Tastefully Tuesday - Orange Cranberry Rice Krispy Treats

Nearly everything I put on top of the stove tends to catch fire. Therefore, the first installment of Tastefully Tuesday is snacks that are (almost) guaranteed not to involve flames.

When I make Rice Krispy Treats, I can't stand leaving them plain. Anyone can do that. I like upping the ante, adding ingredients or replacing plain marshmallows with flavored ones. Here's a recent variation that was inspired by an orange cranberry scone I purchased at the local Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago.

Rice Krispy Treats

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. margarine or butter
• 1 tbsp. fresh orange zest
• 1 cup of dried cranberry pieces
• 4 c. mini marshmallows (about a 10 oz bag will work)
• 6 c. any kind of crispy rice cereal

Directions:

1. Prepare an 9x12 (or similar size) baking dish by coating the inside with butter.
2. Put orange zest, cranberry bits, and margarine or butter in a large glass bowl and melt it in the microwave for 20 - 30 seconds.
3. Take bowl from the microwave and stir the contents a few times with a wooden spoon. Add marshmallows and mix well, coating marshmallows with the orange-butter mix.
4. Microwave it again until the marshmallows start to swell and are double in size.
5. Take bowl from microwave and still using a wooden spoon, immediately add the crispy rice cereal, thoroughly mixing all ingredients.
6. Coat wooden spoon with butter and press mixture into your baking dish.
7. When cool, cut into squares and serve.

This recipe makes about 2 dozen squares.

Tips:

• You can also melt white chocolate and drizzle it diagonally back and forth over the squares while they're still slightly warm.
• While you don't -have- to use a glass bowl and a wooden spoon, they work a heck of a lot better than plastic dishes for this.
• You can replace the orange and cranberry with lemon and blueberry, or lime and strawberry, and they're JUST as good as this version. I promise.