Quick and Easy St. Patrick's Day Treats

Is anyone else freaking out that St. Patrick's day is next week? I feel like it was just Christmas, this is crazy! I wanted to make a fun treat last night, so I whipped together my favorite rice krispy treat recipe, and added some festive decorations. You can really decorate these for any holiday that you would like, I just thought I would share the way I made mine last night.

So first off, here's what you will need!

For the treats:
10oz (1 bag) of mini marshmallows.
1/4 cup (half a stick) of butter.
6 cups of krispy rice cereal.
Green food coloring

For the decorations:
10oz (1 bag) of candy melts in your color of choice.
Sprinkles of your choice
Popsicle/Lollipop sticks (if you would like yours to be handheld)
Any other decor that you choose

Step one: 

The first step is melting your butter and marshmallows. Some people choose to do this step over a stove, but I like things quick and easy in the kitchen so I just pop mine in the microwave. Put your butter into a microwave safe bowl with your mini marshmallows. Then pop it into the microwave in 30 second increments. This usually takes 2 minutes total, but make sure to stir in between each 30 second increment. 

Step Two:
If you want to color your actual treats, then you would add food coloring to the marshmallows at this time. I added exactly one drop, and got the green color pictured below. I wish I would have done 3-4 drops, because once the treats are all mixed and done, the green didn't really show through. Bummer.

Step Three:
After you colored your marshmallows if you choose, you will want to fold in your cereal. I use a good spatula and really just make sure to fold the mixture, as opposed to stirring it in a circle. I grab from the bottom and fold it over the top, until everything is mixed together.

Step Four:
You will now want to dump the mixture into a 9x13 pan (or whatever size you choose). A 9x13 pan makes around 16 treats. This part can usually be the most frustrating because the mixture gets really sticky and doesn't like to cooperate. A quick tip for you, if you wet your spatula, it makes this process SO easy. Obviously you don't want to soak the spatula and make your treats wet by any means, but just a quick run under the sink will let you press down your treats without them being extra sticky and not cooperating.

I also like my treats really packed down, this step is totally optional. Some people like their rice krispy treats more "fluffy" and falling apart as you eat them, but I prefer mine to be a solid bar. This step is also pretty mandatory if you are choosing to stand yours up to serve them. If you are wanting to stand them up to serve, you will have to pack down the treats so that they are more solid, and can hold a form. I also recommend wetting the spatula for this part, to press them down. In the picture below, I've pressed down the left side, but hadn't yet done the right side.

Step Five: 

Let cool/harden. This step usually takes around an hour, and is usually my least favorite step, waiting!! Now if you're just going to eat them, you might not have to wait that long but if you are planning on standing them up, or decorating extravagently, you want them to be pretty solid and completely set.

Step Six: 

DECORATE! I didn't get the best photos during this step. My camera is white and I was terrified to get candy melt on it so I didn't risk taking too many photos during this step. Just know that you can decorate however you want, based on what holiday/theme you are going for. Candy melt is a great way to decorate treats. You melt your candy melts just like you would the marshmallows, in 30 second increments, stirring in between, this also usually takes about two minutes. You can dip the treats in the candy melt, or decorate the top of the treats with it. There is no right or wrong way to do it, which doesn't make me feel too bad for not getting the best pictures of this step! 

 *if you are wanting to stand your treats up on lollipop sticks, be sure your treats are VERY packed down, and completely dry before decorating. Mine could have dried a little bit more, causing some of them to not want to stay standing up.

Well there you have it, my quick treat I made last night. Rice krispy treats are always good, and always a crowd pleaser! My reader feedback survey in the winter asked for more cooking/baking posts so I will try to do more of them! 

As always, thanks for reading.