Chocolate Gingerbread Rice Krispies Treats {*giveaway*}

Anyone remember the fabulousness of my Rice Krispies Fruity Shortcakes? I know, you’ve probably been dreaming of them the last few months. Well, never fear, I have come up with a new CHRISTMASY version of Rice Krispies treats that you are going to LOVE.

See, Rice Krispies and The Motherhood contacted all the bloggers who had done those Springy treats (and some other seasonal challenges) to do a show-stopping Christmas treat. And although, I’m not super creative in the food department, I like a little show-stopping Christmasy challenge.

As I was thinking about this TWO things came to mind—first was this cute little craft Lydia and I were planning on making this year—it was a craft-foam gingerbread man inside a snowglobe. It’s something we found for 75% off after Christmas last year. I figured I could make some gingerbread men Rice Krispies and put them in a snowglobe!

But then something EVEN BETTER came to mind—my very favorite cookie from the Fickle Pickle! Anyone remember it? (Because I’ve blogged about it several times and just tweeted it last week!) OK, fine, you don’t know every single thing I love by heart–but if you’d ever had their CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD COOKIE you’d never forget it!

So, that’s what we did. We made TWO batches of Rice Krispies Treats. One gingerbread and one CHOCOLATE gingerbread! Ready for the deliciousness?

Here’s what you need:

6 cups of Rice Krispies
1 bag of marshmallows
4 tablespoons of butter
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon molasses
1/4 cup cocoa {optional for Chocolate Gingerbread}
Assorted frosting, candy, etc for decoration

The key here is mixing all your spices in with the butter. Once the butter is melted, just stir the spices in until your butter is nice and…spicy. Then add the marshmallows and coat. Then stir until melted. Keep it on low the whole time otherwise your treats will get crunchy. I don’t know why, but it’s true. Look how yummy that is:

After adding the Rice Krispies, I poured them into a baking dish and cut out gingerbread man shapes. A jelly roll pan might be a little easier for using cookie cutters because the treats would be thinner. If you were really crafty, you might be able to mold them into gingerbread people shapes, but I couldn’t figure it out. You saw my Rice Krispies Cannonballs, I could barely make circles!

Lydia loved the fruit-by-the-foot and the marshmallows (I cut them in thirds with scissors so the colored sugar would stick to it!). Asa just liked picking up the candy and eating it. Pretty sure he didn’t even decorate his gingerpeople.

Lydia’s creation!

Somehow only 2 of my gingerfolk escaped my stomach long enough to have their picture taken. And get their picture taken they did—inside a winter wonderland snowglobe! It’s just a big clear round bowl I found at Michael’s. I poured a little glitter in it and swirled it around. It made it sparkle and shimmer. Then I attached a cute snowflake ornament, added a little bit of that snowy cotton stuff and I think our little Ginger couple are as Christmas-y, wintery as can be!

I used cut mini-marshmallows and green sugar for the gingerbread person on the right. Along with some red fruit-by-the-foot-straps. The chocolate gingerbread guy on the right looks a littlThen I laid out the candy (in a muffin tin, my fave!) and let the kids have at it. e Santa Claus-ish with a fruit-by-the-foot tunic, edible pearl belt and green M&M buttons. Oh, and don’t forget his cut marshmallows with red sugar for shoes.

Even if you didn’t want to do gingerbread people and all the {amazing} decorations we did, you could still do the gingerbread or chocolate gingerbread flavoring. It was really easy, the flavor was light and not overwhelming. It’s just nice and Christmasy. In fact, I took the leftovers to church last Sunday (not a very pretty presentation, mind you, because I had just stuffed all of them in a ziploc bag) but everyone who tasted them loved them! (Am I right, ladies?)

I will be making these for Christmas this year. Seriously, they are yummy, Christmasy and simple to make! What? You’d like to make them, too? Well, Rice Krispies is giving a $100 Visa Giftcard to one of you–just think of all the Rice Krispies treats you could make! Just leave me a comment with how awesome you think my gingerbread men are a fun way you’ve seen or made Rice Krispies treats!

Abbreviated Rules: No Purchase Necessary. Contest Ends Tuesday 12/21/10. For complete Official Rules, go to http://web.mediacdt.com/docs/motherhoodholiday. Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at time of entry. One entry per person. Subject to complete Official Rules. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: The Motherhood; www.TheMotherhood.com.

Disclosure: Thank you to Rice Krispies and The Motherhood for providing me with Rice Krispies galore and a stipend to fund my creation!