Halloween Marshmallow Krispie Treats and a Foodbuzz Award Nomination

Vote for Liv Life - Foodbuzz's Best Family Food Blog

Some twenty years ago I made my first batch of Rice Krispie Treats.  With the ingredients assembled I set to work following what appeared to be a fairly simple recipe only to find myself and the kitchen covered in some sort of sticky marshmallow mess a mere 30 minutes later.  Not only was the marshmallow on my hands, in my hair and on the counter, but the layer in the mixing bowl seemed to have turned into some sort of marshmallow cement leaving me tempted to head to the garage for a chisel.  The treats were OK, but the effort to put them together left me with little desire to try again.

My Little Bakers - Circa 2001

Fast forward about 10 years and my young son was begging for the pre-packaged treats in the bright blue wrappers.  Being a mom who doesn't take kindly to packaged foods I decided it just might be time to try my hand at these krispie treats again.  With my son in tow we again assembled the ingredients.  He measured the puffed rice, even getting most of it into the bowl while I slowly heated the marshmallows over the stove.  This time I actually greased the pan ahead of time and had it ready and waiting.  My son had the spoon in his hand and was ready to stir as soon as I said "Go!" and we poured the melted marshmallow mixture over the krispies.  Both of us stirred madly and then quickly poured the krispies into the prepared pan.  A plastic sandwich bag sprayed lightly with cooking spray kept the stickiness off of our hands and a simple soak in the sink had the mixing bowl clean in no time.  Could they really be that easy?  In a word... yes!

Since then krispie treats have made frequent appearances in our house and are my son's most requested recipe.  He prefers peanut butter versions over regular plain krispies with his all time favorite being our Triple Peanut Butter Layered Treats. 

Funny story... when we posted the Triple PB Treats I was thrilled to have Amanda at Food Porn Daily feature them on her site and proudly told my son of my accomplishment as I drove him home from school.  His comment was, "Featured on Food Porn Daily??  I'm just curious when they will be featured on our kitchen table!"  Ah... the joys of parenting a teen!

With Halloween right around the corner and another request for krispie treats I grabbed a bag of Reese's Pieces on a whim.  Melting peanut butter with the marshmallow mixture, I added the bag of treats to the measured chocolate puffed cereal and quickly mixed like crazy (now my habit) as I combined the "wet" with the "dry".  Producing peanut butttery treats studded with peanut butter candies, we have another winner.

On another note I am extraordinarily humbled to announce that Liv Life has been nominated by the Featured Publishers at Foodbuzz for the Best Family Food Blog Award.  Liv and I stared in amazement as we read the notification and then let out a whoop heard around the town.

Foodbuzz Blog Award Nomimee 2011

Vote for Liv Life here!

Liv and I would be thrilled to have your vote!  If you would like to participate, please follow this Award Link to the Foodbuzz site and take a moment to cast your vote for Liv Life under the Best Family Food Blog section.  And we wouldn't mind if you asked your friends to vote too!  Feel free to shout out on Facebook or Twitter or simply by email.  We have already received so much support that I am simply overwhelmed, and I can't thank you all heartily enough.  The polls close in about a week on October 17th with an announcement coming in early November... we will keep you posted!

In the meantime, enjoy some krispie treats on us.  Halloween is just around the corner and these colorful, Halloween themed krispies have one teenage boy satisfied... at least for the moment.

Halloween Marshmallow Krispie Treats

Recipe Liv Life

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6 cups Chocolate Puffed Rice Cereal

1 package Reese's Pieces (10.5 oz)
3 Tbs unsalted butter
1/3 cup peanut butter

1 bag (10.5-oz) miniature marshmallows

Prepare a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl mix the cereal and peanut butter candies, set aside.   Melt the butter and peanut butter together in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  When mostly melted add the marshmallows.  Pour the melted marshmallow mixture over the cereal mixture, quickly stirring well to evenly coat the cereal.  Pour the cereal mixture into the prepared pan and evenly press into the pan.

Allow to set, cut and serve!

Liv Life Tip:  I've found that spraying my hands with a touch of cooking spray allows me to pat down the treats into the pan without any sticking!