Freedom Stars!

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I love the 4th of July, don't you? I love the picnics, the family time, the games, the fireworks and of course, the food! But my favorite thing is that we are celebrating this wonderful country we are lucky enough to live in. So what would be better to eat on this day than Freedom Stars! They are red, white and blue rice krispie treats cut into stars. Simple, sweet and pure American!

 Freedom Stars

Oreo Rice Krispie Balls

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I picked up a bag of Marshmallow Crispy Oreos the other day. I was intrigued as to what to do with them. They sat on the kitchen counter for a while so I could look at them as I was thinking about the best way to use them (other than sitting down and eating the entire package!). That is how I usually do things. So I decided to make these Rice Krispie Balls on a stick, but with a little twist. The inside ball is pure rice krispie, but the outside is covered with a mixture of marshmallow flavored candy melts and the inside cream of the oreos. The crumble on the top is the outside of the oreo, but crushed. The result is a rice krispie palooza!

Oreo Rice Krispie Balls

(printable recipe)

Pan Spray

7 ounce jar Marshmallow Cream

3 tablespoons Butter

6 cups Rice Krispie Cereal

10 ounce bag Mini Marshmallows

1 package of Oreo Marshmallow Crispy Cookies

1 package of Marshmallow flavored Candy Melts

Cookie/Candy Sticks

 These are the cookies, if you haven't seen them yet.

Separate the tops and bottoms from the cream of the cookies.

Crush the cookie tops and bottoms in your food processor. 

If you don't have one available to you, place the cookies

in a zip lock bag, and crush them by rolling 

over them with a rolling pin.

Whenever I make these I spray vegetable spray on

the utensils I will be using. This helps with clean up.

I started with the basic rice krispie recipe, except I used 

a jar of marshmallow creme in place of the marshmallows.

I have been told that the marshmallow creme made the treats

moister and softer. Melt the butter in a large pot on medium low. 

Add the marshmallow creme, stirring until it is smooth.

Take your pan off the heat.

 Add your rice krispies. At this point, the marshmallow cream 

was not enough to even cover the cereal, so I melted butter and a 

bag of mini marshmallows in another pan, and then

poured the melted marshmallows into the pot and mixed.

It covered beautifully.

Make small balls of cereal and place a stick in each one.

Using a double boiler, place the marshmallow flavored

 candy melts on the stove on low. Add the creme filling 

that you removed from the cookies. Mix together.

I found that the candy melts got slightly thick when 

mixed with the filling. I put a few drops of vegetable oil

into the mix and it thinned up a little. To coat the

balls, use a small spreading knife and cover the balls

with the melted mix. It goes quickly.

Don't allow your coating to get too hot. If it does, it will 

go on fine, but it will begin too heat up the rice krispie ball,

and it will start to break apart, melting the marshmallow in the ball.

As each ball is covered, sprinkle the crushed

cookie over the ball.

You have to have somewhere to go with the pops

so they can set up. They can be frozen or refrigerated.

This is what I rigged up in my fridge. This is 2 cooling racks

on top of a baking pan. It worked great. 

I also tried freezing some. That also worked.

These were a big hit. The inside of the marshmallow balls 

were moist and easy to eat. The outside with the 

cream filling mixed with the candy melts and topped with 
the crushed cookie added a great flavor. 

Thanks for joining me today!! 

Here are some other Rice Krispie recipes you might enjoy:

Rice Krispie Cake Batter Pops

Merry Krispie Bars

Cow Pies

The Freshman Cook is partying at these fun venues:
See Ya in the Gumbo

Merry Krispie Bars!

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Here is a quick, oh, so good, festive bar to make for the holidays. It seems like everyone likes these. There is just something about them that makes people smile! Maybe it's the perennial favorite rice krispie treats, or maybe the milk chocolate, the candy canes, or perhaps it's the red and white peppermint M and M's. But whatever the reason, I hope they make you smile too!

Merry Krispie Bars

2 tablespoon Butter

4 cups Peppermint Mini Marshmallows

5 cups Rice Krispie Cereal

Milk Chocolate Chips

White Almond Bark

25-30 Peppermint M and M's

25-30 Green Holiday M and M's

2 Candy Canes, crushed

25-30 Candy Cane Kisses, quartered

Spray a 13x9" baking dish with pan spray. I also spray

a spatula or spoon to use in the mixing. Set aside.

Melt your butter over low heat and 

add the mini marshmallows to the pot. Stir until they

are completely melted. After I made these treats, I decided

that white marshmallows would be great also. 

The peppermint marshmallows did not add a lot of flavor,

 but you could add some peppermint extract if you wanted to!

Take the pot off of the heat,

and mix in the rice krispies.

Pour the rice krispies into your prepared pan.

Spread the rice krispies into the pan so they are evenly

distributed, and  firmly condensed. Let them set up.

Melt the milk chocolate chips, and frost the rice krispies

with a thin layer. I used about a 1/2 cup of chips.

Take some of your melted white almond bark, and drizzle it 

over the chocolate. Cut the Candy Cane Kisses into 1/4's 

and then drizzle them over the chocolate and bark. I used 

20 kisses, but I only sprinkled about 5 of them here. Add
 it according to how much you like the candy!

I then added some more of the white almond bark, 

and then added more chopped up Candy Cane Kisses,

some red and white peppermint M and M's and then I 

added the green ones for a burst of color.

 I sprinkled on 2 chopped and crushed candy canes.

Cover and let set up overnight.

Cut into bars and serve!

Merry Krispie Bars!

Thanks for joining me !


Don't forget about the Treats Card giveaway!
Tomorrow is the last day!

Here are the parties we wouldn't miss!:
Marvelous Mondays!
Crazy Sweet Tuesday! 

Rice Krispie Ice Cream Sandwiches!

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I want it to be fall so bad! It is my favorite season, after all. But, it is still so darn hot. I am just tired of the heat! Anyway, since I can't change the weather, I might as well eat ice cream. These Rice Krispie Ice Cream Sandwiches are super simple, and yet, so refreshing and good. Basically, you make rice krispie treats, cut out circles for the sandwiches, make sandwiches with ice cream, add sprinkles, freeze, and eat!

Rice Krispie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Treats recipe taken from the rice krispie treats web site

3 tablespoons Butter

4 cups Mini Marshmallows

6 cups Rice Krispies

Mini Chocolate Chips

Ice Cream

Chocolate Sprinkles

On low heat, melt your butter in a large pot.

Spray your pan that you want to put the treats in

 and a spatula with pan spray. Spraying the spatula

helps the rice krispies not stick. 

Add your marshmallows,

and stir until completely melted. 

Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the rice krispies and the chocolate chips and stir all together.

Place in your pan, and then go around the entire top

of the treats and press with a spatula. We are just trying to 

make sure the treats are compressed together and 

don't leave any open spaces. 

Remove the treats from your pan. I used a 2 1/4" cutter,

and cut circles out of the treats. 

Split each circle with a knife.

Using a scoop, place a scoop of ice cream on each side.

I used a 1" diameter scoop. 

Place the two sides together, and then sprinkle the 

sprinkles on top of the ice cream until it sticks. I

tried rolling the sandwich in the sprinkles, but it 

didn't work as well as just dropping the sprinkles 

over the ice cream.

Wrap the ice cream sandwich in plastic and then freeze!

Cool and refreshing on a hot day!

Enjoy!

Thanks for joining me today at
The Freshman Cook
where you can
learn to cook and learn to bake!

Red, White and Blue Rice Krispie Cake Batter Pops

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It is Day 11 of our "15 Days of Red, White and Blue" series, and today we made Cake Batter Rice Krispies, and then rolled them into balls, and stuck them on a stick! Simple? Yes! Time consuming? Slightly! But delicious, and oh, so cute!

Rice Krispie Cake Batter Pops

(adapted from How Sweet Eats via Gimme Some Oven)
3 tablespoon Butter
1 10 oz. bag mini Marshmallows
1/4 cup Yellow Cake Mix
6 cups crispy Rice Cereal
1 (1.75 oz) container of Sprinkles
Red, White, and Blue Candy Melts
Sticks for Pops

Melt the butter over low heat in a large pan.
Add marshmallows.
Stir until they begin to melt.

Add in dry cake mix 1 spoonful at a time until combined.

Stir in cereal until it is completely covered with marshmallow.

Add sprinkles and mix in.

Start rolling the rice krispies into balls.
You can make them any size you want, but they look the best
when they are all a consistent size.
I wear gloves to do this, and I spray the gloves with
cooking spray to prevent sticking.

Melt  some white candy melts in a double boiler.

Dip the bottom of the sticks into the candy melts,
and then insert them into the rice krispie balls.
Let them setup.

Dip each ball into the white candy melt.

Melt some of the red candy melt.
Using a fork, dip it in the candy melt, and then swing it
side to side in the pan, over the rice krispie balls.
Let dry.

Melt blue candy melt.
Using a fork, use the same motion with the blue melt as you
did with the red melts, putting the blue over the red in spots.
Let dry.

Happy 4th of July!

Thanks for joining me today.

Stop by tomorrow to see what we are making
for Day 12~a 4th of July breakfast treat!

  We are partying at the following fun spots:
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday

Weekend Survival Kits

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I have been busy making treats for my son and his roommates and friends. I send them treats a lot of the time, but these were special;  for back to school. I made school cookies, rice krispie treats, chocolate dipped pretzels, and brownie balls.

It was such fun making these! I love to bake and especially for
such appreciative recipients!!