The Wedded Bliss of Marshmallow And Cereal

Whoever thought of mixing Rice Krispies and marshmallows was a genius. There's nothing like a buttery square  - or two - or three of the amalgam along with a glass of milk or coffee.The best part - they're easy to make.Even a five year old kid chef can whip up a decent batch.

This American classic really is a classic. The squares or buns, as they're sometimes called were first made in 1939 by Malitta Jensen and Mildred Day at the Kellogg Company's home economics division as a fund raiser for Camp Fire Girls. Many years later, in 1995,  the company mass produced them for the public. They're called treats here and in Mexico while the Canadians and the Brits called them squares.Kellogg's has also offered a breakfast cereal based on them. They may have stolen the recipe from Mary Maltby's  1938 cookbook It's Fun To Cook which was slightly different. Hers was a mixture of  butter , sugar, molasses,  puffed wheat cereal and surprisingly vinegar.Ms Day didn;t like using the molasses, claiming it was too sticky to work with and subbed in the marshmallows. Kids had to wait for two years, until 1941,, when the recipe was first published on the box. Day was celebrated in April of 2001 when Iowa State University created  the world's largest Rice Krispie treat. It  took eight hours to construct and used 818 pounds of cereal , 1,466 pounds of marshmallows and 217 pounds of butter. This giant treat was twelve feet long, six feet wide and two feet deep. The whole state of Kansas could have munched on it. Its' final weight was 2,480 pounds, In 2010 the record was broken by Californians who made a whopping 10,460 pound treat!!!!

(Lucky is in the background, contemplating this human treat)
The recipe is pretty basic.It's one package - about ten ounces - of marshmallows melted with three tablespoons of butter. Add six cups of the Rice Krispies and stir until well coated. Using a buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press the mixture into a well greased (use butter) 13 x 9 x 2 pan. Cool and then cut into squares. The microwave version is faster. Just zap the butter and marshmallows on high for two to three minutes.Always use butter  - never margarine for the classic taste. You can sub in marshmallow creme though which won;t compromise the flavor.. There is a luxe version .that requires an entire stick of butter !!  It's Karissa's from her blog Sweet As A Cookie blog. Not only is it drowning in the good stuff there's also  a teaspoon of vanilla paste added for more flavor. I am raring to make this one but adding my own spin with using a drop of Neilsen-Massey's vanilla instead of the paste to the mix.. I may even commit sacrilege by adding the teeniest pinch of sea salt to offset all that sweet. Another aspect is that the treats can be adapted for any holiday. Right now there are recipes  on the website that feature the mixture  cuts into festive flowers and Easter eggs. Both are fun treats to any kid-centric Easter party. It's just adding food coloring to the marshmallows for the different colors and then cutting them out with greased cookie cutters.. The Rice Krispie eggs can be dipped in dark chocolate to offset the sugariness. and then dipped in pastel colored sprinkles.

Rice Krispie treats are not just an American classic but American comfort food. Buy them or make them. They're just a delicious marriage of cereal and marshmallows with a kiss of butter.