Chocolate Rice Krispies Treats

Here is my entry for the chocolate contest. I've been puzzling over what to enter since I'm not much of a chocolatier. Then today I came up with these on the fly and I thought, "Why not?" They're not very sophisticated, but simple and easy is good too. You can vary the recipe quite a bit and still get the idea. Not to mention, they should be easy to judge since most of you should be able to get the ingredients and have the time to make them.

Chocolate Rice Krispies Treats

1 can sweetened condensed milk
10 oz marshmallows
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (could do more or less; also could probably do unsweetened chocolate because of how sweet everything else is...bittersweet was the least sweet that I had)
1 cup dried cranberries
5 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1. Heat sweetened condensed milk and marshmallows on the stove in a large sauce pan. Stir until marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat.

2. Stir in chocolate chips completely. Then stir in cranberries and cereal.

3. Press mixture into a 9x13 baking dish that's been coated with cooking spray and allow to cool. Tip: Wet your hands first and they won't stick.

These are a fun way to get a chocolate fix. I went with the bittersweet chocolate and cranberries to cut through the sweetness of the marshmallows and sweetened condensed milk. You could add anything that you like to it really; especially if it's unsweetened. Things like coconut and nuts would be particularly good. Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas to improve it.

Rosemary

Love me some Baked Oatmeal

Amish baked oatmeal is one of my favorite breakfasts. It's warm, comforting, and tasty. It's a nice variation to the usual bowl of oatmeal. You can prep it the night before; the only down side is that you do need to wake up early enough to bake it before the kids get cranky. Here's my favorite recipe so far (thanks food.com) with my tweaks in parentheses.

Amish Baked Oatmeal

1/3 cup butter, melted (when I doubled this, I made almost half of it butternut squash puree; you can also use applesauce or some other fat substitute if you like and I'm sure you could completely replace the butter, I just haven't vetted that theory yet)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon or nutmeg (it says 1 tsp nutmeg but I'd use 1/4 to 1/2 if subbing for cinnamon)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup + 2 tbsp milk
3 cups oatmeal, regular or quick


1. Spray an 8"x8" baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Beat eggs well.
3. Add brown sugar, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.
4. Whisk in butter, milk and then add oats.
5. Stir well, pour in pan and refrigerate overnight (or bake immediately if you didn't plan ahead).
6. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 35-45 min. or until set in the middle.
7. Serve hot with milk poured over (and fresh or dried fruit) (also good cold if you don't want to trouble with reheating the leftovers).

This feeds the kids and I for 2 or 3 days at least.

Rosemary

P.S. I made this with steel cut oats once. Turned out great, just chewier, which is fine as long as everyone at the table can chew well enough.