gimme some oven

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I’m taking off to go home to my folks’ and spend time with family.  But beforehand, wanted to leave you with my fun little Thanksgiving creation of the year.  Have been craving PB rice crispy treats lately (seriously — why make regular when a 1/2 cup of PB adds so much more!!).  So on a whim, decided to turn my normal bars into these cute little guys.  (Although, I should mention I received a roomful of aghast looks last night when I told my choir I was headed home to make “turkey rice crispies”…  :-))

Hakuna matata — no triptophan in these guys.  Just cuteness.

Wishing you all a holiday full of great joy, great memories made with family and friends, and of course…great food.  Gobble gobble!

Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats

Ingredients:

Rice Crispy Treats Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 10 oz marshmallows
• 6 cups rice crispy cereal
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (omit if making classic flavor)

Turkey Decor:

• candy corn
• cashews (split in half, and then broken in two)
• Whoppers (or other round, brown candy)
• black frosting
• red licorice (I used Twizzlers “Pull & Peel”) – or a dried cranberry might work
• more peanut butter for “glue”

Method:

To Make Turkey Crispies

Melt butter in a pan over medium heat (with peanut butter if using). When melted, add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add cereal and mix well.

While still warm, use your hands to form the mixture into small balls.  Then use additional peanut butter for “glue” to tack on the candy corn (feathers), Whopper (head), beak (cashew), little red waddle (licorice), and then use black frosting to make the eyes.  You may need to squish these down slightly so that there’s a flat part on the bottom, in order to help the “bird” balance.  :)

To Make Rice Crispy Bars

Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat (with peanut butter if using). When melted, add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add cereal and mix well. If using sprinkles, add sprinkles and mix well (add more, and some more). Pour contents into baking dish and spread evenly. When cooled, cut into squares and serve.

Ali’s Tip:

I didn’t cover these with chocolate this time since I was making the little turkeys, but normally love pouring a layer of melted chocolate chips over PB rice crispy treats when they’re in “bar” form.  Just melt 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips in a double burner, or carefully in the microwave (use a teaspoon or two of shortening if needed to thin it out), and then pour it over the finished bars.  YUM!

Another fun way to add a little “decor” — if using the chocolate or not — is just to add some cute colorful sprinkles on top.  Super-easy!