Rice Crispy Treats

How hard can they be, right? Why do I need to put them on here, and why is it the first time I've posted in almost two years.....well, life has a way of getting in the way and it's done just that for two years now. I can't promise I'll post on here very often, but every once in a while I think of something that I should save just in case I forget how to make it....especially now that I don't have my mom to ask :(

So, here is my version of Rice Crispy Treats. They are AMAZING and I highly recommend these changes, every time I take them somewhere they are devoured!! I love the addition of the marshmallow pieces!

Ingredients

1 stick of butter
1 bag of large marshmallows
1 bag of mini marshmallows
8-9 cups of rice crispy cereal

Directions

In a large bowl measure out 8-9 cups of rice crispy cereal and half of the bag of mini marshmallows and mix up a little.

In a large sauce pan, melt butter, I like to melt it until the particles separate and it becomes brown butter, if you've never done this before HERE are some instructions. Once melted, add the entire bag of large marshmallows, and the other half of the bag of mini marshmallows into the pan and leave the heat on VERY low. Stir until all the marshmallows are melted.

Pour mixture over rice cripy cereal and mix well until all coated.

Press into 9x13 pan and let cool.

ENJOY!!

Chocolate Cinnamon Popcorn

This is SO yummy and easy......

Make popcorn. I use my whirly popper and make kettle corn using the following ingredients:

1/3 C popcorn
1/3 C Oil
1/3 C Sugar

Mix in whirly popper and stir constantly until popping slows down. Dump out in bowl.

I make 2 batches of Popcorn.

2 C nuts {I used almonds because Jason can eat them}. I sugar the nuts by putting them in a frying pan with about 1 C of sugar and stirring until the sugar melts and coats the nuts.

Sprinkle nuts into bowl with popcorn.

4 squares of  Almond Bark {or 1/2 pkg of Wilton melting chocolate}
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Melt chocolate in microwave following melting instructions. When chocolate is melted, mix cinnamon into chocolate.

Pour chocolate over popcorn and nuts and mix until all popcorn is coated. Dump out on a cookie sheet and spread out. Put into the freezer for a few minutes to set chocolate.

ENJOY!!!

Caramel Popcorn

I love Caramel Popcorn. It's one of my favorite treats. I wanted to make it to fill my halloween buckets with and searched online for a good recipe...I really liked the one I used. {Originally found on Allrecipes.com} I will note my changes.

1 cup butter {you can use less, about 1/2 C.}
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 quarts popped popcorn

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (95 degrees C). Place popcorn in a very large bowl.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. {no longer!} Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.{easiest to pour over and stir in a large bowl!}
3. Place in two large shallow baking dishes and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 30min to 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.{the longer you cook it the more crunchy it will become!}

Don't worry too much about coating all the popcorn, do the best you can before you place it in the oven, but the caramel will all be warm and melty while it's in the oven so you can coat it more evenly while you are stirring it every 15 minutes.

ps, Jen, I left the name off the picture just for you!