Rice Krispie Squares, perfect just the way they are

 Dessert, Snack
Apr 302010
 

What was I thinking?

Ok, I’ll come clean. I actually remember what I was thinking. It went something like this, “Crap, Valentine’s Day is tomorrow” and “Double crap, he’s expecting me to bake him something like previous years”. I dug deep and decided to make pink, heart-shaped rice krispie treats with words on them (aka those candy hearts). My husband loves rice krispie squares and I can make them in a heartbeat so I decided that would be perfect.

I applied the tiniest amount of red food colouring to the melted marshmallow mixture and created a ghastly Pepto-bismol pink. Yikes!  After studying the colour, and convincing myself that it wasn’t so bad, I decided to proceed. I pressed the mixture into a greased cookie sheet and punched out hearts using a large, heart-shaped cookie cutter. Then, I cut the left over bits into diamonds and “iced” them.

They still looked gross. I melted “Wilton red candy melts” (that’s what they’re called) and piped words on the hearts which improved the look . Unfortunately, they were still unappetizing. I know this for a fact as I took some to work and they lasted until the afternoon. A very bad sign.

That day I learned a valuable lesson (besides don’t leave things to the last minute) that I can now put in to practice with my own family. Original, unadulterated Rice Krispie Squares are best…period. There are some things in this world that you just can’t improve upon. This  is one of them.

Original Rice Krispie Squares

Ingredients
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 pkg (about 40) regular marshmallows or 5 cups miniature  (250 g)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
6 cups RICE KRISPIES cereal

Directions

  1. Melt margarine in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
  2. Stir in vanilla. Stir in RICE KRISPIES cereal until well coated. Using lightly buttered spatula, press into buttered 3.5 L (13 x 9″) pan.
  3. Allow mixture to cool. Cut into bars. Best if served same day.
     
    Note:
    For chewier bars, use an extra cup of miniature marshmallows or about 8 regular marshmallows.

Courtesy of Kellogg‘s Rice Krispies.ca

Easy Coconut Cream Compliments Cake

 Dessert
Apr 282010
 

If you don’t like coconut you can stop reading right now. If you like coconut, brace yourself.

Simple ingredients (almost idiot-proof, I’d say): cake mix, cool whip, coconut are combined to produce an AWESOME tasting, melt -in-your-mouth cake. This one is so good, I take it to potlucks in a star pan. The cake, shown above, was my contribution to an Easter brunch a couple of years ago. I bought the chocolate decoration at Charlie’s Chocolate factory in Burnaby.

Let me know if you make it. I hope you like it.

Coconut Cream Cake

Ingredients
1 yellow cake mix
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flaked coconut
1 container of Cool Whip (4cups or 1 L)

Directions

  1. Prepare cake as directed and bake in a 9″ x 13″ pan.
  2. Cool 15 minutes and prick holes all over cake
  3. Combine milk, sugar, and 1/2 cup of coconut in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 minute
  4. Carefully spoon over warm cake and cool completely
  5. Fold 1/2 cup of coconut into Cool Whip and spread over cake
  6. Sprinkle remaining coconut on top
  7. Refridgerate overnight

Courtesy of  Winners More Recipes from the Best of Bridge, page 191

Kate Gosselin’s Monkey Munch best left for Monkeys

 Snack
Apr 262010
 

Don’t laugh…

Yes, I have watched a couple episodes of Jon & Kate plus Eight in my time. I must admit, I was fascinated by the show when I was pregnant. It seemed unreal….and by all accounts, it looks like it was, but let’s not go there.

In one episode she made the kids “Monkey Munch”. I’d never heard of the stuff. Is it just me or is this a common kiddie treat? That episode was ages ago but I’ll admit, I was intrigued. Fast forward to last week, I stumbled on the recipe (don’t you love the Internet) and decided to make it.

Last night, I tested it out on a couple of friends. Part of the attraction was using up the box of Rice Chex Cereal I had been trying to get rid of for a couple of months (the cereal box that never ends, you know the one).

It took maybe 10 minutes to make. Then I spread the coated cereal on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper and stuck it outside for 10 minutes to harden and Voila! The perfect dessert for my dinner party…too funny…

What did people think, you ask? They actually liked it. They actually liked the “chocolatey, peanut butter, powdered sugar, coated” mess….unbelievable. One man said he reminded him of a snack you’d put out in little bowls at Christmastime (Ryan, are you nuts? I know you’re reading this…lolol).

My take on this snack was a little different than the rest. I think I’d eat a Rice Krispie Square any day over this stuff. Let’s just say I’m not a huge fan. On the bright side, there’s more room on our cereal shelf now…YEAH!

p.s. For someone who wasn’t that enthused, I just ate half a bowl of the stuff…and hate myself. It’s addictive but that’s a sugar thing. Please keep this away from me…lolol

Results of Monkey Munch Poll:

Liked 75%
Neutral 25%

Monkey Munch Recipe

Ingredients
9 cups Chex cereal  or any variety or  Crispix (I used 1.5 cups of Cheerios as I ran out of Crispix)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 tsp.  vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions
1.  Measure Chex and place in large bowl

2.  Place chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter in a quart size microwavable bowl

3.  Stir the ingredients together

4.  Microwave the mixture uncovered for a minute on high.  Stir the mixture again and continue to zap in 15-30 second intervals until mixture is smooth

5.  Add the vanilla and stir

6.  Pour warm chocolate mixture over the cereal while stirring

7.  Put mixture  in a large  ziploc freezer bag

8.  Add powdered sugar, SEAL, and shake the bag until the powdered sugar is evenly distributed

9.  Spread coated cereal on waxed paper to cool and dry

10. Store refrigerated in airtight container

More info on Monkey Munch Recipe

 Older Entries  Newer Entries