4th of July Rice Krispie Treats

I can't believe it's already July! But it is, and the 4th has come and gone, and now it's the following weekend already!

I made these star Rice Krispie Treats for the holiday, and apparently my junk food junkie doesn't want to try Rice Krispie Treats. He doesn't know what he's missing.

There seems to be some kind of malfunction with my camera. Repeatedly I've uploaded photos only to find that several are missing. The scary part is that if it weren't for blogging and knowing that I took photos of certain steps, I wouldn't know the photos were missing. So what photos of the kids and life have gone missing that I don't know about? I'm thinking the malfunction has something to do with having a toddler in the house, but I'll have to pay closer attention to the button pressing and see.

Although Rice Krispie Treats are fairly simple and I've already posted about them before, I took photos of all the steps I took. The following is what remains of my photos, most are gone.

I melted the marshmallows and added the 6 cups of Rice Krispie Cereal.

Then stirred it together. I love this texture, but it is fleeting. The gooey marshmallow strings between the cereal. It's soft and pliable and delicious.

Here, for some extra patriotism I added red and blue sprinkles to the mix. I used what I had on hand which were the sugar frosting type ones, not the big ones which would have likely been more visible. Then, I greased a pan with butter and pressed the mixture into it, trying to make it level.

A regular ol' star shaped cookie cutter helped me with the stars. I ended up with weird left over shapes, perfect for "testing".

I hope you had a great 4th, we did! The summer is flying by!!

Extra Chocolate Brownies

These brownies are to die for. De-licious. Scrumptious. Heaven.

In my opinion, at least.

Make some for yourself, and let me know what you think!

I no longer remember exactly where I found this recipe at, but it was online somewhere. Definitely not my own, so if you know where it came from by any chance, let me know so I can pass on the credit.

I'll start with a condensed recipe for ease of access and then go through the de-licious motions with you.

For the Brownies:
1/2 C. Vegetable Oil
1 C. Sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla
2 Eggs
1/2 C. Flour
1/3 C. Cocoa Powder
1/4 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp. Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix Oil, Sugar, and Vanilla. Add eggs.

In a separate bowl mix remaining ingredients.
Combine.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

That simple.

Ok, for me, I'm still baking them, a good while later. This oven is different than our old electric. But...you know the old toothpick trick, right?

For the Frosting:
3 Tbs. Butter
3 Tbs. Cocoa Powder
1 Tbs. Honey
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 C. Powdered Sugar

Mix together, until desired texture is achieved.

Frost while still warm.

So, for the art of it...

 The so obviously unhealthy parts...eggs, sugar, and oil.

I have to warn you that mixing these together creates a goopy, sticky, granulated unhealthy concoction. If you prefer not to witness this, maybe you should stick to the box mixes.

Just look at the viscosity...

Yum.
Ok, now for the vanilla:

That's that for the wet ingredients, now to mix up the dry ones.

Forgivable mess. Cocoa. Don't taste it, it's bitter!

I set that aside with my butter to soften for the frosting. Brownies with frosting? This might just be too much sugar. Coming from me that says something.

I love the old-school pattern on the Clabber Girl Baking Powder. I thought this Photoshop action suited it well.

I love the look of the ingredients together before they've been mixed up.

Some salt with that, too...

Have you ever had this happen to your salt container? It's tragic.

I've messed and messed with it but I can't get the spout to come out.

In case we needed another reminder that these are not healthy:

There is an "ah ha!" moment when the batter starts looking like that of the familiar box mixes.

To add to the heart healthiness I lined the pan with some crisco for easy removal. You're welcome.

Time to bake!

And on to the frosting...

Chocolate permeates this recipe.

Honey.

Vanilla.

Butter. I melted it just a little to help soften it.

Just before being attacked by the whisk attachment...

 Believe it or not it will eventually take on a frosting consistency. It just takes a minute.

 Brownies are done!

 Time to apply the frosting. It's a bit messy, but works out ok. Do this while the brownies are still warm to help spread the frosting.

I added some chocolate sprinkles just for the fun of it.

Yum.

They're too rich to eat very many. And be sure you have some milk handy before beginning this recipe. It should be listed in the ingredients, but it's not 100% necessary.