Cookie Crisp Pretzel Bars

Remember when I made my "milk & cookies" cupcake a couple weeks ago? I bought a whole box of Cookie Crisp cereal but only used a few for the "cookie" toppers. Well, I've been trying to figure out what to do with the remainder of the box. If it was Cinnamon Toast Crunch or even Cap'n Crunch I would just pour some milk in the box and eat it up! Sadly, Cookie Crisp has either gotten more bland since I was a kid or my palate is more refined.

Anyway, I made these bars and added pretzels and chocolate chips to offset the sweetness of the cereal.

• I  browned my butter before adding my marshmallows (to add some deeper, nutty flavors) but you could just melt the butter in the regular way.
• I crushed up my cereal and pretzels in a food processor but you could also put them in a big plastic bag (or even between two pieces of plastic wrap) and crush them with rolling pin. You want pieces that are, oh, roughly the size of a pencil eraser or maybe a little bigger.

Recipe:

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks of butter
40 marshmallows (1 package)
4 cups cookie crisp cereal (crushed into pieces)
1 cup pretzels (crushed into pieces)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Use cooking spray, an oiled paper towel, or a pat of butter to grease a 13"x9" pan (you can use a different size but, obviously, this will affect the thickness of your treats). Set aside.
2. Place cereal and pretzel mixture together in a heat safe mixing bowl. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in a medium to large pot. If you are going to brown the butter, keep it on the heat (stirring occasionally) until it starts turning a light brown color. If not, just heat butter until completely melted.
4. Add marshmallows and stir until butter and marshmallows melt together completely. It may be necessary to stir vigorously or "fold" the two together to make sure there are no pockets of butter remaining.
5. Pour the marshmallow/butter mixture into the cereal/pretzel mixture and stir vigorously to combine. Work quickly to make sure there are no dry pockets of cereal. This way you'll get nice consistency in your final product.
6. Quickly pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Press down with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon. Spraying the spatula with cooking spray makes it easier to get the mixture out of the bowl and to press it into the pan without it sticking to the utensil.
7. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top while the bars are still warm. I pressed them down a little with my spatula to make sure they stick.
8. Cool until set. I cute mine with a bench knife/scraper but any sturdy knife will work. Keep covered in an airtight container.

Marshmallow Oreo Bars

Happy New Year!

I have been absolutely horrible about updating my blog over the holiday season. I did a little bit of baking and a little bit of crafting but have generally been in a somewhat of a creative rut. I've got lots of plans for the new year, though, and will have a flurry of posts soon :)

I made these bars over Christmas after seeing the idea on Pinterest (yes, still obsessed). I called them "coal" and gave a batch to my nephew. The process for making these is the same as Rice Krispie treats - very easy! I am thinking about trying other cookies to see what else might work. The oreos work well since they aren't a super sweet cookie and the mini peanutbutter cups I added provide a nice salty touch. These look quite a bit like brownies but are chewy like Rice Krispie treat.

Marshmallow Oreo Bars

Ingredients

1 package oreo cookies
1 package marshmallows
4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
toppings such as mini peanut butter cups (optional)

1. Prepare pan by lightly greasing (I used a 9"x9" pyrex pan but anything works, since you aren't baking it. If you use a larger pan then your bars will just not be as thick)


2. Crush oreos (the whole cookie, including filling) in a food processor until fine crumbs. You can also crush them by putting them in a plastic bag and crushing with a rolling pin. The finer you get the cookie crumbs, the more consistent the color/texture of you bar will be. I wanted mine to look very dark without a lot of chunks or streaks so crushed them as fine as I could.


3. Melt butter and set aside.


4. Microwave marshmallows on high until melted (about 2 minutes?). If you make Rice Krispie treats then you know the deal. They will puff up quite a bit but should stir easily when you stir them with a wooden spoon or spatula.


5. Stir butter into marshmallows. Work somewhat quickly as you don't want the marshmallow mixture to cool.


6. Add cookie crumbs and stir vigorously, folding and mixing to make sure there are no dry pockets. I'm not gonna lie - this is a messy and difficult process. The faster you work the better.


7. As soon as it is sufficiently mixed, pour mixture into prepared pan, making sure to press into corners. A metal spoon or stiff spatula is helpful to get as much out of the bowl as possible.


8. If using, sprinkle toppings and press them down into the top. Let cool and set about an hour. Wrap airtight.