The Foodie Files

You know that whole marketing strategy where a company leads you to believe you're saving tons of money, but in all actuality you're spending it on something you don't necessarily need (hello Black Friday/Cyber Monday/the entire month of December)?  Well, it turns out I'm a sucker for it.  Case in point: to avoid having to throw out the leftover marshmallows from last week's S'mores party (which was super cool, by the way), I went out and filled my shopping cart with an outrageous amount of experimental ingredients.  Because a house isn't really a home until there's at least half a dozen varieties of marshmallow treats sitting on your kitchen table. 

The good news is I came up with quite a few really delicious recipes, all of which are a slight variation of the Cake Batter Rice Krispy Treat recipe I posted in September.  Since this is a design blog, not a Rice Krispy Treat blog, I'm not gonna spread all these out over the course of the next few weeks.  You can consider this read one, get five free day.  The process is the same across the board:
1) Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat.
2) Add marshmallows and stir until they melt completely.
3) Stir in mix (if applicable), then remove from heat.
4) Add cereal and stir like your life depends on it.
5) Add your mix-in (if applicable) and stir some more.
6) Press into a lightly greased baking dish and let rest for about 30 minutes.
7) Cut into squares
The biggest variation is (obviously) the ingredients.  Here's what I tried and how they turned out.

Red Velvet Cake Rice Krispy Treats: 

3 TBS butter
10 oz bag of marshmallows
3/4 cup red velvet cake mix
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

These were definitely a crowd favorite!  If you like red velvet anything (and how could you not?) you'll love these.  Don't forget the white chocolate chips- they're a key piece of the puzzle.

German Chocolate Rice Krispy Treats:

3 TBS butter
10 oz bag of German chocolate marshmallows
3/4 cup German chcolate cake mix
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

For me, the biggest surprise of our S'mores party (besides the incessant rain) was the tastiness of the German chocolate marshmallows I bought on a whim.  When paired with the cake mix and Rice Krispies, these treats came out true to German chocolate form (strong taste of chocolate and toasted coconut with a hint of pecan).  AKA delicious.

Butter Pecan Rice Krispy Treats:

3 TBS butter
10 oz bag of Butter Rum marshmallows
3/4 cup butter pecan cake mix
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
1/2 cup chopped pecan pieces

I had my doubts about these little guys when I first saw the color (a little fluorescent, don't you think?), but I got rave reviews from everyone who tried them.  If you don't care for strong flavors or don't feel like special ordering marshmallows, you might want to substitute the butter rum marshmallows for regular ones.  For the true butter pecan flavor...stick to the recipe.  It's darn good.

Chocolate Peppermint Rice Krispy Treats:

3 TBS butter
10 oz bag of mint chocolate marshmallows
6 cups Cocoa Krispies cereal
1/2 cup crushed peppermint pieces

These might have been my favorite...I don't know.  It's a toss up.  I got so excited to try them I ended up waiting all of 5 minutes before I cut them, hence the mishapen-ness above.  I'll tell you one thing though, I know a holiday treat when I see it and that's a holiday treat.

Tutti Frutti Bars: 

3 TBS butter
10 oz bag of strawberry marshmallows
6 cups Fruity Pebble cereal

If I was handing out awards, these would get one for eliciting the most extreme, isolated reaction.  Everyone seemed to like them, but my brother literally freaked out.  I've made him gourmet meals that didn't get half the response these got (the more I think about it, the less I'm liking this actually...).  For a fun treat, I'm thinking this recipe has a pretty solid trump card.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Puffs:

3 TBS butter

10 oz bag of chocolate marshmallows
6 cups Reece's Puffs

Unlike most of the people I know, I'm not a big fan of the chocolate and peanut butter combo (quit judging me)...those of you who are will probably find these delightful.  My original plan was to cut these into bars but, for whatever reason, they were reluctant to cooperate.  Instead of tossing the whole batch (as I briefly considered), I re-grouped, grabbed a handful and started rolling, which worked surprisingly well.  

So there you have it.  I wouldn't recommend making them all the same day (seriously, what was I thinking?) but when you do try one (and I hope you do) let me know how it goes!