Thursday, August 30, 2012

Peanut Butter Cup Rice Krispie Treats and memories of “baking”


When people recall memories from their childhood, they often involve baking in the kitchen with Mom. When I recall memories from my childhood, I have to say that baking with Mom is not one of the first things I think of. 


But here are some of the things I can remember so clearly that it feels like it was yesterday:
  • Dropping a huge canister of Kool-Aid on my bare toe, back when they used to have metal bottoms.
  • Being stung on the palm by a bee that had affixed itself to my stuffed Garfield toy.
  • Running my bike into a tree and ending up in the ER. 
  • Putting my sister’s pajamas down next to my bedside in case I threw up that night. I did and the pajama’s served their purpose, although my sister was not so pleased. 
  • Taking the “Daddy Train” to bed every night, which consisted of him carrying me and my sister on his back at the same time. 
  • Sneakily getting up early on Christmas morning and going through my stocking, only to tear my stocking as I shoved everything back in. Busted.


So, you’ll notice that only one of those memories happened in the kitchen and involved a canister of dyed sugar. What can I say? Mom just isn’t a baker. However, as I made these rice krispie treats, a memory came back to me and suddenly I was 5 years old again:

I’m standing at the stove on my stool, still barefoot. (Apparently the Kool-Aid incident taught me nothing.) The wooden stool is etched with the phrase, “This little stool is mine, I use it all the time, to reach the things I couldn’t, and lots of things I shouldn’t.” I’m stirring a pot of rice krispie treats with all my might. Even at 5, I’m regretting this decision to help Mom, thinking my arm might fall off as the marshmallow sets up.  

Baking? Maybe not. But a kitchen memory with Mom all the same. 

It has been a long time since I made rice krispie treats and I forgot how perfect they are, especially when they’re peanut butter laden. 


Peanut Butter Cup Rice Krispie Treats

6 cups crisp rice cereal
5 ounces peanut butter cups, chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
10 ounces marshmallows

Topping:
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
2 ounces peanut butter cups, chopped

Line a 13x9 inch pan with parchment paper.
In a large pot, melt the butter and add peanut butter. Stir together until smooth. Add marshmallows and stir constantly until completely melted. 
Add cereal and peanut butter cups and immediately stir to coat with marshmallow mixture. When completely coated, pour mixture into prepared pan. Spread out into corners and press evenly into pan. Let cool.
When cool, prepare topping by mixing peanut butter, powdered sugar and melted butter together until smooth. 
Remove rice krispie treats from pan and spread topping evenly over the top. Sprinkle chopped peanut butter cups over the topping and press down lightly to adhere. Cut into squares.


If you’re a peanut butter lover, do yourself a favor and make these soon. They are ridiculously easy (except for the stirring), and ridiculously good. 


7 comments:

  1. Karen,
    You can come by and stir up a batch of these for me anytime!

    ReplyDelete
  2. OMG this looks delicious and beautiful!!!
    Have a nice week end

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ummmm....YUM Karen! I have crazy memories too...but never baking with my Mom either. She wasn't much for cooking. She'd rather eat out. :) I wish my kids liked peanut butter, I would be all over these!! Delish!

    xo
    Heather

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  4. Oh my! Looks delicious. I followed the recipe EXACTLY and it won't change anything. This is perfection found you link from online pinochle !!! I can tell you that this heavenly frying pan won't last a day in my house! Thanks for sharing this recipe! They were so tasty I used a 9 x 9 inch pan and added 5 cups of rice cakes and peanut butter, because that's what I had on hand. I didn't add any oil to the chocolate because others said it's not required and I agree. The chocolate did not break when diced. I added some pieces of peanut butter melted on melted chocolate.

    - scribble rider

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