Gingerbread Rice Krispie Treats

It may be past the holiday season, but I firmly believe that traditional holiday treats can be enjoyed all winter long. Just because it's January does not mean I will stop enjoying things such as peppermint hot chocolate, pumpkin anything, and gingerbread. So when my mom gave me a bag of gingerbread marshmallows in my stocking I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them: gingerbread rice krispie treats!

I basically followed a traditional recipe for rice krispies, but in addition to the gingerbread marshmallows I also added special touches like vanilla, cinnamon and cloves. These marshmallows are only available around the holiday season, but if you head to the stores soon you can pick them up on sale before they disappear until next year! My sister also mentioned that she found other flavored marshmallows such as peanut butter and coconut.. so I'm thinking some more rice krispie treat experiments will be taking place in the future!

Ingredients

• 1/4 Cup butter or margarine
• 1 (10oz) bag gingerbread marshmallows (I used Kraft brand)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 Cups (heaping) Rice Krispies 

Directions

Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking pan, set aside. Microwave butter in a large, microwavable safe bowl for 1 minute on high, or until butter is mostly melted. Add the full bag of marshmallows and microwave on high 1 minute at a time until marshmallows are completely melted. Quickly add the vanilla, cinnamon,  cloves and nutmeg and mix well to blend. Add the rice krispies and stir to cover the marshmallow mixture. Pour into prepared pan, press with wax paper that has been sprayed with Pam, or buttered hands, until evenly distributed. Allow to cool before cutting. 

*Notes: I used a 9x9 inch pan for thicker pieces and it worked just as well. This would also be really fun topped with red and green sprinkles for the holidays. Also, I know that a lot of recipes call for these to be made on the stove top, but my mom taught me to do it in the microwave, and that's the only way I've ever done it! Lastly, it's helpful to spray the spatula, wooden spoon or whatever you are mixing the rice krispies in with Pam.

**UPDATE: I made this recipe again for Super Bowl Sunday (and they were DEVOURED), but I made a couple of changes that I think really made them even better. The seasoning was not quite strong enough, so I sprinkled about 1/2 - 1 teaspoon each of ground ginger, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg on the top. Being able to smell the spices before you take a bite really made a big difference.

My ingredients

Love that these are even shaped like gingerbread men!

Finished product

Yummm!