Sugar Shock! Rice Krispie Treats with a Fruity Twist

This simple but dangerous recipe is a favorite at office parties!

I saw these at a department potluck at a previous employer, and had to make them when we had a holiday potluck at my current employer.

Basically, these are made the same as the familiar, basic Rice Krispie treats, but instead of using Rice Krispies, you substitute Fruity Pebbles.

I vary the recipe slightly from the one at the official source.  I about double the butter, and use 50% more marshmallows.

3/4 stick of butter
16 oz bag of marshmallows
1 box of Fruity Pebbles

When I prepare them, I lightly butter the baking pan the bars will cool in, then melt the remainder of the stick over high heat in a large pan. Once the butter has melted, I turn the heat to low and add all the marshmallows at once. I stir constantly, breaking up the lumps, until the marshmallows have melted. I quickly dump the cereal into the pan, stirring quickly to mix throughly, and then scrape the mixture into the cooling pan before the melted marshmallow begins to cool and harden.  The extra butter makes the bars less stiff and more chewy, and you can add more to

I use a sheet of wax paper to press the mixture flat int he pan, allow it to cool, then cut into bars.

Each bar probably contains 5x your recommended daily sugar intake.

Apple Pancakes! Yum!

Its breakfast for dinner, and dessert for breakfast!  The closest I can come to describing these is something akin to apple pies.

This is adapted from a family recipe.  It’s pretty labor intensive, and the proportions on the batter have to be pretty close, so this is another one that is going to look a lot like a traditional recipe.

As cook for a family of four that includes two children, I have to make four of these every time I cook them, even though the kids never finish theirs (leftovers!), because they do usually eat more than half a pancake each.

For a family of four, you will need:

Four pie pans
1 stick of butter
cinnamon (ground)
8 T + 11 T sugar
4-6 apples (pared and sliced)
11 T flour
1/2 t baking powder
8+ eggs(separated)
11 T milk

First of all, you’ll need to prep the apples.  When you are just about done, you’ll want to preheat the oven to 400.  Divide the butter between the pans, and stick them in the oven while it is preheating so the butter can melt.  Once the apples are prepped, take the pans out and make sure the melted butter coats the bottom, then spread 2 T sugar over the bottoms of each.  Sprinkle cinnamon over the sugar (the original recipe calls for a half teaspoon per pancake, but we like ours flavored a little stronger).  Line the pans with a layer of the apple slices, and return to the oven for 5 minutes or so while you get the batter ready.

Combine the flour, baking powder, egg yolks and milk in a bowl and beat until smooth.  I usually go with 10 eggs rather than eight, I like the results better.  Beat the egg whites and sugar until firm (this has been difficult for me, I still haven’t quite figured out the trick), and fold it onto the batter.  Pour that into the pans over the apple slices, and stick back in the oven to cook for 10 minutes (or maybe just a little bit longer).

The fun part is getting the pancakes out of the pans.  I run a table knife around the edge to separate the pancake from the pan.  Take a plate, turn it upside down over the pan and cover it, then flip the covered pan over so the plate is on the bottom.  If you have loosened it well, it will drop right onto the plate.

And there you have it,  a plate-sized pancake that tastes like apple pie!

If  the cook is feeling generous, they might scrape the remaining sugar from the bottom of the pan (some always sticks) back onto the pancakes before serving them, or if they have a real sweet tooth, they can reserve the scrapings for their own pancake as a reward for the labor.  Not that I would ever do that…

Mother Medora’s Magical Toffee (“Watch how fast it disappears”)

So my first recipe seems to be a success, despite the fact that I invented the dish whole cloth and had to guess at the right proportions to actually present it to you as a recipe you can use.

This is an actual recipie I got from a comic book called Castle Waiting.  I’ve made a few modifications, but its perfection is otherwise not to be messed with….

Stick and a half butter
Half cup brown sugar
Boil for seven minutes

9×9 pan, lined with foil
Butter the foil
A cup and a half of nuts (recipe calls for walnuts, I use cashews, we like them better)
Dump nuts in the pan

Pour melted brown sugar onto the nuts
Sprinkle (or in my case, pour) semi-sweet chocolate chips over the nuts and warm sugar/butter mixture
Cover with another layer of foil, press down

Let it cool.  Break into pieces, watch it disappear!

In reality, I use a 9×14 pan and double up the recipe, more or less.  Make sure the sugar/butter mixture boils briskly, or the toffee comes out a little soft and sticky, if I remember correctly.