Healthy(er?) Halloween Rice Krispie Treats

Happy Halloween, Loves!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! The ghouls. The mystery. The fantasy! It was amazing in our 20s dressing it up…sometimes in not the most appropriate of costumes! It is an alter-ego kind of night, and I love it! It is just fun, and to live it through the eyes of my children is an incredible blessing! It brings back to many fun memories of the many years I repeated the gypsy costume because I got to wear large earrings (back when I was begging to get my ears pierced!) and a beautiful skirt that was my great-grandmother’s! My kids love, love, love it! I think this year we are going to go all in on Top Gun! The full cast!

To fuel the fire, our neighborhood goes crazy over this holiday! I have really never ever seen anything like it! All we heard last year is, “You HAVE to rent a golf cart for Halloween!” And we thought…”okay, okay, surely this is an exaggeration!”, and we are usually not mainstream people. In the end, we caved and rented one. We are so thankful we did! Our homes are pretty spread out, and our kiddos wouldn’t have made it three houses without complaining! Plus, we had a blast! Because of that, we purchased a golf cart over the summer…and while it wasn’t practical, we have made sure to use it a ton to make it worth the expense! We told the kids that Santa came early!

And with this holiday comes lots of candy and sweets…obviously! ….which can be a challenge when you have a kiddo that is dairy free, gluten-free, and low sugar….that in itself is a post for another day! And you hate to keep your kiddos from totally indulging because it was so fun for you as a kid! Between being pulled in these two very different directions, I have stretched my wings in the kitchen and am constantly looking to take traditional recipes and make healthy(er!) alternatives!

We recently hosted a small neighborhood chili night before homecoming at our high school! It was so fun, and the kiddos had a blast! While dessert is fun for all, it isn’t always a priority for the adults…things more like pumpkin lager are a win for that group! So for the kiddos, I tried altering the typical rice krispie treat dessert!

It is so easy to make, and it is instantly gluten-free using Rice Kripies cereal! Check! But I wanted to make it orange to look like a pumpkin! Now, to alter the dairy factor and the sugar factor…it was super simple! We already use a butter alternative in our daily life, but I was worried that the bigger challenge would be the food coloring! You read not great things about the side effects of food coloring so I am always hesitant to use them! No worries! I came across these great vegetable food dyes that worked great! Now, with most non-synthetic products, it is less concentrated and requires a larger amount so hang tight! You will use most of the small squeeze bottle! 🙂

So, you begin by melting the butter and marshmallows together! Easy enough! I found this great organic marshmallow creme! It was already vanilla flavored which was a plus!

Then I added the vegetable food coloring. I wanted to have a fun orange color! I added and added and kept stirring and stirring with my small spatula. I ended up using almost the entire yellow color and about half of the red! It was more of a rich burnt orange (shout out to my University of Texas friends!) color than a neon orange, but that was okay by me!

I grabbed a large mixing bowl and added the Rice Krispies. Then I poured in the warm marshmallow mixture and stirred with a large spatula!

Now, the next step is key! I have an old bundt pan that is from my grandmother. It has been well loved and seen many banana breads and many pound cakes, but is means so much to me! I took Saran wrap and lined the bundt pan so the mixture wouldn’t stick.

Then I added the Rice Krispie mixture and took my large spatula and pressed this mixture down in to the grooves of the pan until it was firm and even all on top! I flipped it on to a plate, and it was so pretty!

It was orange like a pumpkin, but as with any good pumpkin, you need a stem! I added a bud vase of bright green viburnum as the center! You could also use cute green carnations or small mums! So cute and such a fun presentation! I’m not gonna lie…I was kind of excited! 🙂

Here’s my recipe! I hope you enjoy! (You always find little changes you can make when trying new recipes, and this one only filled the bundt pan about half way. Below I have doubled the recipe so you can have a nice filled bundt pan and a large cake!)

I’ve linked all of the products and the supplies used to make this recipe in case you are missing any of these in your kitchen repertoire! Some of these are fun and easy wedding/hostess gifts! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

12 cups of Rice Krispies
2 tubs of Toonie Moonie Organics Vanilla Organic Marshmallow Creme
1/2 cup of Earth Balance Soy Free Spread
2 packages of Watkins Vegetable Food Coloring
Pumpkin spice

On medium, heat up marshmallow creme and butter until a liquid consistency! Add in food coloring a few drops at a time to reach desired colors. For orange, I mixed the yellow and red together!

Add Rice Krispies to a large bowl and pour on the marshmallow mixture. Mix with a large spatula until nice and coated!

Line bundt pan with two sheets of Saran Wrap laid in like a cross. Punch a hole in the center hole of the bundt pan for a more snug fit. Using a large spatula, scoop Rice Krispie mixture into the pan and press firmly into the grooves of the pan until the top is flat!

Flip Rice Krispie “cake” onto a serving plate!

Fill hole with a small vase of green flowers! Voila! A Pumpkin Rice Krispy Cake that is healthy(er!) !

If you don’t want to order or have easier access to the usual butter and marshmallows and regular food dyes, this is just as cute and definitely just as fun to make with your kids!

Here is a list of all the kitchen equipment I used in the recipe and links to all of it: