Firecracker Rice Krispie Treats
It’s almost time for the 4th of July. Time for picnics, cookouts, parades, and fireworks. Why not make some cute treats with the kids to celebrate. There is lots of fun packed into these Firecracker Rice Krispie Treats. They are full of strawberry marshmallows, sprinkles, colored frosting, blue and red Twizzlers, and Pop Rocks. Kids will enjoy decorating and eating these.
I used strawberry flavored marshmallows for these treats because that’s what I had on hand and I like the pick color it gives the Rice Krispies. For the sprinkles, I didn’t add them directly into the hot marshmallows because I didn’t want them to melt into one color. They did melt a little, but you can still distinguish the reds and blues.
For the frosting I used Wilton’s Buttercream in a stiff consistency. I used Wilton’s clear vanilla to keep the color bright white. Feel free to save yourself some time and buy a can of ready made white frosting if you like.
I found red, white and blue Twizzlers Pull n’ Peel. I separated out the colors and only used blue and red. I used Cake Mate decorating icing in shimmering red and blue (don’t forget to buy the screw on tips). You can also use gel icing or cookie icing. I only ended up using the red Pop Rocks because the blue ones were more of a light green. Once the frosting was set and the treats were cut into rectangles, I pressed the piece of Twizzlers into the icing and covered it back up with my fingers. The frosting is pretty malleable at this point.
Then decorate however you like and sprinkle with Pop Rocks at the end. You can add more sprinkles too. If you are making these ahead of time don’t add the Pop Rocks until you are ready to serve because they do react with the frosting and end up melting. You want to make sure they keep their POP. You can add as little or as much as you want.
You don’t have to add the lollipop sticks, but if you do, you want to do it before you start decorating. And you are going to want to dip the tip of the stick into some melted candy coating before inserting it into the Rice Krispie treat. This will help make it more secure. You can use paper straws the same way. Come on, it’s time to get creative!
Firecracker Rice Krispie Treats
by The Sweet Chick
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Keywords: no bake snack dessert rice krispies marshmallows frosting Twizzlers July 4th rice krispie treats American summer
Ingredients (27 treats)
For the treats
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 bag (8 oz.) Jet-Puffed Strawberry Mallows
- 5 cups Rice Krispies cereal
- 1/4 cup red, white, and blue sprinkles
For the frosting
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons milk or water
- 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tablespoon meringue powder.
For the toppings
- 1 package (12 oz.) Twizzlers Pull ‘n’ Peel candy in red, white, and blue
- 1 package (6 oz.) Cake Mate Glitter Icing in Shimmering Red
- 1 package (6 oz.) Cake Mate Bakery Icing in blue
- 1 package Cake Mate decorating tips
- 2-3 packages (0.24 oz. each) Pop Rocks in red
- 1/4 cup red. white, and blue sprinkles
Instructions
For the treats
In a large sauce pan, melt butter and marshmallows over low heat. Stir until completely melted.
Remove from heat , add the Rice Krispies and the sprinkles. Mix until all is well incorporated.
Then pour the mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan or a cookie sheet and spread it evenly with a piece of waxed paper.
Place in fridge to cool and set.
For the frosting
In a stand mixer, cream together the vegetable shortening, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk/water.
Add the sugar and meringue powder and mix on low until the frosting comes together. If the frosting is too dry, add another tablespoon of milk/water. You want the consistency to be smooth and spreadable, but not too thin.
With a spatula, spread the frosting evenly over the cooled treats and place back in the fridge to set.
Once the frosting is set, cut into 27 rectangles with a sharp knife and remove from the pan/cookie sheet.
For the toppings
Take one rope of Twizzlers and cut it evenly in three parts, then take all the strands apart. Separate out the different colors.
Take a cut strand and push about a one inch length into the frosting at the top of the rectangular treat and with your fingers, gently push the frosting back over the strand to cover it. Repeat for all treats.
Then, using the different colored icing, decorate your treats as you wish with the different decorating tips.
Add sprinkles if you wish, then add the bits of red Pop Rocks.
Voila! Done.
Notes
If you wish to put these on lollipop sticks, do so before you decorate and dip the tips of the sticks in melted candy coating before inserting them in the treats. This will keep them secure.
These do not have to be kept refrigerated, but do keep them in an airtight container.
If you are making these ahead of time, don’t add the Pop Rocks until you are ready to serve.
Frosting Recipe from Wilton’s Class Buttercream Icing.
This recipe may be shared at these fabulous parties.
Lavender Macarons With Honey Buttercream
Girls are… sugar and spice and everything nice. Lavender would fall into the latter category, and coincidentally, it makes me feel so so girly. While girly is not my natural state, my friend, who also happens to be an appreciator of the finer things in life, is, and it was for her that these macarons, which combine both sophistication (like all things French, no?) with femininity, were originally intended. Lavender is her favorite flavor.
These are celebratory macarons, job-well-done macarons, pat-on-the-back macarons, because she just finished her second year of law school (congratulations M!) and only has one year left to go.
Of course, I didn’t bother coordinating her schedule with her, and found out later that she flew home, to California. It’s probably a good thing she’s not around to be a recipient, because my latest batch came out, for the most part, cracked, oozed over, and unkempt in all the ways imaginable.
I’ve rationalized this disappointment by telling myself that I’m just honing my skills until she returns, which is when I will present her a box of perfect macarons, all tied up with a shiny pink ribbon. (First though, I need to get over this spring cold that makes me drowsy and achey and bleary-eyed.)
What frustrates me the most about the outcome of this recipe is that I didn’t deviate far from my recipe for plain almond shells. There was the addition of one tablespoon (tablespoon!) of dried lavender, and two drops (drops!!) of violet gel food coloring. And yet, what a difference they made. My yield from the two batches I baked: about 20 mediocre shells (only mediocre), and 60 that could’ve filled a textbook with examples of Failed Macarons. Is the batter so sensitive that the tiniest addition of liquid completely changed its chemistry? I have no definitive answer, but it does seem the case. Or maybe I overmixed the batter, or undermixed it, or should’ve used aged egg whites, or failed to let the shells sit out long enough before sliding them into the oven. But I refuse to believe they are that fussy!
LAVENDER MACARONS WITH HONEY BUTTERCREAM
Makes about 40 shells, or 20 macarons
Adapted from Brave Tart
For the macarons:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 Tbsp dried lavender buds
- 3/4 cup almond meal
- 2 egg whites
- 3 Tbsp sugar
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Blend the confectioners sugar, lavender, and almond meal in a food processor until fine, then whisk everything into a large bowl.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment affixed, add the egg whites and sugar. Turn the mixer on to power level 4 and whisk the mixture together for 3 minutes. Next, turn the power up to 7 and whisk an additional 3 minutes. Turn the power up to 8 and whisk an additional minute or two. By now, there should be a stiff meringue in the bowl. Feel free to mix in the food coloring at this point and whisk at 8 speed for an additional minute to incorportae the color. Knock the meringue that’s trapped in the whisk back into the bowl.
Now, add the almond meal mixture into the bowl all at once. Stella’s instructions:
Use both a folding motion (to incorporate the dry ingredients) and a rubbing/smearing motion, to deflate the meringue against the side of the bowl.
The dry ingredients/meringue will look hopelessly incompatible at first. After about 25 turns (or folds or however you want to call “a single stroke of mixing”) the mixture will still have a quite lumpy and stiff texture. Another 15 strokes will see you to “just about right.” Keep in mind that macaronage is about deflating the whites, so don’t feel like you have to treat them oh-so-carefully. You want to knock the air out of them.
You don’t need to be too gentle with the batter. By the time it’s ready, its consistency will be runnier than you’d think, closer to pancake batter than cake batter. Check out 5:10 in this video to see how it should look.
Fill a pastry bag with the batter. You can use a pastry bag with just a coupler, or with a tip. I used an Ateco 806 tip, which resulted in shells on the larger side. Pipe your shells onto the parchment-paper lined baking sheets, a little more than a quarter (US currency) in size (about 2 cm. or 1 inch), spacing them about 1 inch apart.
When you’re done piping, pick up the pan and whack it down hard against your counter. Do this another time, then rotate the pan 90 degrees and do the same thing twice. You might see tiny air bubbles appear on the top of the rounds, a good sign because they could be potentially damaging if buried within the batter. Repeat with the other pan.
Slide the pans into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, at which point the shells should be able to be cleanly picked off the parchment paper.
Let the shells come to room temperature, then fill your macarons with the honey buttercream (recipe below). I used a pastry bag, but a spoon should work as well.
For the honey buttercream:
Makes enough to fill about 40 macarons (feel free to halve this recipe—my mixer doesn’t handle small quantities well)
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 2 Tbsp honey
Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter using the whisk attachment for about 2 minutes. Slowly add the confectioner’s sugar, and whisk until everything is incorporated. Do the same with the honey. Beat another minute or so to get everything well incorporated.