Tag Archives: marshmallows

Confetti Corn Pop Treats

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Why are cereal treats one of the best sweet snacks ever? Because they’re basically the easiest thing to make and you typically only need three ingredients. I mean, if Kim Kardashian can make Rice Krispie treats, then anyone can.

Sorry, Kim K.

Once you get the feel for traditional Rice Krispie treats, you can start playing around with mix-ins, or if you’re really feeling adventurous, you can try different cereals. That’s right; back away from the played-out Rice Krispies and embrace the unknown! Grab your favorite box of cereal, and you can experience a whole new world of cereal treat possibilities. Almost any cereal will be delicious when combined with molten marshmallow, except maybe Fiber One or Raisin Bran.

I’ve done a slew of experiments with cereal treats from Frosted Brown Butter Cinnamon Roll Rice Krispie Treats to a Peanut Butter Cocoa Puff Treat Cake. It seems that every time I get about halfway through a box of cereal, the Cereal Treat Demon possesses me, and I simply must morph it into treat-form.

Such was the case with the box of Corn Pops lurking in the pantry. It was a hug box; I’d never get through it on my own. TIME TO MAKE TREATS! *insert super hero theme music*

…I’ve gone from a Cereal Treat Demon to a Cereal Treat Super Hero in less than 5 seconds; talk about working your way up the corporate ladder.

My Confetti Corn Pop Treats work for two reasons. One, the Corn Pops act like jumbo-sized Rice Krispies in the treats. Two, it’s not such a drastic change from a traditional RKT that you’ll upset the diehard traditional RKT lovers, but it does give you a nice crunchy, corny upgrade. And of course, some fun multicolored sprinkles never hurt.

Crispy, chewy, and gooey…you can’t go wrong!

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A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

  1. The sprinkles are optional. You can also switch them out for non-pareills sprinkles.
  2. I made mine in an 8×8 for big, thick squares, but you can make them thinner in a 9×13.
  3. This is a pretty fool-proof recipe that’s great for beginners, and everybody will love them.
  4. I have made cereal treats with both the large and mini marshmallows, and for whatever reason, large marshmallows work better. They’re chewier, whereas the treats made with minis are dry.

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Confetti Corn Pop Treats
By The Smart Cookie Cook

Ingredients:

  • 4 tbsp. butter (1/2 a stick)
  • 1 bag large marshmallows
  • 6 ½ cups Corn Pops cereal
  • ½ cup rainbow sprinkles

Directions:

  1. Measure out the Corn Pops in a large bowl and set aside.
  2. Spray an 8×8 pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
  3. In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the marshmallows and mix continuously until completely smooth and melted.
  4. Remove from heat and fold in the Corn Pops until evenly coated. Gently fold in the sprinkles just until evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared pan. Either spray your hands with nonstick spray or use waxed paper to press the treats down into an even layer. Let cool completely before cutting.

110-Calorie Chocolate Marshmallow Cupcakes

Sometimes, Pinterest is a huge problem. I’ll be sitting and doing work like the diligent college student I am, then all of a sudden, I find myself scrolling through Pinterest. It can be hard to make myself get off. That site is just so crazy addicting, full of brilliant ideas, tantalizing food, and funny cats.

Sometimes though, Pinterest is the solution to a huge problem. Take for example the other day when I was craving something chocolatey for dessert. I was eating relatively healthy that day, and I had no desire to diverge from that in exchange for some thousand-calorie dessert. However, I was sick of my typical low-cal dessert options. In a fit of desperation, I called upon the powers of Pinterest to bestow me with a healthy but delicious treat.

Pinterest, being the gold mine that it is, came through. I discovered a 100-calorie cupcake recipe which was also vegan. Intriguing.

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Seriously Cereal: Lucky Charms is Magically Delicious For All Ages

The frazzled cry of, “They’re after me lucky charms!” still rings in the ears of many American adults. As children, we grew up watching Lucky the Leprechaun endlessly fleeting from greedy children with no sense of boundaries. They were, indeed, ALWAYS after his lucky charms. Poor Lucky never caught a break. Even today, he is still on the run. The children are as determined as ever, in hot pursuit of that colorful, marshmallow-studded cereal. But really, who can blame them?

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Make-Your-Own Halloween Candy Mini Pies

Trick-or-Treating is a really good idea in theory. You get to dress up however you please, portraying an entirely different person/creature/thing for one night, and frolic about the town collecting candies and confections aplenty. It’s a night full of jocular enjoyment, for sure. However, every year, you face that Day-After-Halloween Dilemma when you say, “What the heck am I gonna do with all this candy???” Sure, you can plow through a good portion of it during mindless snacking, but it’s almost inevitable that an unfortunate chunk will get discarded into the depths of the garbage can. That usually happens sometime around Christmas (or for some people, Easter) when you realize how long that candies has been chilling in your pantry and that you’re probably never going to eat it. The Day-After-Halloween Dilemma usually includes a premonition of that very moment.

And it’s not just trick-or-treaters who are susceptible to the Day-After-Halloween Dilemma. Adults everywhere fall victim when they fail to hand out all of the candy they bought for the trick-or-treaters. They have no clue what to do with the leftovers, and a quandary results.

So, how do you avoid this? Well, lucky for you little cookies, I’ve whipped up an easy and DELICIOUS solution! Cue the Make-Your-Own Halloween Candy Mini Pies. These little guys are not only ideal for using up leftover Halloween candies, they are also PERFECT for Halloween parties! You can make the crusts ahead of time then give everyone an assortment of candy to choose from. Your guests can pick out their favorites then fill their own personal mini pie with the candy and marshmallows! It’s fun, customizable, and so yummy!

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Spooky Rice Krispie Treat Halloween Mask!

College poses many obstacles. It tells me, “Hey, write five in-depth, multiple-step essays in 90 minutes for your honors pysch midterm,” and, “Sit through a 3-hour night class where you learn how to use Microsoft Word, even though you learned that in middle school,” then, “Make a two-faced mask out of ‘found materials’ for Art class.”

Wondering what all of this has to do with Halloween or Rice Krispie Treats? Well, I may not be a psychology expert or physically capable of staying awake through three-hour night classes, but I am okay at art. Initially, when my art teacher asked us to make a mask, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. Quickly, however, that feeling diminished as a light bulb illuminated approximately 2 inches above my head. I realized I had an opportunity here to do what I do best: work with food. Dread quickly turned into excitement.

I’ve never sculpted with Rice Krispie Treats nor worked with fondant before this, but I figured I could work it out easily enough using knowledge acquired from religiously watching Food Network (and Cake Boss on TLC). It really wasn’t all that bad. I whipped up some Rice Krispie treats, molded them while the marshmallows were still molten, let it set, frosted it, covered it in fondant, then decorated it. And there you have it: a 100% edible, two-faced Halloween mask!

The Jack-O-Lantern Side.

The Skull Side.

Although I wouldn’t recommend using this for your Halloween costume (unless sticking your face into Rice Krispies is your thing), it would make a welcomed addition to any Halloween party, as well as an awesome centerpiece to a Halloween-themed table-scape. Once you’re done admiring it, you can eat it!

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Down for the Count: What Have They Done to Count Chocula?

 

As a kid, there were no cereal mascots I loved more than Count Chocula and his creepy accomplices, Boo Berry & Frankenberry. Not only were their cereals DELICIOUS, but they were probably the coolest breakfast characters out there. Nothing appealed to me more than that gangly trio of monsters and their sweet, marshmallow-studded cereals. Boo Berry, with its unique blueberry-flavored cereal pieces and sugary marshmallows, was beyond awesome. But, for whatever reason, the original Count Chocula has always held the number one spot in my heart. I never did try old Frankenberry, but I don’t imagine he could knock the Count out of his top spot either. You can’t beat the original.

There was a dark time in my life when many years passed without the presence of Count Chocula’s cereal, or any of his other beastly buddy’s. I don’t know if this applies to all regions of the country, but Count completely disappeared from my radar for a long time. They stopped nationwide distribution and I died a little inside.

Then, a year or two ago, Count showed up again in Target at Halloween time. Good ol’ Target. Leave it to them to sell all things fabulous in the world. Needless to say, I rejoiced. I threw my hands in the air and thanked the almighty Cereal Gods. At last, the Count and I were reunited. I also bought some delicious Boo Berry.

Every year since then, I have patiently waited for Halloween to roll around again so that I could have my Count Chocula. This year was no exception. Last weekend, I trekked over to my local  Target to sweep up arm-fulls of Count Chocula cereal boxes and whisk them away to the safety of my home.

…Okay, so I bought one box. Nevertheless, I was thrilled. I might’ve embarrassed my mother a bit by my overjoyed reaction upon spotting The Count in Target, but I cannot bring myself to regret it. I love anything Halloween-related and I love sugary cereal. Count offers me both of those pleasures.

But there was something wrong, my little cookies, very wrong indeed…

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Pumpkin S’mores

When most of us said goodbye to summer, we also bid farewell to short shorts, flip flops, cookouts, and s’mores. With a heavy heart, we realized that it would be another long year until such things came back into our lives again. And so, we turned to embrace Autumn. Well, my little cookies, grieve no longer. Although I cannot give you warm weather or a society that approves of wearing sandals in October, I can give you s’mores. With this special autumn twist, they are limited to summer no longer.

Behold: Pumpkin S’mores.

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Toasted Marshmallow Milkshakes

There are some methods of cooking that are so simple and make so much sense that we overlook them. I once saw a man on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives put an entire apple pie into a gelato base, blend it all up, and make Apple Pie Gelato out of it. Yes, the whole freakin’ pie. It sounds over the top, but really, if you want to make something taste like Apple Pie, why wouldn’t you just add Apple Pie?

That same concept applies to this incredible milkshake. If you want a milkshake to taste like toasted marshmallows, you don’t add artificial flavorings or even plain marshmallows; you put whole toasted marshmallows into the milkshake mix with all of their charred goodness. The results are everything you could ever dream of: luscious, liquified toasted marshmallows with an added creamy smoothness from the ice cream. It’s amazing how much that charred marshmallow taste shines through. And with every sweetly nostalgic sip, you might just taste a hint of summer campfire on the back of your tongue.

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Monster Marshmallow Cookies

Monster cookies get a bad rap. They’re discriminated against as over-sized, over-indulgent, and overdone. These Monster Marshmallow Cookies, however, are a new breed. They are not size of your head, although still a substantial build. I believe the term “monster” refers to their kitchen sink-like composition and thick, chewy texture. They’re packed with Rice Krispies, mini marshmallows, oats, nuts,  and chocolate chips. It’s a lot of elements going on at once, but they all work so well together. It’s a cookie circus, a skilled balancing act.

The texture of these cookies is really unique. You get an airy crispness from the Rice Krispies, a sturdy chewiness from the oats, and a classic familiarity from the base dough that resembles a chocolate chip cookie dough. It’s like Rice Krispie Treats, oatmeal cookies, and chocolate chip cookies got in a 3-car pile up. If such is this case, then that’s one awesome accident.

These aren’t the monsters lurking in your closet or creeping under your bed. They’re the good kind, the little fuzzy ones that are cute despite multiple eyeballs and vibrant colors (you know, like the ones in Monsters Inc.). If you’re looking to try something different from your everyday chocolate chip or oatmeal cookie or your old-school Rice Krispie Treat, then this is the cookie for you!

A few tips before you get cooking:

  1. Use the parchment paper or you will never get your cookies off the pan.
  2. Don’t chill the dough for more than the 30 minutes. I know sometimes people like to make dough a day ahead of time so that the flavors can melt together (or because you’re pressed for time and can’t do it all in one day), but if you do, your Rice Krispies will turn to mush and you’ll lose that textural element.
  3. I like to stick one marshmallow directly on top of each cookie before it bakes. When the cookies come out of the oven, the marshmallows are melted and toasted and almost look like a little sunny-side up egg. It’s cute! 
  4. At least 90% of the time that I bake cookies, I forget to incorporate chilling time. These guys needs 30 minutes in the fridge. That means, if you forgot to account for chilling time, that’s half an hour that’s going to come and unexpectedly bite you in the butt. (Or maybe it’s just me that naively thinks cookies don’t need as much prep time as they do and you should just ignore this…)
  5. This recipe includes a chocolate drizzle. I opted to try out the new Hershey’s S’mores Dessert Icing. I couldn’t resist my curiosity! It was pretty darn tasty. Although, it reminded me of something and I couldn’t for the life of me put my finger on it (no, it wasn’t s’mores). Anyways, I’m sure the chocolate drizzle is delicious too. You could top these cookies with just about anything (or nothing for that matter).

Monster Marshmallow Cookies

Recipe from The Food Network Magazine

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

For the Cookies:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups quick-cooking oats
  • 1 1/4 cups crispy rice cereal
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
  • 1 cup miniature marshmallows

For the Topping:

  • 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup miniature marshmallows
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons half-and-half
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

OR

Make your own topping/drizzle/frosting!

Directions

Make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and both sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time on medium speed, then beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined.

Stir the oats, cereal, chocolate chips, pecans and marshmallows into the dough with a wooden spoon. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. Bake the cookies in batches until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies rest on sheet pans to cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.

Make the topping: Combine the chocolate chips, marshmallows, half-and-half and cayenne pepper in a saucepan over medium heat; cook, stirring, until the mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the pecans. Drizzle the mixture over the cookies and let set, about 4 hours.

Little monster cookies!