S'moreful September: S'mores Rice Krispies, revisited

I know this is 20 days a bit late, but August contained one of the coolest "national" holidays ever: National S'mores Day!

Now, of course you ALL know how addicted I am to sweet things in general, but s'mores in particular.  There's something about the combination of flavors that makes me proud to be an American.  Especially the first time I made them with my husband, when he was in his mid-20's.  Being from South Africa, he never was able to experience the rich and gooey goodness known as s'mores.

It was almost like that scene from The Sandlot.  Which I also introduced to Thomas... in his 30's...  sigh.  There's so much to life that he missed out on!  I think if he's going to become an American citizen, it's not just about passing the Constitution test, it's about knowing the culture of why the people our age are the way we are, no?

So, before I go off too far on a tangent, this week I'll be presenting some of my favorite s'mores recipes (so far), including revisiting one that I've done in the past: the S'mores Rice Krispies Treat.

I've now done this recipe three or four more times, and I've made some tweaks, corrections, and improvements, so I'd like to clear the air before moving on to bigger and better (not possible?!) treats!

Ingredients (Krispies Layer):
3 T butter (chopped into smaller pieces)
40 large marshmallows (1 Jet Puffed bag)
5 C Rice Krispies
1 C Golden Grahams
1/2 bag mini chocolate Chips
Non-stick cooking spray

Directions (Krispies Layer):
1. Spray a 9"x13" pan
2. In a large, microwave safe, bowl place the marshmallows and butter pieces.  Microwave for 3 minutes, stirring after 2, until butter and marshmallows are melted.  Stir gently.  In order to prevent the marshmallow from sticking to your spatula, just use some non-stick spray on the spatula.
3. Stir in Rice Krispies and Golden Grahams until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips and immediate press into the prepped pan.  (My assistant likes to use a little parchment paper as a barrier between her hand and the sticky cereal.  This way she can keep pressing it down without making too big of a mess on her hands.)




Ingredients (Fudgy Layer):
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bag butterscotch chips
about 20-24 graham cracker (square halves)

Directions (Fudgy Layer):
1. Combine both bags of chips in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave about 2 minutes, stirring every 45 seconds, until melted smooth.
2. Spread fudgy frosting over the Krispes layer.
The more the merrier!
3. Break/cut each full graham cracker into 8 smaller pieces (or each half cracker into 4 pieces).
4. Layout the graham crackers with just a little space in between until the fudgy layer has been completely covered with graham.
5. Chill in fridge until chocolate has set.

Ingredients (Top Layer):
1 bag (or less) of large marshmallows, cut (hamburger style) in half.
1/2 bag of mini chocolate chips
* You'll need one half of a marshmallow for every graham square on the fudgy layer. *

Directions (Top Layer):
1. Cut your treats into squares - you've already set up where to cut by pre-cutting your graham crackers.
2. Remove the treats, and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
3. Take your cut marshmallows, and place one (sticky/cut side down) on top of each treat.
4. Turn your oven broiler on high and place treats in the oven.
5. Broil until the desired darkness/crispness of your marshmallows
6. Melt the rest of your mini chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl (1-2 minutes, stirring at least twice).
7. Stir until smooth, then lightly drizzle over the tops of your treats.

I know, this still sounds like a lot, but once you get the hang of it, it's quite easy, and you'll learn little tricks that'll keep you sane in make the process simple.  It's really worth it, and I keep getting rave reviews every time.  It's got a little something summery for everyone!
 

S'mores Rice Krispies Treats!

 I don't know what's been up with me lately.  I think it's because summer is FINALLY here.  However, I have been craving s'mores.

Straight off the campfire s'mores.  The problem is that I'm not a fan of camping alone, and my hubs has been traveling a lot for work.  S'mores are few and far between.  So my Pinterest boards have been swelling with alternative recipes for s'mores.  Same great ingredients, just in slightly different formats.

 One recipe that I really wanted to try was from Glorious Treats.  It looked amazing, and I couldn't wait to give it a go.

S'mores Rice Krispies Treats
(bottom layer)

3 Tablespoons butter
4 cups mini marshmallows (or about 40 regular/large marshmallows - 1 Jef Puffed bag)
5 cups Rice Krispies cereal
1 cup Golden Grahams cereal
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
(top layers)
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate
10 full sized graham crackers, broken in half (slightly more or less, depending on the pan you use)
40 large marshmallows (1 more bag)

 Directions
Lightly cover a  9"x13" pan with cooking spray.

In a large microwave safe bowl, place 3 tablespoons of butter (cut into a few pieces), and 1 bag of marshmallows. Microwave about 3 minutes (stirring after 2 minutes) watch the microwave, cooking times may vary. Cook in microwave until butter and marshmallows are melted. Stir gently.
Add rice krispies and golden grahams cereal and stir to combine. (try using a plastic or silicone spatula sprayed with a bit of cooking spray).

Add mini chocolate chips, stir quickly, and immediately pour mixture into prepared 9"x13" pan. Press into pan (with spatula).

Next, melt 12 oz of chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds until fully melted.  Then, pour the chocolate on top of your rice krispies layer.  Taking a spatula, spread the chocolate out like frosting in an even layer, covering the entire bottom layer of krispies.  This chocolate layer will help hold the graham crackers in place, so work quickly to get into the next step.

While the chocolate is still warm, lay graham cracker squares on top, leaving a tiny bit of space between each cracker.  This space will help you as guidelines as to where to cut, so it only needs to be a knife blade's width.


Now, to help the warm chocolate to cool, helping to set the graham crackers into place, place the entire pan into the refrigerator.  Leave the pan there at least 10 minutes.


For the next step, you'll need a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper, or wax paper (whatever you have on hand).

While killing time, you can also cut your second bag of marshmallows in half.  You'll need four per graham cracker, so make sure to plan accordingly.

When the krispies have cooled, remove them from the fridge and cut between the graham crackers with a sharp knife.  Place the newly cut treats onto your prepared cookie sheet.




Now you'll place your cut marshmallows sticky (or cut) side down onto each graham cracker.

 Place the marshmallows close together, but if you buy the "regular" size of marshmallows, you won't have much of a choice.  They'll pretty much fill the entire graham cracker.

Next you have a choice: if you have a kitchen torch, you can use that to lightly crisp your marshmallows. I wanted more of an "even" crisp, and wasn't so patient, so I kicked my oven broiler on high and placed the pan of treats in there.

 It doesn't take long for your marshmallows to brown.  If you'd like them lighter, take them out sooner, or darker - leave them in longer.  It's your call.  I left them in for about five minutes, but I put the rack halfway down the oven so I could closely monitor them and get them at just a lightly golden color.

Your call, and your timing.

Finally, I didn't think they were really finished, so I melted another 2/3 cup of chocolate chips (more or less, your preference) to drizzle on top.

Fresh out of the oven, and oh so gooey!!

From there, I also cut the treats into fours, so each treat had one marshmallow.  I found them extremely rich, and more fun to pop in a smaller size, but it's your call.  Hopefully this will help your hankering for some s'mores.  I know it certainly helped me!  You can just put these in a zip lock bag, or other air tight container, and they'll still be good for at least two days.  If they had lasted longer, I would let you know, but I'm sure they'd be good for at least three or four days (if they last that long!!).

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oat Bars

 Happy Leap Day to All!!

I was on the hunt for an easy to make break fast bar that I could just grab and go throughout the week...  Nothing too...flax-y or granola-y.  I'm not that kind of girl and I'm not going to spend a gazillion dollars on ingredients that are going to be eaten within 3-5 minutes when I'm in my morning daze.

 So, long story short, here's the recipe I found.  So simple.  Took about 7 minutes to prepare (including opening the packages), and then about 30 minutes to an hour to cool.  I sealed it up and have been cutting off bars all week for breakfast.  (Sorry, I was too lazy to cut and store them, I just used my Pyrex cover and stored them on the counter.)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats {I used instant rolled, even though the recipe said not to)
1 cup crispy rice cereal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (I used more and they were full sized. Shoot me.)


Melt, mix and set. Read the full recipe if you need more directions or better pictures.

I was more than a little sad to reach the end of the container. However, I can't wait to use my leftover supplies to make more!!