After a crazy week like this, I think quite a few of us, me included, could use some comfort food. But the challenge lies in that it is still too hot to turn on the oven and any outdoor cooking is completely out of the question. So what to make?
Well, my sweet tooth gave me a quick response... rice krispy treats.
Marshmallows, butter, rice krispies, limited time at the stove. Simple enough, right?
Oh no! Not if you are me. I got some wild hair in me that I was going to make "healthy" rice krispy treats. Obviously I had inhaled way too much smoky Austin air. I was clearly not thinking straight. But I was determined. And with that my healthy rice krispy treat adventure began.
Substitute almond butter for marshmallows - check.
Use honey to make it sweet - check.
Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top to make it look cool - check.
Well, I assembled all the ingredients together, pushed them into a pan, plopped it in the fridge and very patiently waited the suggested 30-45 minutes needed for the treats to firm up. And with much anticipation, I pulled out a treat for me and a treat for Little B and a treat for David.
David really liked it.
Little B quickly inhaled it and asked for more.
And, me? Well, I HATED it! It tasted too much like peanut butter, my arch nemesis of the food kingdom.
Great! {insert sarcastic tone here} Now I have this full container of healthy rice krispy treats that I hated. What was I going to do with all of them? Why was I so hell-bent on make this dessert healthy? And how the heck was I going to satisfy my sweet-tooth craving now without turning on the oven?! Oh, the drama!
On to Plan B.
As I looked around my messy kitchen, I realized that I still had enough rice krispies to make another batch. And I had butter. Now I just needed to find the marshmellows. After digging around in the pantry, I discovered a bag of 4th of July themed, blue and red star marshmallows. Perfect!
Now, you would have thought that I had learned my lesson about jacking with time tested recipes that even a 5 year old could make... But no, that apparently is just not how I work. But this time, the results proved to be extraordinary.
Taking a cue from a recipe I had seen on Smitten Kitchen, I browned the butter first and introduced kosher salt into the mix. Pure brilliance. The browned butter and the salt take rice krispy treats to a whole other level.
Let me be clear, these rice krispy treats are not to be wasted on a child whose palette is not yet sophisticated enough to recognize the greatness of the ingredients involved. I love my little girl, but she better stick to those "healthy" rice krispy treats if she knows what's good for her.
My only downfall with my rice krispy treat concoction was the 4th of July themed marshmallows. Do you know what you get when you melt a red marshmallow with a blue marshmallow? You get grey. It was not very pretty. But I think it kind of worked in my favor. Because my rice krispy treats looked a bit off with their grey palour, my husband and Little B had little interest in trying them..... Which meant more for me!!!! Maybe that is why my shorts are little snug today.
Anyways, if you are looking for a way to bring your rice krispy treats up a notch, I would highly recommend this recipe listed below.
Well, my sweet tooth gave me a quick response... rice krispy treats.
Marshmallows, butter, rice krispies, limited time at the stove. Simple enough, right?
Oh no! Not if you are me. I got some wild hair in me that I was going to make "healthy" rice krispy treats. Obviously I had inhaled way too much smoky Austin air. I was clearly not thinking straight. But I was determined. And with that my healthy rice krispy treat adventure began.
Substitute almond butter for marshmallows - check.
Use honey to make it sweet - check.
Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top to make it look cool - check.
Well, I assembled all the ingredients together, pushed them into a pan, plopped it in the fridge and very patiently waited the suggested 30-45 minutes needed for the treats to firm up. And with much anticipation, I pulled out a treat for me and a treat for Little B and a treat for David.
David really liked it.
Little B quickly inhaled it and asked for more.
And, me? Well, I HATED it! It tasted too much like peanut butter, my arch nemesis of the food kingdom.
Great! {insert sarcastic tone here} Now I have this full container of healthy rice krispy treats that I hated. What was I going to do with all of them? Why was I so hell-bent on make this dessert healthy? And how the heck was I going to satisfy my sweet-tooth craving now without turning on the oven?! Oh, the drama!
On to Plan B.
As I looked around my messy kitchen, I realized that I still had enough rice krispies to make another batch. And I had butter. Now I just needed to find the marshmellows. After digging around in the pantry, I discovered a bag of 4th of July themed, blue and red star marshmallows. Perfect!
Now, you would have thought that I had learned my lesson about jacking with time tested recipes that even a 5 year old could make... But no, that apparently is just not how I work. But this time, the results proved to be extraordinary.
Taking a cue from a recipe I had seen on Smitten Kitchen, I browned the butter first and introduced kosher salt into the mix. Pure brilliance. The browned butter and the salt take rice krispy treats to a whole other level.
Let me be clear, these rice krispy treats are not to be wasted on a child whose palette is not yet sophisticated enough to recognize the greatness of the ingredients involved. I love my little girl, but she better stick to those "healthy" rice krispy treats if she knows what's good for her.
My only downfall with my rice krispy treat concoction was the 4th of July themed marshmallows. Do you know what you get when you melt a red marshmallow with a blue marshmallow? You get grey. It was not very pretty. But I think it kind of worked in my favor. Because my rice krispy treats looked a bit off with their grey palour, my husband and Little B had little interest in trying them..... Which meant more for me!!!! Maybe that is why my shorts are little snug today.
Anyways, if you are looking for a way to bring your rice krispy treats up a notch, I would highly recommend this recipe listed below.
Brown Butter Salted Rice Krispy Treats
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes 16 2-inch squares or 32 1- x 2-inch small bars
4 ounces (1/4 pound or 1 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for the pan
1 10-ounce bag marshmallows (preferably without color)
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (about half a 12-ounce box)
1 10-ounce bag marshmallows (preferably without color)
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (about half a 12-ounce box)
Butter (or coat with non-stick spray) an 8-inch square cake pan with 2-inch sides. In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don’t take your eyes off the pot as while you may be impatient for it to start browning, the period between the time the butter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is often less than a minute.
As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows. The residual heat from the melted butter should be enough to melt them, but if it is not, turn it back on low until the marshmallows are smooth.
Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the salt and cereal together. Quickly spread into pan sprayed with oil. After everything is in the pan, I use a silicon spatula to press everything down and into the corners.
Stick the pan in the fridge to let everything get cool, cut into squares and get ready to have your life changed.
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