Apple Pie Rice Krispie Treats with Cheddar Crisps
This is the kind of Rice Krispie Treat you bring to the school’s autumn bake sale to let Karen know her off-the-back-of-the-box nonsense is absolutely mid.
Ingredients
For the Rice Krispie treats
- 1 cup Rice Krispies
- 1 cup Apple Jacks
- 100 g mini marshmallows
- ½ cup apple cider
- 1½ Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
For the apple pie spice
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. kosher salt
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp. ground allspice
- ⅛ tsp. ground ginger
- ⅛ tsp. ground cloves
- ⅛ tsp. ground cardamom
For the cheddar crisp
- ½ oz. cheddar cheese, finely grated
Steps
Get everything measured. Mix pie spice blend in a small bowl. Line a bread loaf pan with parchment and run a stick of butter over everything.
Add the cider and brown sugar to a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer until reduced to about 2 Tbsp. of glaze, about 5-ish minutes. Stir in the butter.
Reduce the heat to low. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted and smooth. Add the pie spice and stir until incorporated. Add the cereals and stir until well coated.
Transfer the mixture to the loaf pan and press flat with a buttered spatula. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to a sheet of parchment and allow to continue to cool.
Meanwhile, roll the cheddar cheese into marble sized balls. You should have about 8. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a microwave safe plate. Working one at a time, place a cheese ball on the parchment, then microwave for 1 minute. The cheese will bubble up dramatically, then eventually settle and sizzle in a lacy pattern. Remove from the microwave. Working quickly, place a glass straw or ~¾″ round object on the cheese. Using the parchment, wrap them around the straw and hold in place until the cheese firms up. Be careful doing this, as the cheese is hot and will most definitely burn you in the process.
If you’re not into high falutin bullshit, follow the instructions above, but skip the rolling thing. The cheese will crisp in a flat wafer and tastes only slightly less pretentious.
Repeat with the remaining cheese.
Cut into 8 squares. If you would like more bite size bars, cut those in half again either vertically or on the diagonal for triangles. Top with the cheese crisps. If you make 16 bars, make sure to scale the quantity of cheese crisps appropriately.
Notes
These can be stored in an air tight container for at least a week, though they are at their peak presentableness in the first few days.
This recipe is scaled for making in a bread loaf pan, and will come out about 1″ tall. To make a more standard size recipe, scale it 3x and make it in an 8″x8″ tray. If you do, you will need to use a large sauce pan to fit things comfortably.
Good cereal bars are all about the shape of the cereal pieces and the air pockets between them. If your cereal is too small, you get a dense bar. If it’s too large, your bar will be loose and won’t hold together. Crushing (or cutting, if you’re a glutton for pain like me) the cereal is annoying, but necessary for a bar that feels balanced. It’s also why I use volume measures. Big pieces and small pieces weigh the same but create very different bars.
Don’t @ me about metric vs imperial.
