Cinnamon Spice Rice Krispie Treats

So last week, I really set the bar high with the peanut butter apple crumb bars. I had coworkers swooning and stuffing their faces with multiple bars. So I originally had plans to try to top that this week, but the pressure got to me, and I couldn’t think of a recipe that would top that without having a good chunk of time to dedicate to baking. I saw these CInnamon Spice Rice Krispie S’mores on Food52 and was going to make those, until I realized I didn’t have the right size pan to make them thin enough to turn into s’mores. And I didn’t get home until 7:30 tonight, and last night I landed at 11pm from Texas. So as you can see the excuses are just piling up. But fear not, I did still bake tonight, and my coworkers will be happily sugared up tomorrow morning. I decided to make an easier version of the cinnamon spice rice krispie treats, and then I also threw together some pumpkin chocolate chip bread as a back-up in case my coworkers didn’t love the treats. (but I mean, how could they not, right??)

Why do I care so much about making sure my coworkers are happy tomorrow? Well, they have been spoiled with weekly cookie deliveries for over the past two and a half years since I started The Salted Cookie. And tomorrow, will be the last weekly cookie delivery because it’s my last day at work. Yep, the end of an era. After over three and a half years at SapientNitro as a business analyst, project manager, business consultant, hand model, etc, etc., tomorrow is my last day before I move on to bigger and better things. I’m not going to get all sappy in this post. Maybe another day I’ll write a post about how I think quitting your job is very comparable to a breakup, and people should treat it that way because it is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I’m bummed to leave Sapient but really excited to start my new job in a few weeks. And excited for the week and a half in between to chill out and see friends and definitely do some baking. So tomorrow is my last day at work. And I’d like my coworkers to feel happily sugared up, which I think they will with these treats.

I love rice krispie treats. They are quick and simple to pull together, and always a crowd pleaser. The cinnamon spice and browned butter combo in these is perfect for the fall, and the semi sweet chocolate ups the ante on making these a little more decadent. Maybe another time I’ll try the roasted marshmallow version of these to make them s’mores, but if you’re looking for a quick fall recipe I definitely recommend these.

Ingredients:

  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 4 cups mini marshmallows
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 6 cups puffed rice cereal
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon coconut oil

Step 1: Generously grease a 13×9 glass baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.

Step 2: In a pot over medium heat, brown the butter, making sure to constantly whisk so it does not burn. Lower the heat to medium, and add in the mini marshmallows, cinnamon, and nutmeg, stirring with a heat-proof spatula until the mixture is melted.

Step 3: Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the rice krispie cereal two cups at a time, folding in slowly until it is evenly coated. IMG_1893

Step 4: Evenly spread out the marshmallowy mixture in the glass baking dish and put into the freezer for 15 minutes. Remove from the freezer and cut into even squares. Return to the freezer while you melt the chocolate.IMG_1896

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Step 5: In a microwave safe bowl (because it is physically impossible for me to not burn chocolate over the stove) melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil, stopping every 30 seconds to stir. If you don’t have coconut oil, you can add a little vegetable oil at the end to thin out the chocolate. Once the chocolate it melted, dip one end of each rice krispie treats about a quarter way into the chocolate and set aside on parchment to set. Refrigerate for at least an hour before eating. IMG_1897

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The one thing I fear with not working at my current job is not having a large group of taste testers to provide their feedback on a weekly basis. Good thing I have some trusty neighbors. I brought one of these along with the chocolate chip pumpkin bread upstairs to Francesca for some taste testing tonight, so she might have to take over some responsibilities going forward. I’m sure crazy Eddie will help too. Maybe even mama the cat, since he was standing outside my bedroom window at 6am on Friday morning having a conversation with Mama the cat. Hopefully my new coworkers like cookies, and if they don’t I’ll just start shipping them out every Monday to anyone I know. Or eat them all myself, and start applying for the next episode of “my 800-pound life.” 

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So it’s late, and I’m tired and still have a few things to finish up before the final day tomorrow, so I’m going to do more of a photo recap of the past few days than lots of witty commentary. One of my favorite friends from college – Denise – lives down in Houston so about a month and a half ago, we made plans for a visit down to the Lonestar state. Denise and I became friends freshman year at Boston College on a retreat, and then became close when we were part of a notorious copy editor trio with our friend Kasia on the campus newspaper The Heights. Back in 2008 when I was traveling a lot for work, I visited Denise in Houston and arranged for Kasia to surprise Denise at the airport – and we drank cheap Andre champagne like the good ol’ days. This year I half expected Kasia to surprise us at the airport, but she was just with us in spirit this time, as Denise and I ate our way through Houston and our mini roadtrip to Austin.

This was the view arriving into Houston on Friday morning. I don’t think anyone on my plane minded me screaming CLEAR EYES, FULL HEART, CAN’T LOSE  and TEXAS FOREVER for the 15 minutes we were close to landing, as I tried to find Tim Riggins from above.

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You know Denise is a true friend, when the first thing she brings me right to in Houston is this delicious chocolate chip cookie at Tiny Boxwoods. I need to replicate this, because oh man. Just perfection.IMG_7561

My friend Jackie from work who moved to Houston last year just had a beautiful baby girl – Miss Nora – two months ago. So I was so excited to be able to spend Friday afternoon in the park with Jackie, Nora and Mr. Rocky – who loves puddles more than anyone I’ve ever met. IMG_7564Saturday morning Denise and I got up early, fueled up with Dunkin Donuts (which now they have in Texas, yeehaw) and then after a DELICIOUS BBQ lunch at Salt Lick, we ventured to Mount Bonnell to get some sweet views of Austin from high up.

This BBQ. Finger Lickin Good.
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On top of Mount Bonnell.IMG_7576

Not a bad view at all. Now I know why Tim Riggins wanted to just buy a big plot of land and live here forever and make hot little Panthers babies. 
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After an afternoon relaxing in the hotel watching some classic movies like Save the Last Dance and Double Jeopardy, we ventured down to South Congress street to get the real downtown Austin experience.IMG_7583

And while you might think that would involve TexMex … we Northern girls really like our NYC style pizza, so we went to Home Slice to grab a few slices of this delish pizza pie. Denise already perfected the instagram hand model holding food pose. IMG_7585After some live music, margaritas, and Amy’s ice cream, we were happily full and headed back to the hotel. Only to get up early the next morning to finish our food tour of Austin with a DELISH brunch at Kerby Lane right on the University of Texas campus – obviously to celebrate the Longhorn’s win. But mostly to have deep morning conversations over Steve Guttenburg and his acting career. Because that’s the kind of deep thoughts we discuss with our Boston College educations. IMG_7596And then we road tripped back to Houston so I could fly back to Boston, and we listened to lots of good music and had lots of laughs, and I just loved every bit of the entire weekend. It’s just so nice to have such good friends even though we live miles and miles apart.

Speaking of good friends, I’m going to spend my 12 days of funemployment packing in some time with friends, including a trip to NYC this Friday/Saturday to hang with my friend Jackie and then spend Saturday with my favorite brother and sister-in-law.

So now it’s really late, and I am signed up for a 6am spin class, so I need to wrap this up. Tomorrow is a big day. Saying goodbye to a lot of good peeps and ending the era of being “the cookie lady” at SapientNitro. The good thing at least, is I’ll be half a block away in the Hancock Tower at my new job, so maybe I’ll coordinate some kind of black market for Monday morning cookie dropoffs. Actually, that’s not a bad idea.

And now I’ll go back to playing Les Miserables “One day more” on repeat – because for some reason, that’s just how we roll in my family. Quoting Jean Val Jean like the badass he is. 2-4-6-0-1.