Rice Krispie Treats Gone GREEN!

It's easy being GREEN... especially on St. Patrick's Day! Rice Krispie Treats have been a long standing fave so let's put a little Irish in 'em!

Head the kids to the kitchen and grab your heart shaped cookie cutters... yep, stick 'em together and they make shamrocks... Voila!

Here's what you need and a look at the pic should put you in busy and all of sudden all of those little eyes are Irish and they be smilin' :-)... When Irish are smilin'... la la la ... Here  ya' go...
 
1/4  cup butter
1 (10-ounce) package marshmallows
1 (2-ounce) jar green sugar candy sprinkles
6 cups Rice Krispies

The adult helper needs to do this part please: In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows and continue to stir until the marshmallows have completely melted. (Depending on the age of the child (or children) that you’re cooking with, they do love to STIR!)

Add the green sprinkles, stir well. Remove from heat.

Stir in the Rice Krispies cereal coating them well with the melted marshmallow mixture.

Using a buttered or silicone spatula, press the mixture evenly into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan which has been buttered or sprayed with non-stick spray or lined with wax paper.

Note:  The kids love doing this with little “buttered hands”… just make sure the mixture is not too hot to burn their hands! You can spread it with the spatula in the pan while it’s hot and then let them press the mixture down with their little hands! FUN!

When the mixture cools to touch, turn out on a cutting board and cut into heart shapes. Let the kids stick ‘em together and add a stick! Note:  You can use Popsicle sticks, chopsticks from the dollar store or the paper ones from the bakery aisle. The stick size you will need to hold it will depend on the size of your cookie cutter!

Happy Cooking with Kids!
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach

Easy Shamrock Cake!

It doesn't get much easier to create a party atmosphere with a special cake than this easy "Shamrock Cake" for St. Patrick's Day!

The picture to the left is of a lucky 4-leaf clover so you have a choice... will it be the real luck of the Irish with a lucky 4-leaf clover or a shamrock?

Whatever you and the kids decide, you'll need either 3 or 4 heart-shaped pans... 3 for a shamrock cake or 4 for the clover cake. I've seen small heart-shaped pans at the dollar stores... so have a look... don't make this an expensive activity... that's not our goal. And, the pans can't be too big or you won't have enough cake batter! The ones I've seen are smaller and the new silicone ones. The perfect size for this project!

You can choose your favorite homemade cake recipe or buy a white cake mix... OR, for a special treat, the kids really like the "confetti cake" mix. If you haven't tried the confetti mix, watch your grocery ads as they go on sale a lot so you could pick up a couple... and, it's a very moist cake.

All righty... so here's the road map to your St. Patrick's Day cake... Let the kids prepare the cake mix (or their favorite cake recipe). Note:  Wally World has gotten into the "specialty cake mixes lately and I picked up a "green" Confetti Cake mix with matching icing... very cool for a St. Paddy's Day "cake project" :-)

Equally divide the batter into 3 (or 4) heart-shaped pans... Bake according to the directions and let the little heart cakes cool. Meanwhile, let the kids be stirring up make their favorite (and easiest) icing recipe. Tint it with green food coloring, of course (unless you're using a specialty cake mix)!

Now, join the heart cakes together at their tips, forming a shamrock or the lucky 4-leaf clover! How easy was that? Let the kids get icing all over them and lick it off and frost the cake green... the shade is only left to the kids' imagination!

Add to the fun and decorate the cake with little gold coins scattered across it or little store-bought shamrocks. There's tons of ideas for decorations and if you just turn the kids loose in the dollar store, I'm sure they'll find more than enough decorations.

Get ready for rave reviews on your St. Patrick's Day creation! Most of all, have fun!

Getting kids into the kitchen,
Jan McCracken, Culinary Coach for Kids