(for Jana’s birthday)
Recipes like this are reason number twenty million for why I love the internet. I told Jana to pick a birthday treat, and she went to my Pinterest board and picked Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats. So I read the comments under the recipe, and a lot of people were complaining that the squares fell apart because of the moisture created by the pumpkin. And then one person posted that she came up with a solution to get the moisture out of the pumpkin. I followed her link. I followed her advice. I will now follow her blog. And maybe follow her around.
First things first, I addressed the pumpkin issue.
I pressed the moisture out of the pumpkin. (Dave thinks this picture makes it look like a diaper. Ew!) I also tried squeezing it out, still holding it in the paper towel. It was gross but satisfying.
And, as described, I ended up with a piece of pumpkin you could hold in your hand. It was like a piece of play-doh.
Then I measured out as much of the other ingredients as I could. Rice Krispie squares are simple, but they’re all about timing, and melting. I measured out 6 cups of Rice Krispies.
(Yeah, there’s a ton of crap on the counter. It was a very hectic evening.)
I also measured out all the spices (except the vanilla): cinnamon (I used a ginormously heaping teaspoon), ginger (generous half teaspoon), cloves, salt, and then I threw in a little pumpkin pie spice as well.
Then I started the process of turning all of this into Jana’s birthday present. I melted the butter, and added the piece of pumpkin.
Now let’s talk about marshmallows. The recipe required one ten-ounce bag of mini marshmallows. I went to the grocery store to get them and the marshmallow shelf was full of Halloween candy. I inquired about marshmallow availability: what I saw was what they had. And what did they have? S’mores marshmallows. Flat square ones. In 8-ounce bags.
Eek! I bought the only two bags they had, effectively ruining the plans of anyone else in my neighborhood who might want to make Rice Krispie treats. Then I guestimated the additional two ounces from the second bag, and added them to the pan.
I stirred.
Once they were almost done melting, I added the vanilla and spices.
When it had all come together, I removed it from the heat, and let it cool just a little.
And then it was time to add the Rice Krispies.
After some concentrated stirring and pan-scraping, I ended up here:
And then here:
Then I used Paula Deen’s wonderful tip about how to flatten sticky items or graham cracker crusts: I sprayed the bottom of a measuring up with cooking spray and used that to push everything down.
Look at how good that is! Thanks to the tip about the pumpkin, everything turned out beautifully. This morning I cut off a little for the kids, and they BOTH loved it. Juliet even asked to bring some to school for snack. It’s got all the sweetness of a Rice Krispie square with this wonderful pumpkin spice flavor seeping through as you bite it and lingering after you’ve finished your bite. Lovely!
So hooray for the internet, full of mysterious new recipe ideas, people’s experiences making them, and experiments to improve them. Happy birthday Jana!
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