When I was in high school, the Cooking & Catering Club made doughnuts from scratch and you could tell exactly who decorated which doughnuts. What can I say boys love colour! With that in mind, be careful who has control of the food colouring.
You will need:
2 Tbsp. butter
2 1/2 cups mini marshmallows ( Practice counting time if you have young’uns helping. )
3 cups Rice Krispies
3 drops oil of peppermint ( alternately 1 teaspoon peppermint extract )
2 – 3 Tbsp dark chocolate
From my perspective, these are a quick, easy & kid friendly St. Paddy’s Day treat. Great for hands on fun and hopefully gobbled up soon thereafter. I halved the original ingredients and everything goes into a regular loaf pan. We got 4 good sized bars which could be cut in half if need be and 1 shamrock ( getting to that later ) out of the recipe.
We washed our hands and said thank you for the water and the ingredients to play with and the time together.
Grease the loaf pan and put aside.
Place butter and marshmallows in a medium to large pot.
There will be stirring and added volume in the pot catches things that young apprentices send flying. Place on the stove and heat over a low to medium temperature.
Stir regularly. You can move the melting along by squishing the softening marshmallows with your spoon or spatula. ( Good job for apprentice Kitchen Witches. )
Add ONE drop of gel food colouring or a natural alternative. Mix thoroughly before deciding to add any more ( unless of course there is a ten years old in control). Add 2 drops oil of peppermint or the peppermint extract. Mix well.
Once you have the intensity you are looking for ( or several shades darker as the pictures shows ) add the Rice Krispies all at once and stir until well mixed.
Fill the loaf pan with the mixture. Moisten or grease you hands and pat down evenly. Allow to cool.
Now if you or those with you in the kitchen are feeling energetic, this is a simple way to make shamrock treats.
Shamrocks are a member of the clover family and there are many varieties. St. Patrick used shamrocks, which with climate change are becoming more and more difficult to find in Ireland, as a teaching tool to explain the Holy Trinity.
Maiden, Mother, Crone would work as well as other Divine Trinities.
Make sure hands are either moist or greased or everything is going to get messy. Roll 3 balls about the size of a big walnut. Place the balls on waxed paper and with the palm of your hands press down evenly. Shape the stem and add to the three balls.
Once the loaf was semi firm, I removed the mixture from the form and we drizzled with melted chocolate.
Because my intention was not to have these around for long, I didn’t worry about tempering the chocolate, just melted dark chocolate in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring after each time and added 1 drop of oil of peppermint.
If you used peppermint extract to flavour the Rice Krispie mixture, the chocolate drizzle will be plain as adding extract to chocolate will only make it seize up. Chocolate flavourings need to be oil based.
Use the tongs of forks to control the flow of the drizzle. We worked back and forth at 45 degrees and then 90 degrees in the opposite direction because it was safer but you can create what ever pattern you would like.
Place in the fridge until the chocolate is solid. Because it is not tempered, it will soften easily if left at room temperature.
Here is a shot of the finished shamrock and this recipe will let you make at least a dozen if you have the hands available to work quickly.
Be sure the circles are pressed together as they are pressed down so they stick together. The chocolate drizzle helps as well but they can be fragile.
If you are thinking of these as a lunchbox treat for St. Patrick’s Day, I would suggest using the bars or putting this in a Tupperware type container for protection.
You can’t miss the colour but really, sometimes it is not about getting it right but just creating fun in the kitchen so that it is a safe place to be where teaching moments and making memories can happen.
Hee hee! Kermit’s in love! and it isn’t Miss Piggy.
Chocolate Mint Rice Krispie Squares from My Kitchen Wand
