Pretty Pink Rice Krispie Treats that Say, "I Love You"

You love them. You want to show them. But you really don't want to turn the oven on.

Here's a treat that says, "I love you" without turning the oven on. They're pretty. They don't take long. And they speak louder that words. They're scrumptious and impressive.

Make them for your sweetheart. Make them for your kids. Make them for the lady down the street, the one who's lonely and struggling.

Be generous. At the end of this article, we'll show you how to make them and save a few bucks.

Plus, these are wonderful treats to make for special occasions--birthdays, holidays, or rainy afternoons. Let the kids help. It'll make for wonderful memories.

How to Make Rice Krispie Treats with Jam

These treats are made with jam. Once you have made these with jam, you’ll never go back to the plain variety. The jam adds sweetness and flavor. Of course, you can use jams other than strawberry.

These treats have extra miniature marshmallows pressed into the tops of the treats while they are still warm. Candies or cake decorations can also be added.

After the treats have cooled, butter the sides of a cookie cutter and cut into shapes. They don't have to be heart shaped--say little bunnies for the kids.  Or let the kids help with holiday treats at Christmas.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 cups miniature marshmallows
• Pink food color, optional
• Optional, 1 teaspoon strawberry flavor, optional
• 1 cup Pioneer Valley Strawberry Jam
• 6 cups Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal or equal

Directions

Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

1. In a large pan on the stovetop, melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows. Stir until the mixture is melted and smooth. Add the jam and stir. If the marshmallow and jam mixture is not flavorful enough, add some strawberry flavor. If it is not pink enough, add some color.
2. Add the rice cereal. Stir until the cereal is uniformly combined with the marshmallow mixture.
3. Remove the mixture to the buttered pan. Evenly distribute the mixture and press it down into the pan with buttered fingers, a piece of waxed paper, or a spatula. Let cool and cut into squares.

Baker’s note: If you use a large enough pan, you can mix the treats right in the pan, not in a bowl. The hot pan makes it a little easier to stir the mixture together and there is less clean-up.

How to Save a Few Bucks

Once you start, you'll want to make these often.  Buy in bulk and buy off-brand. I can't tell the difference between off-brand and the national brand, at least for the cereal and the marshmallows. So you can pick them up at the discount store.

The jam, that's different.  That's what delivers the flavor.  We use Pioneer Valley jams. And you have such an amazing selection of flavors: Pomegranate, strawberry rhubarb, red currant and more.

If you want to  make a big batch or multiple batches, It costs less per batch and fillings have more flavor than jam so you can drop the optional flavor and save a few bucks.  

And the pastry fillings are two pounds, so you can make four batches.

So you save money three ways:

• Buy in bulk, off-brand.
• Buy pastry filling, not jam.
• With more flavor in the filling, you won't need the little bottles of flavor.

Other Treats You Can Make with Pastry Filling

I love pastry filling. But they are not just for pastries. They are like jams on steroids, jams with more flavor. Here are some of the things we make with pastry filling:

This is a very scrumptious lemon cheesecake bar. The lemon pastry filling is perfect but their are eleven others. Pick what you want and make these cheesecake bars.