure to meet Ty in one of my classes a semester back, and when I asked him what things he liked he responded with “I am a riced krispy/chocolate chip/oatmeal raisin kind of guy.” So naturally my brain started to instantly think on overdrive. I wanted to make something that he would actually enjoy, because after all, it was his birthday. Instead of making one or the other of his favorite treats, I had the bright idea of combining all of his favorites into one great cookie. Genius, I know! Oh and what an idea that was! I hit the gold mine. I discovered something untapped. I was like Daniel Plainview discovering an oil well (Total Daniel Day-Lewis reference right there, just in case you didn’t catch that). The mother of all cookies. An explosion of flavor in cookie town.

This is an oatmeal cookie on steroids, with all the usual suspects, but with some unexpected guests thrown in. I had decided to call them Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Rice Krispy Cookies; but wow, what a mouthful to say. Instead I thought I would appropriately entitle them Ty’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookies in honor of the birthday boy. So here it is.

The cast of characters:

First thing you have to do is mix the dry ingredients.

By now you should be used to this first step.

Grab your flour and pour it into a bowl.

Add some salt.

And baking powder.

It helps the cookie rise and stay soft and moist…and we definitely want that. Or at least I do. I don’t want hard cookies, and I’m sure Ty doesn’t want any either. He’d probably throw them back at me….

….No he probably wouldn’t. I’m sure he would still eat the hard cookies. But what kind of friend would I be, If I allowed him to eat hard cookies. Nope. Soft chewy cookies is what we need. I’ve decided. Made up my mind. No going back.

Next up, Baking Soda.

Now for the real star of the show, the unsung hero, Cinnamon.

And Nutmeg.

And All-Spice.

Basically, Thanksgiving in a Bowl.

You already know my love/addiction/obsession/admiration for Cinnamon, it crashes a lot of my recipes.

I’m warning you all now that this post is full of beauty shots. There were just too many great shots that I couldn’t edit out. It’s hard to have to say goodbye to some. I was obsessed with the day’s natural lighting coming in through my window. Can you blame me?

So you’ll find a lot of unnecessary repetitive steps photographed….but oh well. I’m just doing my job here. Let’s enjoy the shots together.

Once all the dry ingredients are in the bowl, whisk to combine.

You could also sift all these together, but truth be told, I get lazy to sift things out. It’s a messy job….sshhhh don’t tell anyone.

Set aside, we’re going to use this later.

Grab your stand mixer (hand mixer or just you’re plain ol’ hands with a wooden spoon works fine) and fit with the paddle attachment.

Unwrap two sticks of golden heaven, which I of course mean butter, and drop it into the mixing bowl.

Beauty Shot. Sorry. I did warn you.

The start to any great recipe….two sticks of room temperature butter. Man’s best friend. My heart just skipped a beat. I think I might be Paula Deen’s love child…

Throw in granulated sugar.

Light brown sugar.

Yes. We need both. Don’t start with me. I want both in there, okay. Ummm arhh….it keeps the cookies moist. Yea. Yea, that’s it, it keeps them moist. We’ll go with that.

Dump it in there quick before you regret it. But how could you regret this beautiful sight?

Whip it up. Mix until creamy and soft, and light, and airy. (All of the above).

Halfway through the creaming process, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl to get all the unmixed stuff.

Use a rubber spatula. OH look!!!! Guess who’s back to join the party!

Yup….

What did I tell you? I told ya, he’d be making frequent sporadic appearances.

What a hog?!?!? He’s trying to get his 15 minutes of fame.

Once you scrape down the sides of the bowl, mix once more until creamy.

Add the eggs.

One.

At.

Time.

Mixing well, after each addition.

Whip up until light and fluffy.

Some Vanilla Extract? Yes, please.

I love the smell of real vanilla extract. They should make a cologne…I’d wear it all the time.

Pour it in, and mix.

Once its all incorporated. Throw in the dry ingredients we whisked earlier.

Add the oats. Wouldn’t be oatmeal raisin cookies without it.

Our bumped up new ingredient, and the crunch to our bunch; Rice Krispies cereal.

And use the real deal, honest to goodness named brand cereal.

I can spot the fake generic wannabes from miles away. You can’t fool me….or Snap, Crackle and Pop.

…okay you can. I wouldn’t/couldn’t be able to tell. Go ahead use the generic brand, where the name is Krispies Rice Cereal, you know the kind.

Mix until all the ingredients are combined. Try not to over mix the batter, as we want the crunch to stay in tact.

There’s no reason to mix this to death. Its not alive. We don’t need to kill it. It hasn’t done anything to us.

Now for the bling bling.

Help us out Mr. Piggy Spatuler (See Paula Deen’s love child), what do we need?

Aww thanks! See that…..he’s trained.

Yup, we need raisins and Chocolate Chips…this is the ultimate cookie, what can I say?

Blend together, preferably, fold them in.

Our cookie dough is finished.

Resist the urge to grab a spoonful and eat it. Get a hold of yourself. At least wait, like I do, until they’re baked. And then stuff them into your mouth as fast as you can, like someone is going to steal them from you.

Grab your handy dandy cookie scooper, aka small ice cream scoop. Although why they call it an ice cream scoop is besides me. Ice cream for a doll maybe……but that isn’t big enough for any human!

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Come on, we don’t want our cookies to stick. We worked hard on them, after all.

Scoop out six identical cookies.

We need them to be the same size so they cook evenly and at the same time.

Space them out too, so they don’t flatten out and attach to each other.

Now use your paws and man-handle your cookies. Go ahead, I give you permission. Release all that anger, and stress on these cookies. Squish them down with the palm of your hand.

Get angry at them.

Angry because they’re tasty and deliciously bad for you. Angry because they call out to you in the middle of the night. “I hate you cookies. I hate you for your addictive and tantalizing qualities. You’re no good to me.”

Phew….okay, I think it’s all gone now.

Flattening out the cookies helps them spread out a little instead of puffing up like round domes.

Bake in a pre-heated oven, rotating pans halfway through the baking time.

Bake until golden brown and still a little white at the top.

They’ll finish cooking as they cool on the pan.

Once slightly cooled place the cookies on a wire rack to cool completely.

That’s it, we just finished making Ty’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookies. I think I just like saying the name. It has a ring to it.

Ty’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookiesTy’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookiesTy’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookiesTy’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookiesTy’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookiesTy’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookiesTy’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookiesTy’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookiesTy’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookiesTy’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookiesTy’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookiesTy’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookiesTy’s Bunch-A-Crunch cookies.

Well here’s to you my friend. May all your Birthday wishes come true. And may you enjoy another year full of happiness and health. A little wealth wouldn’t hurt either….here’s to you winning the lottery in the near future. This is it. This is your year. Just don’t forget the little people. Let’s all wish this guy a Happy Birthday.

Birthday’s are always better with candles to blow out. You need them to make it official. This is where wishes are made. Where they are thought up and blown into the air. Into the universe. A hope that one day it’ll come true. Birthday wishes are the most sought out. The special ones that actually count for something. You can’t take them too lightly. Think hard about what you want to wish for. You only get one shot a year. Make it worth something.

Who need’s cake when you have these mega super awesome cookies instead?

If your wish is to make a batch of these wonderful yummy cookies and enjoy them with a glass of ice cold milk and all those you love around you, well then your wish is my command. You’re in luck, here’s the recipe. Enjoy.

Ty’s Bunch-A-Crunch Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon All-Spice
1 cup Butter, Room Temperature
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 cups Old Fashioned Oats
1-1/2 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
1-½ cups Raisins
1 cup Chocolate Chips

Preparation:

Preheat oven 350ºF. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all-spice in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.

Combine the dry mixture with the wet mixture. Stir in oats, rice krispies cereal, chocolate chips and raisins.

Drop by tablespoonfuls on a cookie sheet. Bake 11-13 minutes.

Cool on pan, slightly. Remove to a wire rack and finish cooling for 5 minutes. Serve immediately or store in an air tight container. Enjoy.