Rice Krispies Treats

I had to present at a district wide grade level meeting.  This is an after school meeting and I knew that a treat would make the teachers happy.  I was looking for something simple, but a little different.  I found some great Rice Krispies Treats on my favorite blog, Glorious Treats.

One batch would not be enough to feed everyone, so I decided to make two different types.  I went with S'mores and Cookies 'n Creme.  Both were a big hit.  Teachers may not remember what the presentation was about, but they remembered my treats.

Cookies 'n Creme Rice Krispies Treats
From Glorious Treats

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

20 regular oreos, crushed/chopped (about 2 1/2 cups crushed)

5 cups mini marshmallows

3 Tablespoons butter

Directions-

1.  Put rice krispies treats into a large bowl.  Spray a 9x13" casserole dish or cake pan with non-stick spray, set aside. 

2.  In a large plastic (ziplock type) bag, crush oreos (I used a large, flat bottom mug).  You want to have some crushed into small pieces, and some bite size chunks.  Add oreos to rice krispies and stir to combine. 

3.  In a large microwave safe bowl, heat butter and marshmallows together (about 3 minutes).  They expand a lot, so make sure you use a BIG bowl.  When the marshmallows are puffy and mostly melted, carefully remove from microwave and stir to fully combine the butter, and make sure the marshmallows are fully melted.  

4.  Pour melted marshmallows over cereal and oreos and use a spatula sprayed with non-stick cooking spray to quickly combine all the ingredients.  When everything is combined, spread mixture into the prepared 9x13" dish.  Use the spatula to press the mixture around the dish, and flatten as needed.

5.  Allow to cool (about 20 minutes) before cutting into squares.  

Makes about 24 (2 inch) squares

S'more Rice Krispies Treats
From Glorious Treats

3 Tablespoons butter

4 cups mini marshmallows (or about 40 regular/large marshmallows)

5 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup Golden Grahams cereal

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

(Top layer)

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate (or about 1 cup chocolate chips)

10 full sized graham crackers, broken in half (slightly more or less, depending on the pan you use)

40 large marshmallows (approximately)

Directions-

1.  Butter (or spray lightly with cooking spray) a 9"x13" pan.

In a large microwave safe bowl, place 3 tablespoons of butter (cut into a few pieces), and 4 cups 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. 

2.  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). 

3.  Melt semi-sweet chocolate (or chocolate chips) in a microwave (at 50% power), in 30 second intervals, stirring between intervals.  Heat until just melted.  Spread chocolate on top of Rice Krispies Treats in pan.

4.  While the chocolate is still warm, lay graham cracker squares on top, leaving a tiny bit of space between each cracker.

5.  Put entire pan of treats in the fridge or freezer (or a cool location) until the chocolate has set (about 10-15 minutes).  Cut into squares with a sharp knife, using the lines between the graham crackers as a guide.  Place treats on a large baking sheet, separated slightly. 

6.  Cut large marshmallows in half, (just a couple at a time), and place cut side down onto graham crackers, (as shown below).

7.  When all the graham crackers are topped with marshmallows, use a kitchen torch (or propane torch) to toast the marshmallow.  If you don't have a torch, this would be a great excuse to get one... OR, you can toast the marshmallows in the oven.  Preheat your oven to broil.  Place baking sheet of treats in the oven, leaving the oven door slightly ajar.  Broil about 30 seconds, watch them, they can burn quickly!


I think that I'll have to find some other Rice Krispies recipes because they are easy and yummy.

Individual Baked Oatmeal

A few weeks ago my sister asked me if I could find her a recipe for an oatmeal bar.  I went to Pinterest and found this recipe for individual baked oatmeal.  They looked really good and I'm always looking for easy things to eat for breakfast, so I decided to make some for myself.

The recipe that I used is from The Kitchen is Calling.  She modified a recipe from Money Saving Mom.  They turned out great and I will definitely make them again.

Individual Baked Oatmeal

3 eggs
1 Tablespoons vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar
1 banana, sliced
1 cup fruit of your choice — I used raisins.  I think that blueberries would be good also
5 cup old fashioned oats 1 teaspoon salt 3 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamin
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 1/2 cup skim milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, vanilla and sugar, then stir in all the fruit.
In another bowl, combine the oats, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Dump the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients; stir to mix well.
Pour in the milk and stir until combined.  The mixture will be pretty soupy.
Scoop mixture into paper-lined muffin cups (I sprayed mine with cooking spray too just to make sure they would come out easily) – scoop with a measuring cup and make sure they have an even amount of liquid in each cup.

Bake 35-40 minutes.

They probably aren't quite as healthy as the original recipe because I used brown sugar instead of the Stevia and didn't use applesauce, but they have to better than other options out there. Both sites also recommended freezing them.  I thought this was a great idea because they wouldn't go bad and last me a while.  I put one in the microwave for 35 seconds and have a yummy, mostly healthy breakfast that I can eat in the car.

Birthday Cupcakes

I volunteered to make cupcakes for Emma's second birthday.  They were ordering a cake, but said they would love some cupcakes too. Emma agreed because she told everybody that she was getting cupcakes for her birthday.

I made both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes from Glorious Treats, along with her cream cheese frosting.  This is the second time I've made her perfect vanilla cupcakes and I agree that they are perfect.  They are light, fluffy and delicious.  Although I like chocolate, I prefer a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting.  These were exactly what I like.

This was the first time that I made the perfectly chocolate cupcakes and they were great.  Not overly chocolate and very moist. Topping them off with cream cheese frosting made them even better.  I will never try another chocolate or vanilla recipe again.

Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes
Makes 15-16 cupcakes

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)

1/2 cup buttermilk

(or 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice- add acid to the milk then set aside for 5 minutes before using)

Directions-

Preheat oven to 350*F.

In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir together with whisk, and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds.  Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds.  Add vanilla and oil, beat.

Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture.  Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk.  Beat until just combined.  Scrap down the side of the bowl.  

The batter will be thin.   Pour batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners.  Fill liners about 2/3 full. 

Bake cupcakes in pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes. 

Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan (carefully) and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Frost when fully cool.

Perfectly Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 24-27 cupcakes

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (best quality available)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (best quality available)

1 cup boiling water

Directions-

Line muffin tin with paper liners.  Heat oven to 350*F.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed for one minute.

Stir in boiling water (the batter will be thin, don't worry, this is right).

Fill liners 2/3 full with batter.  (I usually put the batter into a large measuring cup with a pour spout, and then pour the batter into the liners.)

Bake cupcakes for aproximately 22-24 minutes.

Frost when fully cool.

The frosting was Emma's favorite part.  She licked off all of the icing from her cupcake and began reaching for another.

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

½ cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) butter (set at room temp about 10 minutes, but should still be cool)
8 oz. cream cheese (directly from fridge)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1 to 4 Tablespoons heavy cream, heavy whipping cream (or milk)

Directions:

Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.
Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don't add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)
Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.

For Chocolate Frosting: add ½ cup unsweetened cocoa (I use Ghirardelli brand, because that's what she recommended and it was really good). Add the cocoa powder before adding the powdered sugar, so it gets fully incorporated into the butter and cream cheese.

The party was a Curious George theme.  I made the cupcake toppers and found the gummy bananas at the party store near my house.  

I hope she had a great birthday!

Felt Fruit

For my niece, Emma's, birthday I wanted to make her something fun and unique.  She loves playing with her fake food, so I decided to make her some felt fruit.  I couldn't find a free tutorial that I really liked, so I ventured to my one of my favorite places...Etsy.  There is a fabulous shop called Bugga Bugs  that has PDF patterns for anything and everything that you can imagine.  Once I found that shop I couldn't decided what I wanted to make.  I thought the felt cake and brownies would be super cute for a birthday present.  When I asked my husband what he thought, he reminded me that fruit is healthier:)  The fruit pattern was amazing too.  The apple and orange slices go in and out of their peel.  Once I ordered it I couldn't wait to get started.

It was definitely a little more involved than I had thought it would be.  The sewing part was fine, but there were A LOT of pieces to trace and cut out.  When the machine sewing was done, then I had to stuff and hand stitch each piece closed.  The last step was to hand stitch the details.  Although it took some time, it was worth it.  I added a little shopping bag to go with it, so everything could stay together.

 My guess is that she liked it because when she was playing with it after the party she took one of the apple slices and tried to eat it.  That could be a good or a bad thing.

The pattern included so many small details, but that is what makes each piece so realistic.  I hope she continues to enjoy her fruit.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

When I first saw this I had no idea what sopapilla was, but when I saw cheesecake I knew it was something I needed to try.  I did a little Googling and found out the sopapilla is a fried dough that originated in New Mexico. 

This was super easy to make and super delicious.  You can't go wrong with crescent rolls, cream cheese, sugar, butter and cinnamon though.

Ingredients:
-2 cans pillsbury butter crescent rolls
-2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (softened)
-1 cup sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/4 cup butter (melted)
-Cinnamon & sugar

Instructions:
Unroll and spread 1 can crescent rolls on bottom of un-greased 9x13 pan. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread mixture over crescent rolls. Unroll and spread remaining crescent rolls over mixture. Spread melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

I served it warm.  It also reheated nicely and I served it the next day too!