Ok, that pun’s a bit of a stretch, but what can you do? Nothing, that’s what. The other possibilities were really all so, so much worse. For example:
- It’s A Rice Day For A White Wedding (shudder, so, so bad, and it doesn’t even incorporate the mint element)
- It May Be A Cin(namint), But I’m Going (Rice Krispie) Balls Out (too many brackets here, which I’ve clearly decided to make even worse by involving brackets in my terrible explanation. You obviously can’t take me anywhere)
These incorporated so many leftovers, that I think I love them for that reason alone. Yes, believe it or not, I still have leftover crushed candy canes from Christmas. I didn’t want these to look Christmasy though since we’re quite a ways away from that season (huzzah for end of winter!!), so I didn’t go too overboard on the amount of crushed candy canes I used. I also just mixed it into the batter so you can hardly tell that that’s what they are. Maybe they’re really just crushed mints? Who can say? Well…I can, and I already ruined it by telling you the truth (damn you Amber and your baking honesty!! When will you ever learn to keep secret ALL THE THINGS!!??? Hmmm..actually, that wouldn’t work so well either if I just put a recipe at the bottom that just said “TOP SECRET” and made you guess all the ingredients and baking steps. Although I must admit that I would find that a fun thing to watch you do. So much laughter would be had…by me at least 😉 ).
Additional leftovers were my vanilla flavoured Rice Krispies that I had originally purchased for these faux “buffalo wings” from a few weeks back. I know you’re thinking “ummm…why don’t you just act like a normal person and use it up by eating it for breakfast in it’s usual cereal incarnation?” To you I say “ugh, ugh I say”. Cold cereal just does not get me excited in the morning. It’s hard enough getting up early without dreading your breakfast choices. Oatmeal, that’s my bag….mmmm…oatmeal. I love you oatmeal – you have “meal” right in your name, you’re practically demanding that I eat you for breakfast. What was I talking about again? Oh right, these delicious balls of crispy rice.
I’ve personally become quite the swooning fan of the cinnamon and mint flavour combination. It’s hot, it’s cold, it’s heartwarming and refreshing. It brings together two polar opposites to make one brand new super flavour. If only the world would work that way. Accomplishing world peace one dessert at a time. Anywho, long story short here (well, long story extra long is probably a more apt description of my methodology, but dem’s da breaks 😉 ), these are essentially vanilla Rice Krispie treats with cinnamon and crushed candy canes, formed into delicious bite-sized and portable balls of cereal-goodness, and then dipped in a caramel glaze to bring the sweetness factor over the top (so feel free to omit that if you’re feeling a little more bitter on the day you make these 😉 . Although the additional sweetness might just improve your mood, so maybe you should actually include extra caramel glaze on those bitter angry days 🙂 ).
If you do decide to do that extra step of quadrupling the amount of caramel glaze, please tell your dentist “you’re welcome” from me 😉
Yield: 2 dozen cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup vegan butter
- 2 cups mint flavoured vegan marshmallows (or regular marshmallows and just add a bit more mint extract)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 cup crushed candy canes (or mints)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon mint extract (3/4 teaspoons if not using mint flavoured marshmallows)
- 3 cups Rice Krispie cereal (vanilla or regular is fine too)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chocolate liqueur (or any liquid flavour you desire, even water’s fine)
Directions
- Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper.
- In a large saucepan over low heat, melt vegan butter. Add marshmallows and stir constantly until melted (this will take longer than for traditional marshmallows, so stick with it, it will melt eventually. If mixture seems to be getting too “dry”, just add a bit more vegan butter).
- Stir in cinnamon, crushed candy canes, vanilla and mint. Add in cereal and stir until fully combined.
- Form mixture into golf ball sized balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Place tray in the refrigerator (or even freezer), while preparing caramel coating.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, place brown sugar and chocolate liqueur, stirring until just combined. Allow to heat up to about 220F on a candy thermometer. Alternatively, you can do this in the microwave by placing both ingredients in a medium sized bowl (definitely use a larger bowl then you think because you’ll want to microwave it beyond the boiling point and you don’t want it to boil over), microwave for a minute or two, stir and continue this process until mixture has thickened up slightly.
- Dip top half of Rice Krispie ball in to your caramel mixture and return to baking sheet. Allow caramel to harden/firm up slightly. Store at room temperature.
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by The Caramel Sutra Ain’t Got Nothin’ On These, Am I Rice Or What - Easy Recipes January 1, 2023 at 12 : 24