I’ve been asked by several people over the years, ‘What kind of food blog do you have?’ expecting that I must focus on a particular niche. Is it gourmet or vegetarian or well, any other number of designations? And I couldn’t provide a definitive answer. Because I really don’t have one. Although I am often called ‘The Cocktail Queen’ or even less eloquently maybe ‘The Booze Queen’ even my foray into cocktail making several years ago which helped to start a trend, does not really define me. One day I’m dying to make a new variation of a liqueur or to dig into more ethnic cuisine and the next I’m, well, I’m making another variation of an old standard like these Heath Bar Rice Krispie Treats.
Without definition I can say this blog is simply a record of the foods I’ve made for myself, family or friends that we enjoyed. I don’t try to anticipate trends, so you won’t find me making turkey in September or ice cream in March so that I’m ahead of the curve. What I post here is what is actually in my fridge for meals…so, OK, maybe I might have ice cream in March when I’m itching for summer but for the most part, I get the urge and move forward and hope that the people who are kind enough to visit me here enjoy what I’m doing. I know I do!
So, for reasons I can’t begin to define, I got an urge to make this variation on Rice Krispie Treats. To be honest, I was always eager and willing to make Rice Krispie Treats for my kids because I loved them myself and it’s fun to conjure up something a bit different. This version was simply a desire to incorporate what has to be my favorite candy bar of all time; I will even say a Heath Bar or ten most certainly contributed to my first cavity as a kid but ignore that claim to fame and instead concentrate on the goodness. Chewy, crunchy, chocolatey, toffeeish goodness…oh my gracious.
Easy too…except maybe for people who don’t have ready made bags of the Heath Toffee Brickle pieces. Worse case scenario (and not a bad one at that) is to buy a couple of Heath or Skor Bars and break them up with a hammer (inside a plastic baggie; the candy, not the hammer). You’ll have some chocolate in there too and that is not all bad! By the way, I know that some folks (that poke fun at everyone else but clearly think very highly of themselves) make lists of things that food bloggers should not be using in their photos. They’ve dissed milk bottles for glassware but I love serving them to kids and I KNOW they have waxed poetic over their hatred of ‘stripey straws.’ So I used polka dot straws. Dare I say Neener-Neener?
And no, not chocolate milk but my favorite treat with cookies or bars like this. Milk and coffee. Mostly milk but so much more grown up. With a sippy straw. A polka dot one. :)
As if the Heath Bar wasn’t quite enough, I also browned the butter before adding the marshmallows and it adds just one more layer of nutty nirvana. All I can say about these is simple. Bet you can’t eat just one!
- 3 Tbsp Butter
- 1 package marshmallows
- 6 cups Rice Krispies
- bag of Heath Bits, divided
- 1 cup Milk Chocolate chips
- 3 Tbsp Half and Half
- Butter the inside of a 9" X 13" pan.
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium high heat, watching carefully as the solids start to brown. Once they brown, add the package of marshmallows and reduce the heat to medium; stirring constantly until the marshmallows melt.
- Add the Rice Krispies and stir well to incorporate.
- Portion out ¼ cup of the Heath bits for garnish and incorporate the rest into the cereal mixture.
- Pour into the greased pan and use your fingers to gently push into the corners and press lightly to make a firm bar. Allow to cool completely.
- Remove from pan and cut into pieces; put on a rack over waxed paper.
- Put the chocolate chips and half and half in a glass container and microwave in 30 second increments on low power. Remove after every 30 seconds and stir, adding more time as needed. DO NOT COOK ON MEDIUM OR HIGH HEAT. If the heat is too high, the chocolate will seize and be ruined; so slow is best. Will probably take about 2 minutes total.
- Use a fork or a pastry bag to top the treats with a chocolate drizzle.
- Garnish with reserved toffee bits.
