Saved by the Rice Krispie Treat

A year or two ago I bought some adorable Easter cookie cutters...bunnies, carrots, and the like. The problem is that now I feel like I have to make butter cookies every Easter, so that the cookie cutters don't go to waste. But since I already make butter cookies at Christmas and Valentine's Day, by Easter I'm pretty much ready for a change.

For the last few weeks I've been eyeballing the cookie cutters in frustration, trying to ignore the little voice telling me that I needed to make cookies in order to use them. Last weekend we were having an egg decorating party on Saturday morning, so I figured I should make something dessert-like, and I felt like the cookie cutters were going to mock me if I didn't use them. (Ok, maybe my imagination was running away with me, but I swear they were kind of staring at me from the corner of the counter where they'd been sitting.)

I thought about gingerbread, but that seemed weird and un-seasonal. Jello-jigglers crossed my mind, but while I was reading the back of a jello box to figure out how many packets of jello I needed I accidentally caught a pan of oil on fire and almost burned my house down, so I was too scarred by the memory to mess with the jello. In desperation I started digging through the recesses of my pantry--and found two bags of marshmallows leftover from my Rocky Road Chex Mix extravaganza at Christmas time. In a stroke of genius I decided that bunny shaped Rice Krispie treats it would be--much to my eventual delight, because they were a huge hit!

The marshmallow bag said to use more butter and marshmallows and less rice krispies, and the rice krispie box said to use more cereal and less marshmallows; not surprising I guess since they're each trying to market their own product. Anyway, I combined the two recipes, spread the mixture into a cookie sheet instead of a 9x13 pan, and cut away. I ended up with 20 adorable bunnies, plus a small tupperware full of the delicious scrap bits that the cookie cutter left behind, which Noel and I ate while sitting on the kitchen counter later that night. The rice krispie treats were perfect--sticky, sweet, and a little bit crunchy, plus adorable. And really, who doesn't like have something bunny shaped to bite the ears off of?

After the egg party I made another batch to take to Easter dinner the next day, and then later in the week I made another batch for my work potluck. The last batch was less successful, for three reasons really, (1) I used strawberry flavored marshmallows--no good, stick to the original! (2) I forgot that marshmallows aren't vegetarian, so a lot of people couldn't eat them, and (3) they were competing with homemade angel food cake. Not gonna lie, I totally ate the angel food cake instead of my own cookies!

But, if the competition isn't too stiff, these are the perfect little cookies; both easy and adorable, which is the best of both worlds I think.


Rice Krispie Treat Shapes
courtesy of the cereal box and the marshmallow bag
4 tablespoons butter
10 oz marshmallows (4 1/4 cups of the little guys, 40 individual bigger ones)
6 cups crispy rice cereal

In a large saucepan melt the butter over low heat, and stir in the marshmallows until they're melted and smooth. Meanwhile spray a 14x16 inch baking sheet with cooking spray, and spray a large spatula or wooden spoon (or wait and spray your hands). Once the marshmallows and butter have melted together, remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the rice krispies until they're thoroughly coated. Spread the mixture out in the pan using either a greased spatula, or your greased palms. It's kind of hard to spread the mixture out in a pan that big, so you may have to work at it for a minute to get it all evenly spread out. Once it's evenly spread out, refrigerate the pan for about 10 minutes or until the mixture is lightly set.

Spray a cookie cutter with cooking spray, and cut the shapes out, pressing firmly. With bunnies I got 20, with flowers 22, so you should get between 20-24 I'd say, depending on the size of your cookie cutter. Place the cookies between layers of parchment paper in an airtight container, and let them sit another hour or two to harden a little more, unless of course you like to eat them while they're all gooey and soft. And hey, feel free to eat all the scraps yourself...your family and/or guests will never have to know...