Last Minute Valentine's Day Treats
At about 4:30 today I realized that I had failed in my motherly duties to procure Valentine’s Day goodies for school tomorrow. And, of course, I would choose to stop at the drugstore on the way home without any decent loot in sight. Then, I had a brilliant idea: I’ll bake something. Well, sorta. No ovens involved.
If you also find yourself out of last-minute Valentine's ideas, consider these little sweets. That is, if your school still allows homemade goods. I’m sensitive to consider all allergies, so today I used ghee (milk solids removed) and chose a gluten-free cereal just in case. Use a cute heart-shaped cookie cutter if you have one. If you don’t square is cool too, because six-year-olds don’t care as much as you think. Well, mine might.
As for packaging, no need to run across town in traffic to Hobby Lobby for those cute little cellophane bags because the Ziploc snack-sized bags work just fine. I also suggest picking up a package of the Avery 2 ½ inch diameter round kraft brown labels. These are a real workhorse: make your own personalized gift tags or labels for jars and create instant happiness.
And, that’s it….the recipe for low-stress, but a sticky mess Valentine’s Day treats. Use this same formula, but with a star cookie cutter and wooden skewers, (pointy tip removed!) to make fairy wands for princess party favors.
So, at 5:30, here I am in the kitchen committed to making heart-shaped rice crispy treats. And at 6 pm, I’m done. Boom. Time to eat the scraps.
GLUTEN-FREE CEREAL TREATS
3 tablespoons butter
10 ounce bag of marshmallows
6 cups gluten-free rice cereal (I use Envirokids Chocolate Kola Crisp)
Melt butter until slightly golden brown (aka, brown butter) in a saucepan. Add marshmallows, melt and combine with butter using a silicone spatula. Stir mix into cereal in a large bowl. Continue to stir until so sticky you regret the decision to make treats. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out sticky mix. Make it as thick or flat as you like—you’re the captain of this crispy ship. Cut out with whatever shape cookie cutter you like, or be vanilla and cut them square. Vanilla is cool in my book—this is the preferred shape of hardcore crispy treat enthusiasts.