Welcome back for my third and final Valentine's Day recipe featuring Dandies Marshmallows. Yesterday, I made some Chocolate Marshmallow Creme candies that your sweetheart will love; the day before that, I made some really simple marshmallow-based fondant. You can use it to decorate any of your baked goods, even today's Cupid Crispie Treats recipe!
These Cupid Crispie Treats have several Valentine's Day components. First, I used beet juice to color both the marshmallows to make the crispie treats, plus the pink fondant decor. Next, I added my favorite toppings: a drizzle of peanut butter, a drizzle of chocolate -- not related to V-Day, but still delicious all the same. On top of the crispies, I placed pink and purple sprinkles purchased from The Pink Peppercorn on Etsy as well as pink-tinted shredded coconut. Finally, I topped everything with some of my pink fondant shapes!
I like to think of this recipe as an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink type of dessert. Add some of your favorite toppings to the mix! You can't go wrong. Originally, I thought about calling it Cupid's Crack Casserole, but I felt like it was too much, haha. It reminded me of how people make "Christmas Crack" around the holidays...and this is just the Valentine's Day version.
I packaged these treats up and sent them to work with my husband. He texted me at 9:00 AM and said that they were all gone. I'd like to think that they were THAT GOOD, but those guys were probably already eating their second breakfast by then ;-)
Cupid Crispie Treats with Dandies Marshmallows
Adapted from Dandies Classic Crispy Treat recipe
1 bag of Dandies Marshmallows (10 oz.)
5 c. rice cereal, or other type of cereal
1 T. coconut oil
2 T. vegan butter, or organic non-hydrogenated shortening
1 T. beet juice, or other natural food coloring
1 T. vanilla-infused bourbon (learn more about infusing your own liquor for extracts!)
Directions
Using coconut oil or vegan butter, grease a 9x9 pan. Set it aside.
In a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium heat, melt the coconut oil and butter. Once they are both melted, add in the marshmallows. Melt everything down while stirring it regularly and then add the beet juice and vanilla last. Make sure the marshmallow mixture is smooth.
Turn off the heat and add the rice cereal one cup at a time. Stir each cup in until everything is well coated in marshmallow goo.
Scoop the crispie treat batter into your greased pan. Using your fingers or a spatula, press the batter down into the pan. I packed mine as tight at possible. At this point, you can add your toppings: drizzle some chocolate, some peanut butter, really whatever you want! Add your sprinkles and fondant shapes.
This dessert will look like a bit of a mess, but that's the fun of it. If you have little ones at home, they can certainly help with the decoration of these treats!
Place the treats in the fridge so that they have time to set and cool down (Or not -- dig right in to the gooey mess if you want to! Send me pictures!). They do slice better when they are cold though.
Enjoy these treats and the rest of your Valentine's Day festivities :-)
Cheers!
-Aileen
As you may know from my fondant post, Dandies provided me with marshmallows in exchange for my recipe development. Regardless, I stand behind the brand because of their natural ingredients and commitment to creating vegan options in the kitchen.