Spring break is eagerly anticipated by children everywhere. And it’s just as fun as they expect… for the first day.
After that, they tend to get really bored, really fast. Luckily, Retro Ruth had sent this great kids-friendly recipe just in time for Spring Break 2014!
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 1/2 pound marshmallows
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup shredded or flaked coconut
- 1/3 cup chopped nuts
- 3 1/2 cups cornflakes, whole wheat flakes, bran flakes, or oven-toasted rice cereal
- 1 package (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate bits, melted
- Combine butter or margarine, marshmallows and salt in top of double boiler and allow to melt over boiling water. Stir as needed to make a smooth mixture.
- Combine coconut, nuts, and cereal in large bowl. Blend marshmallow mixture into cereal, stirring as needed to coat evenly.
- Press into 9-inch square pan. Spread melted chocolate evenly over top. Chill 1 hour. Cut into bars. Makes 27 to 36 bars.
Look familiar? Because it’s basically fancy Rice Krispie treats — if we use “oven toasted rice cereal,” at least, which we are because that’s what we’ve got in the pantry. (Give me a break here. I’m harried.)
The toddler went crazy when I put the marshmallows into the saucepan and started melting them.
See, he’s currently going through potty-training. When he successfully uses the potty, he gets a marshmallow — two if he didn’t need to be reminded to go.
This unfortunately means that nobody else in the house is allowed to eat marshmallows in his presence. And when I took an entire bag and turned them to goo, well I was clearly just a terrible mother.
I always wonder why I feel harried, and then I describe the marshmallow hostage situation and wonder why I don’t feel more harried.
One of our vacation-bored youngsters wanted to take charge of the tasting this week. I was happy to oblige (he helped out a lot with making these cookies, so he’d earned it). Internet, meet RJ!
I think he was mostly just glad to see a retro recipe that he knew would taste great.
Verdict: Delicious!
RJ didn’t provide any tasting notes besides begging for more, but here are some of my own observations:
Chocolate, coconut, and nuts are a neat upgrade to the standard Rice Krispie Treat recipe. It’s rather deceptive to call these “no bake” since there’s a lot of stovetop melting required, but overall it is very easy to make and a good way to distract “vacation-bored youngsters” — especially if you also make them clean up the sticky dishes afterwards!
Such an adorable smile! Clearly a positive review.
These look awesome! Also, RJ is a doll. 🙂
Personally, I think a week off for Easter vacation is too long…Good Friday through Easter Sunday is enough!
Ha! No kidding!