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| Gluten Free Rice Krispy Treats |
For years, it was a mystery to me that Rice Krispies cereal was made with rice and yet it was not gluten free. Kellogg finally got wise to the current gluten-free mania and has actually made a gluten-free version of rice krispies made with brown rice – even better! After years of patiently waiting, my daughter can finally indulge in a yummy rice krispy treat.
I have to confess that, since rice krispy treats seem so ubiquitous, I figured that they must be easy to make. Ummm… wrong. These were absolutely awful to make and yet I pushed on … desperate to have my first grader indulge in some yummy yet bad for you goodness like all her little friends. Now that I have made them, I can’t say that I will be rushing back to make them again… Although the final product was actually delicious so maybe I will be swayed sooner rather than later. We shall see…
Round 1: Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats
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| Ready to expand … |
For my first attempt at Rice Krispy Treats, I decided that it would be fun to let the kids watch the mini marshmallows expand in the microwave.
I combined 4 cups of mini marshmallows, 3 tablespoons of butter, and 1/4 cup (or so) of peanut butter and put it on high for 2 minutes.
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| Getting bigger! |
The children were FASCINATED by the expanding marshmallows. They were also fascinated by the fact that I was actually using the microwave … usually it doubles as my bread box.
I tried to stir this expanding mess and it was quite a chore.
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| The disaster … |
I stuck it back in the microwave for another minute. Took it out, added 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and tried to get it to combine without sticking to my spatula. Not willing to admit defeat, I tried to add 6 cups of rice krispies. Disaster ensued. And round 1 was over. I surrendered.
Round 2: Nutella Rice Krispy Treats
For my second attempt at Rice Krispy treats, I used the good old-fashioned stove. I combined the following in a heavy bottomed saucepan…
3 cups of mini-marshallows
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons Nutella
I let it melt very slowly and then I added in a splash of vanilla extract.
After the concoction was as smooth as it could be, I added 4 cups of gluten free rice krispies and strong-armed them into submission with my wooden spoon.
After all this hard work, I needed this dessert to at least look a little bit pretty, so I lightly greased the bottoms of a muffin tin with cooking spray and then I pressed the Nutella Rice Krispy Treats into the muffin tin using a piece of waxed paper.
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| Gluten Free Nutella Rice Krispy Treats in Muffin Tins |
After pressing these into cute little circles, I let them sit for a little while until dinner was ready and then I popped them into a tupperware container with a tight seal. If you want to keep these fresh, they need to be at room temperature in a tightly sealed container – if you put them into the refrigerator, they will be rock-hard. Don’t do it … The kids loved these cute rice krispy treats but I think that next time I will press them into mini-muffin tins. These circles were way too big for one small child to eat! An adult, on the other hand, could easily have 2 or 3… Enjoy!
