Rice Krispies treats are one of those nostalgia-inducing dessert-snacks that we can't seem to shake. No matter how far beyond our childhood days we may currently be (but seriously, who's counting?), biting into one of the melty, marshmallowy, gooey, buttery, crunchy, crispy squares instantly takes us back. Not only are they insanely delicious, they're also cheap and easy to make at home. All you really need to have on hand for a standard batch is some butter, marshmallows, and crispy rice cereal. But, today we're not talking about standard batches — we're here to talk Instagram gold!
What do regular old crispy rice treats and social media domination have in common? Well, as it turns out, a lot actually, thanks to Jessica Siskin. You may already be familiar with Siskin's work via her wildly popular Insta-account, Misterkrisp — where one giant, crunchy, and marshmallowy cheeseburger took the feed stream by storm, kicking off the crispy rice treat's trendy revolution.
We've admired her works of food art from afar, tapping our smart phone screens in assent, dreaming of creating such edible engagements on our very own feeds, and perhaps even attempting such creations. (There is a reason for why those past attempts have not been 'grammed). But we've yet to truly know the secret behind her treat-crafting ways. That is, until we read Siskin's upcoming genius recipe book, Treat Yourself! How to Make 93 Ridiculously Fun No-Bake Crispy Rice Treats, where the marshmallow master bestows us with all her creative crispy knowledge. And in anticipation of this kick-ass cookbook, we have three trendy recipes featured ahead. So you can whip up your very own crispy rice avocados, doughnuts, and even an order of eggs and bacon at home. Get ready for Instagram gold, y'all.
Eggs & Bacon
Makes 6-7 fried eggs (3½–4 in. in diameter) and 6-9 strips of bacon (6 in. long)
Treat Batch Ingredients
White F Batch
3 cups of cereal
2 cups of marshmallows
1½ tbsp of butter
5 drops of white food coloring
Brown F Batch
3 cups of cereal
2 cups of marshmallows
1½ tbsp of butter
4 drops of brown and 4 drops of red food coloring
Special Ingredients
Decorating icing (yellow)
Sparkle gel (yellow, white, gold, pink)
Equipment
Large stockpot
Cooking spray
Parchment paper
Round icing tip
Instructions
1. Mix the white F batch recipe: In a large stockpot, melt the butter over low heat until it’s 80 percent melted, about 1 minute 20 seconds. Note: If the butter begins to sizzle, lower the heat. It should melt very slowly.
2. Add the mini marshmallows and stir gently, coating them with melted butter, about 30 seconds.
3. When the marshmallows are about 80 percent melted (when you can still see the individual marshmallow shapes but they are beginning to run together), add the food coloring. Stir for another 15 seconds and then turn off the heat.
4. Stir gently until the color is well distributed but the marshmallows are still only about 80 percent melted, about 35 seconds (you should still be able to identify individual pieces within the melted ones). Note: If the marshmallows melt too much, the mixture will be too hot to handle—wait 1–2 minutes and then mold quickly!
7. Repeat steps 1–5 to make the brown F batch recipe and, one handful at a time, place the mixture on the work surface. Use both hands to mold each handful into bacon strip shapes, as shown. There should be enough mixture to make 6 to 9 bacon strips.
6. Generously coat your hands with cooking spray and, one handful at a time, place the mixture on the parchment-covered work surface. Use both hands to mold each handful into a fried-egg shape, as shown. There should be enough mixture to make 6 or 7 egg whites.
7. Repeatsteps 1–5 to make the brown F batch recipe and, one handful at a time, place the mixture on the work surface. Use both hands to mold each handful into bacon strip shapes, as shown. There should be enough mixture to make 6 to 9 bacon strips.
8. Using yellow icing with a round tip, draw yellow circles on the egg shapes for yolks.
9. Using the yellow sparkle gel, cover each of the yellow yolks.
10. Using the white sparkle gel, draw a squiggly line along each bacon strip.
11. Use your finger to blend the white sparkle gel into the bacon treats.
12. Repeat Steps 10 and 11 with the gold and then pink sparkle gel.
Excerpted from Treat Yourself! How to Make 93 Ridiculously Fun No-Bake Crispy Rice Treats by Jessica Siskin (Workman). Copyright © 2017. Photographs by Evi Abeler.
Photographed by Evi Abeler.
Avocado
Makes 1 avocado (11 in. tall)
Treat Batch Ingredients
C Batch
8 cups of cereal
6 cups of marshmallows
4 tbsp of butter
10 drops of lime green food coloring
E Batch
4 cups of cereal
3 cups of marshmallows
2 tbsp of butter
6 drops of green food coloring
H Batch
1 cup of cereal
¾ cup of marshmallows
½ tbsp of butter
3 drops of brown food coloring
Special Ingredients
Sparkle gel (lime green)
Equipment
Large stockpot
Cooking spray
Parchment paper
Avocado template
Instructions
1. Mix the C batch recipe: In a large stockpot, melt the butter over low heat until it’s 80 percent melted, about 1 minute 20 seconds. Note: If the butter begins to sizzle, lower the heat. It should melt very slowly.
2. Add the mini marshmallows and stir gently, coating them with melted butter, about 30 seconds.
3. When the marshmallows are about 80 percent melted (when you can still see the individual marshmallow shapes but they are beginning to run together), add the food coloring. Stir for another 15 seconds and then turn off the heat.
4. Stir gently until the color is well distributed but the marshmallows are still only about 80 percent melted, about 35 seconds (you should still be able to identify individual pieces within the melted ones). Note: If the marshmallows melt too much, the mixture will be too hot to handle—wait 1–2 minutes and then mold quickly!
5. Add the cereal and mix well, until the marshmallows and cereal are fully combined, about 40 seconds. Do not over mix! Pour the mixture onto the parchment-covered template on the work surface. Generously coat your hands with cooking spray.
6. Use both hands to mold the mixture over the inner portion of the template, smoothing the edges until the mixture begins to firm.
7. Press down with both hands to make a depression in the center.
8. Repeat steps 1–5 to make the E batch recipe and, in small handfuls, press the dark green mixture over the outer section of the template.
9. Continue applying handfuls and smoothing the mixture until you’ve created a border all the way around the treat.
10. Repeat steps 1–5 to make the H batch recipe and shape it into an oval. Place it in the depression in the center of the treat.
11. Using lime green sparkle gel, outline the border where the dark and light green mixtures meet.
12. Use your finger to smudge and blend the outline.
Excerpted from Treat Yourself! How to Make 93 Ridiculously Fun No-Bake Crispy Rice Treats by Jessica Siskin (Workman). Copyright © 2017. Photographs by Evi Abeler.
Photographed by Evi Abeler.
Donuts
Makes 12 donuts (2 3/4 in. diameter)
Treat Batch Ingredients
D Batch
6 cups of cereal
4 cups of marshmallows
3 tbsp of butter
Special Ingredients
Rainbow sprinkles
Decorating icings (pink, brown, white)
Equipment
2 mini six-donut baking pans ( Note: If you don’t have a donut pan, you can form these by hand. Make small, round handfuls and use your index finger to push a hole into the center.)
Large stockpot
Cooking spray
Parchment paper
Round icing tip
Small icing tube
1. Generously coat both donut pans with cooking spray.
2. Mix the D batch recipe: In a large stockpot, melt the butter over low heat until it’s 80 percent melted, about 1 minute 20 seconds. Note: If the butter begins to sizzle, lower the heat. It should melt very slowly.
3. Add the mini marshmallows and stir gently, coating them with melted butter, about 30 seconds. Stir for another 15 seconds and then turn off the heat.
4. Stir gently. The marshmallows should be about 80 percent melted, about 35 seconds (you should still be able to identify individual pieces within the melted ones). Note: If the marshmallows melt too much, the mixture will be too hot to handle—wait 1–2 minutes and then mold quickly!
5. Add the cereal and mix well, until the marshmallows and cereal are fully combined, about 40 seconds. Do not overmix! Generously coat your hands with cooking spray and, one handful at a time, press the mixture into the donut pans, making sure not to fill the center of the donuts. Once both pans are full (but not overfilled), place them in the freezer for 15 minutes. ( Note: You’ll have a large handful of crispy mixture left over, but a smaller batch won’t be quite enough!)
6. Remove the pans from the freezer. Wait 2 minutes; remove the treats from the molds, and place them on the parchment-covered work surface.
7. Using pink icing with a round tip, color in the rounded side of 6 of the treats, as shown.
8. Using brown icing with a round tip, color in the rounded side of the remaining 6 treats.
9. Using your fingers, drop small amounts of sprinkles onto the icing on the pink iced donuts.
10. Fill the small icing tube with white icing and draw a zigzag pattern on each of the brown iced donuts, as shown (alternatively, you can use white sparkle gel).
Excerpted from Treat Yourself! How to Make 93 Ridiculously Fun No-Bake Crispy Rice Treats by Jessica Siskin (Workman). Copyright © 2017. Photographs by Evi Abeler.
Photographed by Evi Abeler.
Treat Yourself! How to Make 93 Ridiculously Fun No-Bake Crispy Rice Treats by Jessica Siskin, $10.37, available at Amazon.
Photographed by Evi Abeler.
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