Tag: crispy

Everything-but-the-Kitchen-Sink Rice Treats for Valentine’s Day

Zoë François 6 Comments

Crispy rice treats recipe | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Need something quick and fun to make with your kids for Valentine’s Day? Really, the kids are just a foil for my own craving to make something silly and delicious. As you may remember, these are not the first crispy rice treats to appear on ZoeBakes. It’s a bit of a thing with me. I pretend I’m doing it for the kids, but I eat most of them. This version (my favorite so far) is inspired by the “compost” cookie at the Momofuku Milk Bar in NYC. I added everything but the kitchen sink: pretzels, oreos, milk chocolate and potato chips. All those sweet and salty snacks tossed with buttery marshmallows are seriously tasty. You can add any of your favorite snack foods to the recipe, just chop them up fairly small, so you can press the treats into a heart shaped cookie cutter.

The winners of last weeks giveaway are announced at the bottom of this post.

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Beyond the Box – Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Rice Krispie Treats (plus a short tour of the bakery that inspired them and a wedding cake)

Zoë François 29 Comments

It took the extraordinary pastry chef from Flour in Boston, Joanne Chang, to get me to confess my love for Rice Krispies Treats. She boldly put a recipe for them in her cookbook, next to the cakes and other delicate, fanciful pastries. It was an honest and unpretentious statement, which gives the rest of us the ability to stand tall while admitting we too love these juvenile confections. Until now I have used my boys as an excuse to have them around, but the truth is I love them more than they do. This recipe takes the ordinary to new heights. One may argue the beauty of a recipe on the side of a cereal box is the speed, ease and simplicity of ingredients. Admittedly this version takes a few more minutes, and I do bother to use some pretty special ingredients, but it is so worth the effort and I promise the vanilla bean is not lost on them.

I have been following Joanne’s career since she worked in New York with François Payard. Her talents were recognized even while in the shadow of one of New York’s pastry greats, which is no small feat. Several years ago she took the bold step of leaving Payard and opening her own bakery in Boston, now she has a small pastry empire. When my brother announced that he would be getting married this summer near Manchester, New Hampshire, I immediately made plans to slip into Boston for a day to sample her goodies. Read More