Miniature Gourmet

Miniature Gourmet

How to Make Gourmet Rice Krispie® Treats

Rice Krispie® treats can be for grownups too. Last summer, Merri Ann—my wife—and I hiked up Burns Creek in the Big hole Mountains in eastern Idaho to Hell Hole Canyon (It's not; it's a beautiful place). In a meadow overlooking the stream and with sun filtering through the pines, we spread out a tablecloth and had a picnic. For dessert, we had Marionberry White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats. It was the perfect ending to the perfect picnic.

Some time ago, we started experimenting with Rice Krispie treats adding fruit and nuts and chocolate. White chocolate was a real winner. Then we learned that we could add peanut butter or a favorite jam. The jam left them just a bit sticky but they were just fine. So instead of jam, we added tidbits of raspberry, blueberry, or strawberry. These were very good. They may not be any better than jam but they were no longer sticky.

In all this experimenting and testing, we found some things that didn't work. Adding food coloring does not work well. Rice Krispies have a light, golden color, just enough brown that when you add a pastel color, the color is no longer bright and true but a bit "muddy." Adding flavors and extracts is a bit of a problem. The cereal is very porous and absorbent and it seems to capture flavor that can't be reached with your taste buds. So it takes a lot flavor to make the right impact. (Many flavors create a bitter aftertaste if the concentration of flavor is too high.)

Here are three Rice Krispie treat recipes for grownups.

Cranberry White Chocolate Rice Krispie® Treats Recipe

Adding dry fruit to white chocolate Rice Krispie treats makes for great treats. It contrasts with the richness of the white chocolate—like white chocolate covered cranberries. These are very easy to make yet are a very delightful treat for family or friends.

Look for white chocolate chips made with cocoa butter instead of vegetable or coconut oil.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
4 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 tablespoon good quality vanilla
1 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
6 cups Kellogg's Rice Krispie cereal or equal
3/4 cup dry cranberries

Directions

Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

1. In a large pan on the stovetop, melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows. Stir until the mixture is melted, hot, and smooth. Add the vanilla.
2. Add the white chocolate chips, rice cereal, and cranberries. Stir until the cereal is uniformly combined with the marshmallow mixture.
3. Remove the mixture to the buttered pan. Evenly distribute the mixture and press it down into the pan with buttered fingers, a piece of waxed paper, or a spatula. Let cool and cut into squares.

Baker's notes: The white chocolate chips will melt in the hot marshmallow mixture.

If you use a large enough pan, you can mix the treats right in the pan, not in a bowl. The hot pan makes it a little easier to stir the mixture together and there is less clean-up.

Rice Krispie Treats are best eaten the same day.

Marionberry White Chocolate Rice Krispie® Treats

Add a cup of jam and some white chocolate and you'll have a treat for everyone. Vary the jam though seedless is nicer.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
5 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 tablespoon good quality vanilla
1 1/2 cups white chocolate wafers or 1 cup white chocolate chips
9 cups Kellogg's Rice Krispie® cereal or equal
1 cup or 8-ounce jar of seedless marionberry jam

Directions

1. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Set aside.
2. In a large pan on the stovetop, melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows. Stir until the mixture is hot, melted, and smooth. Remove from the heat. Add the vanilla, white chocolate, and jam and stir.
3. Add the cereal and stir until the cereal is uniformly combined with the marshmallow mixture.
4. Remove the mixture to the buttered pan. Evenly distribute the mixture and press it down into the pan with buttered fingers, a piece of waxed paper, or a spatula. Let it cool and cut it into squares.

Raspberry White Chocolate Rice Krispie® Treats Recipe

This is simply Rice Krispie Treats with added white chocolate chips and tidbits. While we made these with raspberry tidbits, try them with blueberry or strawberry too.

Berry tidbits are baking chips. Instead of drops with pretty little curly tops, they are cut into squares much like chocolate cookie chunks.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
4 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 tablespoon good quality vanilla
1 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
6 cups Kellogg's Rice Krispie cereal or equal
3/4 cup strawberry, raspberry, or blueberry tidbits

Directions

Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

1. In a large pan on the stovetop, melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows. Stir until the mixture is melted, hot, and smooth. Add the vanilla.
2. Add the white chocolate chips and rice cereal. Stir until the cereal is uniformly combined with the marshmallow mixture and then add the tidbits and stir until they are just distributed. The tidbits will partially melt in the warm mixture.
3. Remove the mixture to the buttered pan. Evenly distribute the mixture and press it down into the pan with buttered fingers, a piece of waxed paper, or a spatula. Let cool and cut into squares.

About the Author

Dennis Weaver is a well-known author who has written extensively about food including How to Bake plus other books, articles, and recipes including the free e-book, "
How to Make Rice Krispie Treats
." He is president of The Prepared Pantry, a seller of baking mixes and ingredients, kitchen tools, and gourmet food—including
white chocolate
and other chocolate baking chips including raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry tidbits.

If I want to buy drinking wine for cooking purposes, is it okay to get it from a grocery store?

They sell drinking wine at H.E.B., and this store is known for carrying more gourmet foods and obscure brands that Walmart doesn't carry (it's like a miniature version of Central Market). So I was just wondering if it would be okay to buy red wine here.

Or is this something that I should go to a store that exclusively sells wine for?

I just want a good red wine to yield restaraunt quality cooking. Since I don't drink alcohol, I'm not picky about it being some rare, exorbitantly priced wine. I just want something that will add whatever flavor is necessary to my cooking to bring out the correct flavor. Something that is, hopefully, on par with a restaraunt like Olive Garden (I'd hardly call that fancy, btw).

Does this make sense? What brand of wine should I get, and is it okay to buy it from the grocery store?

Oh geez - just buy cheap wine. Not faux-wine, but a $5 or $6 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah or Zinfandel for red or Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio for white. If the HEB sells actual wine - not just cooking wine - look below the fancy wines...near the bottom shelf for the inexpensive wines. If you live where there are Trader Joe's, buy Charles Shaw (aka Two Buck Chuck - between $2 and $4 depending on where you live).

I drink very good wines. I cook with very inexpensive wines (and I do a lot of cooking with wine - I'm a stewing/braising fanatic). I was just in Burgundy and asked a couple of people at restaurants if they cook their Beef Bourgignon or Coq au Vin with the better wines and they just laughed. They use the Village (lowest end) wines for cooking. And last - check out this article. It addresses this issue. It's from the NY Times!!! http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/21/dining/21cook.html?pagewanted=all Hopefully everyone who is on their high horse about not cooking with something you wouldn't drink will read this too.

Pasture raised and clover finished beef.m4v