Strawberry Rice Crispy Pops

What is it about food on sticks that make them so fun? Is it that food doesn’t readily come on sticks on a regular basis (unless you’re from South East Asia – think satay)? Is it that we associate fun/not-so-good-for-us foods-but tasty foods with the stick delivery (e.g., lollipops, ice cream bars, popsicles, corn dogs)? I’m pretty sure I’d like certain things a lot more if it came in stick form.

Desserts on sticks are blowing up lately! Cake + stick = cake pops; Pie + stick = pie pops; get the pattern? I wanted to try the Rice Crispy Pop because compared to the cake/pie pops, they are sooo easy. And just by inserting a stick, makes them so cute and appetizing!

I found a bag of HUGE strawberry marshmallows (meant for campfires and s’mores). Invented: Strawberry Rice Crispy Pops. I made these for a one year old’s Hello Kitty themed party.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Strawberry Rice Crispy Pops 

Ingredients

¼ cup salted butter

5 cups strawberry marshmallows (If using the large ones, cut them into quarters)

½ teaspoon vanilla

6 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

¾ cup white candy melts

Sprinkles

Lollipop sticks

Directions

1.  In a big pot, melt butter on medium low. Add marshmallows and melt (stirring occasionally).

2.  Take off heat and add vanilla and stir.

3.  Add Rice Krispies and working quickly, stir to combine. Pour and press into a pan (I used an 8 x 8 inch pan). When it cools slightly, use an offset spatula to press down so you get a flat surface. Cool completely.

4.  Place candy melts in a double boiler on low and melt, stirring occasionally. Set out parchment to place your dipped Rice Crispy Pops on to harden.

5.  Cut Rice Krispies into desired size. Use a ruler and take the entire thing out of the pan before cutting for uniform squares (I learned that through trial and error!).

6.  Spoon the candy melts over the squares, decorate with sprinkles, and set to dry before inserting sticks. Voila!

Verdict: I think these looked so cute! They were chewy and delicious as Rice Crispy Squares are. And not super artificially strawberry-y! Everyone kept asking how I got them pink! No need to added food colouring here!

Potato Chip Rice Crispy Squares

I love the combination of sweet and salty.  I used to have dessert at the same time as my meal so that I could alternate between sweet and salty.  So when I came across this post, I was inspired! Rice crispy treats made of Doritos potato chips sounded interesting, but I wanted to start with something a bit safer: potato chip rice crispy squares.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Potato Chip Rice Crispy Squares

Ingredients

¼ cup butter

5 cups mini marshmallows

½ teaspoon vanilla syrup

3 cups crispy rice cereal (such as Rice Crispies)

3 cups crushed potato chips

Directions

1.  In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat.

2.  Add marshmallows and melt.

3.  Take off heat and add vanilla syrup. Stir.

4.  Optional – throw a handful of marshmallows and stir if you want chunks of semi-melted marshmallows.

5.  Add rice cereal and potato chips and stir until evenly coated in marshmallows.

6.  Transfer to a baking dish and pat down with a spatula. Cool completely before cutting.

Verdict: These were great! They really hit the spot for the sweet and salty craving.  They were very addictive, so be careful!  I’m thinking of incorporating other salty snacks to kick up the saltiness – pretzels, Ritz crackers, Bugles?

2 Types of Rice Crispy Squares

When my colleague told me that her mom made rice crispy squares with Mars chocolate bars, I had to make them!  She melted the Mars bars before adding the cereal, but I decided to cut them into chunks and disperse them throughout the squares.  I have also wanted to try making browned butter rice crispy squares, so I thought I would make these too, and bring them for my colleagues at work.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Browned Butter Rice Crispy Squares

Adapted from here. http://ricekrispies.ca/cgi-bin/rk_ca_2007/recipe.pl?id=14

Ingredients

¼ cup butter

5 cups mini marshmallows

1 ½  teaspoons vanilla syrup

6 cups puffed rice cereal

*For a chewier square, double the butter if browning

Directions

1.       In a large pot, melt and brown butter (i.e., cook until it browns and smells like toffee) over medium-low heat.

2.       Stir in marshmallows until melted.

3.       Stir in vanilla.

4.       Take off the heat and add puffed rice cereal. Stir until well coated.

5.       Press into a pan, and cool before cutting.

Mars Bar Rice Crispy Squares

Recipe is the same as above plus 4 Mars bars, cut into chunks.

Stir in the chopped Mars bars after adding the puffed rice cereal.

Chopped Mars Bars

Verdict: Both these squares were very tasty! My colleagues seemed very pleased!  I liked the way you get a chunk of the chocolate bar with some bites of the square.

I would recommend doubling the butter if you are going to brown it as a lot of it evaporates during the process.  This will make a chewier square.