Valentine’s Day is making a pretty fast approach (pssst, it’s on Thursday). Instead of doing a last minute “oh crap I kind of forgot” gift… take a little bit of time to do make something for your sweetie this year instead of another gigantor box of chocolates. I offer you this as a solution: rice krispies treats, all doctored up and fancy lookin’, enough to impress any well meaning boy or girl. If you don’t have a sweetie yet, this may just be the thing to make them swoon.
This doesn’t really involve “baking”, so if you can manage to measure, stir, and use a stovetop, I bet you can do this.
I promise!
I also recommend making these just ’cause they’re tasty, whether or not it’s Valentine’s Day. These really are an “any time of the year” treat.
This is the stuff you’ll need to make these treats. Not shown: chocolate and heart sprinkles for decorating and fleur de sel for the “salty” part. Optional: puppy supervisor.
[sugar knife gourmet marshmallows]
Just because I had them sitting around, I also added in these Sugar Knife Gourmet Marshmallows. I kept forgetting to use them – I meant to use these for a small batch so you could taste the flavor… but oh well. I threw ’em in and added in more cereal.
[browned butter]
This little extra step doesn’t really add too much time – and really, you could skip it… but just do it. Promise me.
It also smells SO GOOD when it starts to brown – this luscious kind of nutty flavor that is insane and all you want to do is take a spoon and start licking it…
In any case… just stick the butter in a large pot. It’ll get all foamy and kind of weird and then start to brown like the above… when you can smell the nuttiness, add in your marshmallow and melt it, baby.
[melted marshmallow goodness]
This above is *almost* done – but you can see how the browned butter gives it kind of a golden hue.
Golden hue = extra deliciousness.
[mixing in the cereal]
Add in the cereal. About 6 cups will do you. Since I had extra marshmallow, I used about 7. If it looks too wet, just add a little more cereal. Just don’t add too much as once! You can’t take it away once you put it in.
I forgot to take pictures of me putting in the heath bits… and dipping these in chocolate. Oops.
[pretend those photos are here! aren’t they fabulous?]
Once you stick in the heath bits, you can melt some chocolate and then spread some chocolate on the top. I picked up these heart shaped sprinkles at Vons – most grocery stores will have some special decorating items in the special section of the store next to all of the Valentine’s candy.
[treats all dolled up and enrobed in chocolate]
The chocolate gives these treats that extra “magic” touch to make these really special for your Valentine.
[packaged up for gift giving]
Wrap each treat up in a little wax paper and tie it with a string. A little Valentine’s box and some ribbon can also help dress it up and show your mad homemade crafting skills.
Heath Toffee Rice Krispies Treats with Browned Butter
6 tablespoons butter
1 10 oz. bag of Mini Marshmallows
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel (kosher or sea salt will also work)
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
1 cup Heath English Toffee Bits
chocolate for dipping (optional)
candy heart sprinkles, candy conversation hearts for decorating (optional)
Prepare a 9×13 pan – spray with a light coating of non-stick spray.
Get a big stock pot (this will make your life easier for mixing the cereal) and start to brown the butter. Don’t leave the stove! The butter will start to get foamy – use a spatula to move the foam around to see if it’s getting brown. It’ll quickly turn golden and smell very nutty. Add in the bag of marshmallows at this point!
Stir the marshmallows in with the butter until the marshmallows are completely melted. Add in a 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the marshmallow and mix. Then, start pouring in your cereal.
Mix the cereal in with the marshmallow coating until the cereal has been completely coated. Pour the mixture into your prepared pan. Smooth out the mixture with a spatula and let it sit until cooled and set.
Melt chocolate (either over a double boiler method or by 30 second intervals in the microwave). Dip/spread a thin layer of chocolate on top of the treats. Add sprinkles or candy hearts for decoration. Set on a tray and then pop them into the fridge for 15 minutes or until the chocolate is set. Wrap treats in wax paper and tie with a string for maximum homemade treat goodness.
Add in 1 cup of Heath English Toffee bits and mix until incorporated.
