Rice Krispie Animals & Sea Life Creatures!

We are so happy to have Beth from Hungry Happenings guest posting today! She is so creative with food and we just love these Rice Krispie Animals & Sea Life Creatures that she is sharing with our readers today! Using sand molds to make edible treats is such a fantastic idea!!!

I know you are a fan, as am I, of all the amazingly clever food here at Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons, and I think you’ll like what I create in my kitchen too. My blog, Hungry Happenings, focuses on themed cuisine and edible crafts for holidays and special occasions. Each project I add to my blog includes a step-by-step tutorial and lots of tips so that you can re-create the project in your own home kitchen.

I spend a great deal of time in my kitchen as I have been a chocolatier and baker for almost 30 years. My love of visually exciting food began in my childhood and I was fortunate enough to turn that passion into a profession and have been blessed with owning several retail confectionery stores. In more recent years I turned my talents to the written page and penned a cookbook, Hungry Halloween featuring Movie Monster Munchies, Bewitched Buffet, and Dead Man’s Diner. The book led me to blogging and I am so excited to share my artistic culinary talent with readers from all over the world. I hope you’ll stop by Hungry Happenings and take a look around.

Sand molds are so easy to use! As you can see, these simple plastic toys can be an amazing tool in the kitchen and they are cheap! I’ve bought most of my molds at dollar stores or discount stores.

If you’ve made Rice Krispies Treats before, you know how quickly they come together. Take just a bit more time and you can transform ordinary square treats into fun animals to serve at a party or as an afternoon snack.

This recipe includes some white chocolate which helps make the cereal treats easier to mold and your animals can be left a nice natural color if you don’t like using food coloring.

If you like, you can even add some sparkle by coating your natural or colored treats in colorful sugar.So many options. So easy. So, let’s get started..

Cereal Treat Animals (makes 1 or 2 large or up to 6 small animals)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cups white chocolate chips3 tablespoons butter, plus extra to butter hands and supplies
• 10 ounce bag marshmallows (use mini’s if making several different colors)*
• 6 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

*If you want to make several different colors, I recommend making smaller batches using 1/4 cup white chips,1 tablespoon butter,2 cups mini marshmallows,2 cups cereal. It is easier than trying to divide the marshmallow mixture once it’s melted.

Optional ingredients:

• food coloring
• colorful sanding sugar
• chocolate chips (1 or 2 per animal, as needed)

Supplies Needed:

• • plastic wrap
  • mixing bowl
  • large rubber spatula or spoon
  • food handling gloves (optional)
  • assorted sand molds

Instructions:Line your sand molds with a piece of plastic wrap. Butter your spatula or spoon, and ultimately your hands or your gloved hands.

In a microwave safe bowl heat white chocolate chips, butter, and marshmallows on high for 45 seconds. Stir with a buttered rubber spatula or spoon. Return to microwave and heat for 30 seconds, then stir. If the marshmallows and chocolate aren’t melted, return to microwave and heat for 15 second increments, stirring after each, until melted. Note: you can also melt it in a saucepan set over low heat on the stove.

If adding color and you want just one color, add food coloring to large batch of marshmallow mixture and stir. Add more coloring until you reach the desired shade. Stir in Rice Krispies until well blended.

*If making smaller batches so you can use a variety of colors, melt 1/4 cup white chips, 1 tablespoon butter, 2 cups mini marshmallows for 30 seconds in microwave. Stir in food coloring. If not completely melted, heat for 10 second increments until melted. Stir in 2 cups cereal.

Spoon some of the natural or colored cereal mixture into one of your molds. Use your buttered hands or gloved and buttered hands to press the mixture into the mold. Add more cereal as needed, pressing down firmly to compact it in the mold. Press it flat on top, removing any cereal that hangs over the mold.

To un-mold, turn the mold upside down and pull on the plastic wrap being careful with the smaller detailed areas. Remove the plastic wrap.

To add character to your animals, add chocolate chips for eyes.

To add sparkle, press colored sugar onto your cereal treats. I filled a bowl with colored sugar and pressed an animal face down into the sugar. It stuck nicely.

If you like this recipe, I’m sure you’ll find many other fun projects at Hungry Happenings. So, stop by and take a look around. I’d love to hear what you think of this project and any others that you find interesting on my blog.
Thanks to Jill for inviting me to share this post as a guest of Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons. I feel Jill and I are kindred spirits and although we’ve never met, I’m sure we would have a blast in the kitchen together. Maybe that will happen someday!
Have a sweet day – Beth

Thank you Beth & we just love her Rice Krispie Animals & Sea Life Creatures…so fun! Make sure to check out some of our fun Beach themed Treats here…

No-Bake Teddy Beach Cookies…

Nutter Butter Flip Flop Cookies with a Free Printable!

Sand Castle Cupcakes…