My mom found a rice-crispy pop at a store last year and gave it to me to replicate. She, being a great cook and one who also likes to experiment with recipes, thought it looked simple enough to recreate.
They did turn out to be fairly easy. I started off making a basic batch of rice treats (here’s a link to the recipe for the Original Treats from Kellogg’s, to which I’ve made minor adjustments below), and waited for them to set. Once they were cool, I cut them into rectangles and started the fun part.
I had recently made some doughnut pops for a client, so I had some white chocolate leftover that I decided to use for a glaze—with a little food coloring added. I also had bundle of 4-inch-long wooden skewers, which I inserted in each treat lengthwise to make a handle.
Holiday Crispy Pops
Makes about 20
3 tablespoons butter
1 10-ounce package (about 40) regular marshmallows or 4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups puffed rice cereal
4 cups chopped white chocolate pieces
Note: You can substitute regular chocolate if you prefer.
Red and orange gel food coloring (Note: I use AmeriColor brand food colorings, available at cake decorating stores and kitchen supply stores such as Sur la Table.)
Chocolate sprinkles
In a large saucepan melt butter or margarine over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
Add puffed rice cereal and stir until fully mixed.
Using a buttered spatula or wax paper, press the mixture about 1 inch deep in a 9×13-inch pan that you have prepared with butter or cooking spray. Let the bars cool, then cut to your desired size. I think about 1 inch x 2.5 inches seems about right.
Place chopped white chocolate in the top of a double boiler and slowly melt it over medium heat. Carefully remove the double boiler from the stove once the water in the pan is steaming. As it melts, stir the chocolate with a heat-proof rubber or silicon spatula, keeping it over the hot water.
Once the chocolate is melted, add just two to three drops of orange gel food coloring, then mix throughly before adding additional drops. Add a little of the red gel, if needed, to achieve the color you want. (The “Electric Orange” I had was too pale, so I needed the red to get the right Halloween-ish color.) Keep the chocolate over the hot water in the double boiler while you work so that your glaze will stay smooth.
Tina’s Tip: Add the coloring slowly, stirring until it is fully incorporated in the chocolate before adding more.
Use a 3 inch offset spatula (I have an Ateco Ultra #1305) or a butter knife to frost the treats with the orange-colored white chocolate.
Tina’s Tip: If you dip the treats into warm chocolate, the marshmallow will soften and the whole thing will fall apart. It’s best to spread the chocolate as you would frost a cake.
Decorate with chocolate sprinkles while the glaze is still soft so they will stick to the pops.
Line a sheet pan with wax paper and place each pop on the paper as you finish it. When you are done, slide the pan into the freezer to chill the chocolate and set the pops.
Serve the pops within the next week. They are best eaten on the same day, but should last in an air-tight container for about a week.
Tina’s Tip: Because Halloween is right around the corner, I decorated these in orange and brown, but you could make them red and green for Christmas, or leave the white chocolate glaze as is and top with multi-colored candy sprinkles for a birthday party. Please send me your pictures if you make these for other occasions!
Thyme with Sage 