Snap, Crackle, Peppermint Rice Krispie Treats

- Mama 3 Comments

I’m nearly certain that Rice Krispie Treats almost kind of count as a cookie.

There’s just something about them that is so delicious, and this is hands-down the most delicious of all.

Grab some Rice Krispies and, of course, some of my favorite seasonal delights…

In a saucepan, over low heat, combine the entire bag of Peppermint Jet-Puffed Marshmallows and half a stick of butter, cut into chunks.

Stir. And stir. And stir some more.

Keep stirring until it looks something like this:

And then, it’s time to fold in your Rice Krispies. You’re going to need about 6 cups of it. Fold that in gently, being careful not to squish the Krispies!

Then, grab a 9×13 foil-lined pan. If you like them a little thicker, use a 9×9 pan. For cookie exchanges, I prefer the thinner bars and for Santa, I like them a little thicker.

While those are still a little squishy, sprinkle on about 1/4 cup of Andes peppermint crunch baking bits and press them gently into the surface of the Rice Krispie Bars.

Then, melt 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, preferably semi-sweet, and drizzle that all over. This season, I am absolutely all about the drizzle. It’s a very easy way to dress up every treat, without a ton of effort. It looks classy and fun, with a simple flick of the wrist.

Once the chocolate has solidified, all you have to do is lift the foil lining out, slice, and serve.

It’s that easy.

But I Don’t Bake! Chocolate Bark

- Mama 5 Comments

It happens every year. People send out the cookie exchange invitations, and there’s always that person that gets invited, but decides to turn down the invitation because they don’t bake. They may not come right out and say “Sorry, I don’t bake, so I can’t come.” But they’ll find ways to get out of going, for sure.

If you’re that person, be warned. I’m stripping you of your excuses, because you can absolutely make this. If you can work a microwave, you can make this.

Start with these beautiful Nestle Toll House Holiday Morsels.

Then, get you/your sous chef/your mom/your child/your brother to sort them by color.

I recruited my amazing sous chef/mom to sort them while I did the second step.

Okay, this is the really hard part… take foil, line a 9×13 pan, and set a single layer of chocolate graham crackers on the bottom of the pan.

Melt your three colors of chocolate chips in three separate microwave safe containers, stirring every 30 seconds of the melting process to keep from overcooking them.

Spread the brown molten chocolate onto the graham crackers. Then, blob red and green melted morsels onto the layers, making sure to alternate colors.

Take a knife and gently swirl it back and forth across the pan.

Draw lines with the knife in the other direction, too.

If you want, you can even drag the lines diagonally.

Stick the whole pan into the fridge until the chocolate is hard. Lift the foil out of the pan, then break apart the bark in small chunks– random shapes are fine.

Ta-da! Take that to your cookie exchange and impress everyone without lifting a finger. If you want to get fancy, you can stir in a total of a teaspoon of extract into the chocolate– mint is a favorite, but orange adds a surprising twist.

See? Even if you don’t bake, you can absolutely make this bark and go to a cookie exchange. You win, and everyone else wins, too.

The Snowballs are On Fire!

- Mama 3 Comments

Fire! Fire! Help Me! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Anyone else an IT Crowd fan? No? I’m telling you, that’s an underrated show if I’ve ever heard one…

Well, either way, you’re going to need a fire extinguisher if you’re trying this recipe.

These sweet snowballs made of chocolate and powdered sugar look awfully harmless, don’t they? Well, until you see the secret ingredient…

Whew. Jalepeño peppers!

Okay, I’m going to pause the recipe here for a little joke…

Why was the pepper nosey?

…It was jalapeño business! Ha. Ha ha. Just go with it, guys.

De-seed those so you don’t totally burn your tongue off.

Dice them up into little pieces.

Now, set those aside.

In a separate microwave-safe bowl, combine 1 package (12 oz) of Nestle’s Semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup of Nestle baking cocoa, and 1 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk.

Microwave that for 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring every 30 seconds, until chocolate bits are completely melted.

If you stop here and do nothing else, this makes a great cupcake filling.

Today, though, we’re going to keep going.

Dust your peppers with 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and then fold those into the chocolate mixture.

Once they’re folded in, refrigerate the whole mixture for a couple of hours until the mixture is firm.

Grab 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. You’ll want plenty of powdered sugar.

Take the chocolate by the spoonful and roll it into balls. Don’t try answering the phone or typing an email or anything else during this time, because your hands can pretty much only roll these balls right now.

Drop the balls into the powdered sugar and toss them until they’re coated. After one coat, they’ll look a little something like this:

Roll them around in the powdered sugar a second time, making sure each one is completely coated… and then enjoy them.

If you’re feeling naughty, serve them to your unsuspecting guests. Feeling nice? Give them a little warning about what’s inside.

Comment below and tell me which you are– naughty or nice– and whether you’d warn your unsuspecting guests about the fire that waits. These are sure to be the most unique thing that appears at your holiday cookie exchange, and they’re delicious, too.

 

Spice, Spice Baby… Soft Apple Spice Cookies

- Mama 3 Comments

Stop, collaborate, and listen.

These Soft Apple Spice cookies are going to Spice Up Your Life (Can I do a Vanilla Ice reference and a Spice Girls reference in the same post? Because I’m doing it… so ha).

Grab your favorite spice cake mix. I love Betty Crocker Spice Cake mixes.

Also grab some apples. I have three shown, but then after cutting them, I realized two was enough.

Peel them, and then dice them up.

Once you’re done with dicing them, go ahead and toss them with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg, and 1 tablespoon of caramel ice cream topping.

It’ll look like a less blurry version of this:

Now, get back to that cake mix. In a bowl, combine your cake mix, 1 egg, 1/2 cup oil, and 1 tablespoon of either apple juice or water.

Fold in your apples.

Now, here’s where it’s up to your discretion. These cookies are delicious enough and soft enough that little cookies are enough to satisfy a craving, so I drop mine by the teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet. If you want a larger soft cookie, go with a tablespoon and spread them farther apart.

Bake those at 350 for 10 minutes, or until edges are done. Then, a secret trick that my mom has always done to get cookies rounder and flatter and more awesome, as soon as you pull the cookies out of the oven, smack the tops with your spatula and then remove them directly onto waxed paper.

Let those things cool completely, and then pile them on a plate. If dropped by teaspoonfuls, you’ll get around 50 cookies.

Now grab your cookies, and let’s get out of here.

Word to your Mother.

(Am I the only one who still listens to Vanilla Ice? Leave me a comment below and let me know your favorite Vanilla Ice song, or your favorite holiday cookie!)

“Mint” to Be Layered Chocolate Mint Bars

- Mama 4 Comments

Lucy and Ricky.

Wilma and Fred.

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Thelma and Louise.

Mint and Chocolate.

Some things are just meant to be together… and these brownies, mmm, these brownies… well, not only are they the perfect combination of mint and chocolate, but a delightful pairing of these brownies with your tastebuds, well, that’s a match made in heaven.

You’ll want to start with Betty Crocker Mint Chocolate Cookies, which are divine by the way, and a box of Betty Crocker brownies, the kind for a 9×13 pan, any variety you please, plus the ingredients to make them.

Go ahead and prepare the brownie mix according to package directions. Pour that into the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan.

Now, prepare the cookie dough according to package directions, just mixing the ingredients listed on the back of the package.

Now that looks and tastes delicious, but I feel like we can really kick it up a notch on the festivity scale.

Tint it green using a few drops of green food coloring. I used 7 drops of my regular McCormick food coloring.

Now, drop it by the spoonful on top of the brownies, trying to cover as much of the brownies as you can.

Bake that whole mixture at 350 for approximately 30 minutes or until it’s done. Cool the whole thing completely.

Once it’s cooled, melt about 1/8 cup of chocolate– you seriously don’t need that much for this. It’s just to make it extra pretty.

Drizzle the living tar out of it… just drizzle all over that thing.

Let the drizzle set completely, and then cut it into pretty little triangles, just like this.

See? Totally “Mint” to be…

If you cut them into triangles, not only do they look extra fancy, but you get twice as many… if you cut them into squares, you’ll get 24 bars, but cut those squares into triangles, and BAM! 48, extra-fancy, gorgeous bars. Ta-da!

Just promise me you won’t share any of them with Brangelina… I’m a Jennifer Aniston fan.

Almond Joy to the World… the Cake Pops are here!

- Mama 8 Comments

It never fails. In the post Halloween madness, I rifle through the candy dish only to find that the Almond Joys are gone. We have this problem every year, an Almond Joy shortage, because everyone in our family happens to love Almond Joys.

So, as I was walking through the grocery store, I saw something that made me do a serious double-take.

International Delight has come out with Almond Joy coffee creamer! I was hesitant to put it in my cart, because, come on, how often do things actually taste like the candy they’re supposed to? I’m a skeptic. But, I thought, if nothing else, this will taste pretty good in coffee.

Then, I remembered something. Miss CandiQuik wrote an awesome post about using Coffee Creamer in cake pops! Um, hello? Wouldn’t that just be perfect?

When I got home, I tasted a little bit of the coffee creamer, and I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. It literally tasted like liquid Almond Joy, and I was in heaven.

To make the cake pops, I started by baking a chocolate cake. You can totally use your favorite boxed chocolate cake mix here if you’d like, but I realized after my shopping trip that I was fresh out of chocolate cake mix (how does that even happen?!) and decided to whip up my favorite from-scratch recipe. If you’re making the cake from a box, add in 1 teaspoon of almond extract when it’s in the batter phase. If you’re making a from-scratch cake, substitute any vanilla called for with the almond extract.

To make the cake from scratch, start with 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, making sure to sift t, then add in 1 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, and 3/4 of a teaspoon salt. You can actually stop here, bag up the mix in an airtight baggie or container, and keep it on the shelf for up to three months, but I decided to add my liquids and bake right away. Before using the mix, I try to sift it again, which produces a lighter cake.

Once you’ve sifted your dry ingredients, stir in 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup of water, 3 eggs, and 2 teaspoons of almond extract (for a typical cake, use vanilla, but for these cake pops, almond adds that extra boost for Almond Joy flavor). Bake the cake in a 9×13 pan in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until cake is done in center and toothpick comes out clean.

Now let it cool completely, which is really, really difficult to do when you smell the cake and want to dive straight in, fork optional.

Once it’s cooled… shred the cake to bits!

This is where your Almond Joy coffee creamer comes in. Pour in as little as 1/4 cup but as much as 1/2 cup, kneading the mixture together as you go, making sure it’s moist enough to form a ball. In this step, I also added in 1 tablespoon of CocoReal to boost the coconut flavor, but that is totally optional and doesn’t affect the taste too much. Then, knead in 1/2 cup shredded coconut.

It will look a little something like this:

See all of that delightful moist cake-y coconut mixture?

Take that and roll it into balls. This is where you can take one of two paths… I rolled mine into ping-pong sized balls, which is about the size of a typical fun size Almond Joy once it’s shaped. This size is a good size, but it can actually be a little rich, so you might want to roll them about half of that size. On the plus side, you’ll get more of them, which is perfect if you’re taking the treats to neighbors and friends, or bringing them to a cookie exchange. If you’re like me, you’ll want the big pieces. It’s up to you how big you’d like to roll them.

After making sure my balls were all uniform (I live with a 12 year old… I can’t type that without snickering anymore), I rolled each of the balls into a log-like shape that resembled an Almond Joy more closely, then I pressed an almond into each one.

Pop those into the freezer for at least half an hour, but preferably a little longer than that.

Melt some milk chocolate, remove your pops from the freezer, and then dip your stick into chocolate and then stick it into the pop. If you find the chocolate is too thick for proper dipping, you can always thin it out with a little bit of coconut oil.

If any of your almonds decided to jump ship, at this point, you can drizzle a little bit of melted chocolate into the indentation and press the almond back onto the pop. That should secure it on easily.

Refrigerate or freeze those for a little longer to solidify the chocolate and make sure the sticks are secure.

Now, do the final dipping… dip each cake pop in chocolate, shake off the excess, and then let them dry completely, sticking them in the refrigerator to help speed up the process. Melt some white chocolate and tint it green (or use Nestle’s fun red and green baking bits!) and drizzle that over the top of your cake pops, if desired, to add a festive touch.

Don’t have any lollipop or cookie sticks on hand? Don’t worry… you can absolutely make these cake pops into cake bites by leaving the stick out and dipping the bits into chocolate themselves.

Serve that with a large cup of coffee using the leftover Almond Joy creamer, and you have the makings for a perfect snack.

Don’t forget to play with other flavors of International Delight liquid coffee creamer and let me know which ones you like best in your cake pops!

On the First Day of Christmas… Surprise Caramel Tarts!

- Mama 3 Comments

Of course, we all know the things that Christmas is about. We know that it has this deep, rich, amazing meaning.

But it’s also kind of, just a little bit, a teeny tiny bit, about the presents, isn’t it? I mean, who doesn’t love opening up a gift and being totally surprised? People who hate life, that’s who.

These tarts, you see, they’re just like opening a present. When you first bite into it, you think “Mmm. Pumpkin. Marshmallow. It’s good.” And then you notice that there’s just this amazing caramel flavor flooding your tastebuds. Because these, like a present, are all wrapped up like a pretty little package, with little clue as to what magic awaits beneath the surface.

The best part of these tarts (or the worst, if your waistline is like mine) is that they are so incredibly easy to make.

You’re going to start by preheating your oven to 325, and grab a package of Betty Crocker Pumpkin Bar mix, plus some Jet-Puffed Mini Marshmallows and Kraft Traditional Caramels.

Mix the contents of the Betty Crocker pouch with one egg and a stick of softened butter to form a batter. It’ll look like this:

From here, you will want to fill a greased mini muffin tin with two teaspoons of batter in each compartment.

Bake those puppies for 12 minutes or until the edges are golden, then pull them out and turn the oven off!

Quickly pop an unwrapped caramel into the center of each tart, pressing it in so it becomes even with the top of the pan.

Then, top each one with several mini marshmallows, making sure the caramel is hidden, because, duh, if you don’t hide it, it totally spoils the surprise!

Put those back in the warm oven for another 3 minutes or until your marshmallows are soft and gooey. If you’d like, you can use a torch to brown the tops of the marshmallows. I didn’t for this post, simply because I live with a 12-year-old pyro who wouldn’t let a torch last very long around here.

See? From the outside, you can’t even see the caramel. They just look like cute little pumpkin cupcakes. But, bite inside…

…and suddenly, all that’s left are crumbs.

This recipe makes about 36 mini tarts, so it’s perfect for taking to a cookie exchange, giving to Santa, using as teacher or neighbor gifts, or, my favorite, polishing them off myself with a tall glass of iced coffee.

Oh, and Pumpkin is also totally a Thanksgiving thing, so there’s no reason you can’t take these gems to a Thanksgiving feast, either.

Keep an eye out because there are 11 more recipes coming your way that are perfect for taking to cookie exchanges or adding to your holiday baking list. If you don’t want to miss a post, be sure that you subscribe to receive posts by email over in the sidebar, or like DigitalEraMom on facebook!

Avalanche Rice Krispie Bars

- Mama 2 Comments

Quite some time ago, my area had a mall with plenty of shops. The mall is still there, but the shops? Not so much…

One of the shops that used to be there was Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and they had these awesome Rice Krispie bars called Avalanche bars. Avalanche bars were nice because they were arguably the cheapest thing you could get at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and they tasted really good. But in reality, they’re so easy to make and so much more affordable to make yourself that you’ll never buy another Avalanche bar again!

When I was looking for the perfect Avalanche Bar recipe, I knew there had to be an awesome duplicate already out there, and there was. I figured since there’s no reason to re-invent the wheel, I’d look at the recipe from Cookies and Cups, making a few modifications as I went.

Start with a 12 ounce bag of white chocolate chips, and melt that in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each 30 seconds in the microwave. When it’s melted, stir in 1/3 cup of creamy peanut butter.

Toss that with about 3 cups of Rice Krispies, then let that cool for 15 minutes. Stir it occasionally to make sure it will cool off a little faster and more evenly.

When it’s cooled off considerably, take 1 cup of Jet-Puffed mini marshmallows and stir those in along with a 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips. Lightly press that into a foil-lined 9×9 pan, then press in another Tablespoon of mini chocolate chips into the top as a garnish.

Once the bars are totally cooled, cut them. I cut mine into thin strips because I thought it would be a fun way to get just a taste… it goes along with one of my favorite ideas. “If you have a piece of cake, and you cut that piece in half, it’s half the calories. And, since that’s half the calories, you can eat twice as much.” With this, I cut them into smaller pieces for them to be smaller amounts of calories, and if it’s fewer calories, you can eat far more, right?

 

Don’t forget, tomorrow is the last day to enter for my Rice Krispies prize pack, so if you still have not entered to win, go here: http://digitaleramom.com/2012/11/02/snap-crackle-and-pop-a-rice-krispie-event-plus-bonus-prize-pack-giveaway/

If you want more awesome Rice Krispie Treat ideas, head over to my Pinterest board for more inspiration: http://pinterest.com/jengerbread88/a-rice-krispie-affair/

While you’re there, be sure to follow all of my boards for the latest in yummy food, kids crafts, and homeschooling help, plus home decor and plenty more!

DIY Brazilian Carnival Masks for Kids

- Mama 5 Comments

Recently in our trip through Exploring Countries and Cultures from My Father’s World as part of our homeschooling lessons, we “visited” the country of Brazil.

Brazil is near and dear to our heart because of our exchange students… in fact, Jeffrey and I have a brother from Brazil! It was so exciting to get to learn more about the country, and while we were there, we decided to make some fun masks for Carnival!

To start, you’ll want to make sure that you have tissue paper, paper mache paste (we like the combo of glue and water!), and some base masks. We found a 3 pack of masks for less than $2 at Hobby Lobby.

We started by re-using some tissue paper from my tissue paper clouds that hung from the ceiling of my Rice Krispie party. We decided that, since we needed white tissue paper anyway, that it would be better to re-use our paper from a previous project than to purchase new paper.

Those strips of tissue paper were then dipped into our paper mache mixture. We typically use a mixture of glue and water, but, of course, you can use any kind of paper mache mixture that you prefer for this project. If you use a flour paper mache mixture, though, be sure that you store your masks very carefully to avoid any bugs or animals getting into it.

Press the excess liquid off of the tissue paper, and then…

Lay it on the mask, smoothing out air pockets and bubbles. The tissue paper will allow you to paint with watercolors on the mask, since the mask surface is too slick for traditional watercolors. It also adds some stability.

Continue until the mask is entirely covered. Consider a second layer to be sure you’ve gotten all the spots taken care of, and make sure to smooth out the strips as much as possible.

Let those masks dry completely. Overnight works best, if you can wait!

While you wait, take some time to read about Carnival and what it really means.

Carnival is held 46 days before the Easter, marking the beginning of the Lenten season, and ends at the beginning of Lent. It’s considered a big feast and major celebration throughout Brazil. Carnival often includes major parades led by samba schools, which have great rhythm and festivity, as well as costume. These are for the public to view. In other areas, there are smaller parades that encourage the public to participate! Different music and costume are found in different cities of Brazil, so the Carnival experience is different from state to state.

Because Carnival is such a huge part of culture, aside from the Carnival-related businesses, things almost shut down completely so everyone can enjoy Carnival, with activities going on almost 24 hours a day for the entire week.

But why the masks? Well, when Carnival first started, it took inspiration from some of the activities in Europe, where masks were common. They are used to disguise the appearance. You can regularly see the party-goers wearing masks, which come in two basic styles. A full-faced mask often exaggerates facial features or may even take on an animal form. These are beautiful, but often heavy or hot, so only the most dedicated carnival-goers tend to wear those.

The other alternative is the one you see here, the half mask. It’s a great way to get in on the fun of wearing a mask, without it being too hot or heavy!

Now, it’s time to PAINT!

Standard watercolor paints work well on the paper mache surface, but use whatever paint you have on hand or prefer working with.

Use the motif and colors that you like, or take a look at Carnival Masks online to get some ideas. We decided to just paint ours using our imaginations.

Let the paint dry completely once you’ve finished, and then feel free to add other embellishments, like glitter, feathers, beads, gems, and more! We decided to go with glitter and beads for ours!

Didn’t they turn out great?

Carnival as we know it actually started as a Portuguese tradition. In Portugal, it was a time called Entrudo, where everyone threw mud, water, and dirt on each other. But modern tradition actually started later, in the 1800’s, when a cobbler started having parades with his family and friends. Later, more organized parades got started, and by 1870, they started wearing masks and costumes!

The Samba schools actually didn’t start until 1928, so it is a relatively new start to a celebration that got it’s roots in the 1600’s. Not only do the influences come from European celebrations, but they also have some heavy African influences.

You can celebrate Carnival, too! While traditional Brazilian Carnival preparation starts as soon as the previous Carnival ends, you still have plenty of time to plan for Carnival 2013! Carnival will start February 8, 2013, and will end on Fat Tuesday, February 12. And, you can check out my Carnival pinterest board for awesome ideas for your very own Carnival celebration at home. While you’re there, be sure to follow me on Pinterest for plenty of great ideas for kid’s crafts and food ideas.

 

 

SNAP!

Puppy Chow Krispie Treats

- Mama 2 Comments

When my brother saw me in the kitchen, he stopped me and said “Jen, I’m craving puppy chow. You should make that for your blog.”

I told him “No way, twerp.” Okay, I didn’t. But I did say “But I have to make Rice Krispie treats! I can’t make Puppy Chow…”

And then it hit me. The idea, of course, not the puppy chow. What about a puppy chow Krispie treat? After all, puppy chow is the same set of basic ingredients, no matter what cereal you add…

Start by lining a 9×9 pan with foil and grease it lightly. Melt 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Once it’s melted, stir in 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter until it’s totally incorporated. Then, stir in 4 cups of Rice Krispies until they’re evenly coated with the chocolate and peanut butter.

Press that mixture into your prepared pan. Sift half a cup of powdered sugar over the top of the treats, then chill those in the fridge until the chocolate is totally set, about 30 minutes. From there, cut it into bars and serve it at room temperature.

So easy!

These were probably the easiest recipe I made for my Rice Krispies Party, and you know what? It was almost everyone’s favorite Rice Krispie treat I served that day! You can’t beat a good twist on Puppy Chow… everyone loves it!

Want to make these treats yourself? Enter to win my Rice Krispies Prize Pack over here: http://digitaleramom.com/2012/11/02/snap-crackle-and-pop-a-rice-krispie-event-plus-bonus-prize-pack-giveaway/