Crispy Treat Cookies

Welcome back to Cookie Week!

It's the second day of Cookie Week here on Bake.Frost.Repeat and I'm sharing these Crispy Treat Cookies that are a play on, you guessed it, Rice Krispie Treats.

My family LOVES Rice Krispie Treats. My husband can make THE best ones. I know what you are thinking...they are not that hard to make and there are only 3 ingredients, but I'm telling you, his are the best. However, he knows that he makes awesome ones, so he has become a krispie treat snob. (Yes, that's a thing)

This cookie is originally from my husband's grandmother. Her Ranger Crisp Cookie recipe always intrigued me with its use of rice cereal in the dough. One day while I was making them for hubby to take on a business trip (yeah, he's spoiled), I thought they would be more like krispie treats with marshmallows throughout the cookie. I debated back and forth whether to use mini marshmallows or marshmallow bits. I went with mini marshmallows and I think they turned out just fine.

The cookies are really good and really taste like krispie treats, in my opinion. The one thing I did notice about them is that they are best the day they are made. This is not a cookie that gets better with age. They dry out very easily and become kind of crumbly and hard. So keep that in mind when you do your baking.

Also, because of the sticky gooey goodness of the marshmallows, it is pretty imperative that you line your cookie sheets with parchment or a non-stick silicone baking mat. I own both but I always, always, always use my baking mat. Everything I bake just slides right off, plus it keeps my baking sheets from getting too icky and makes it a breeze to clean my pans. I own both Silpat sheets and other brands. I like both. Silpats come in few sizes to fit your different pans, such as a petite jelly roll pan, medium sized pan, and a half sheet pan. I have the half-sheet mats, which are 13"x18" and they fit my cookie sheet pans perfectly. I highly recommend the silicone baking mats. They are a must have in my kitchen.

Crispy Treat Cookies
Cookie base recipe is my husband's grandmother's Ranger Crisp recipe

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups rice cereal
1 1/4 cup mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mat.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, sugar, and brown sugar until well combined. Next add in the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined. 

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, rice cereal and mini marshmallows. Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture until it's all incorporated. The marshmallows may act like they do not want to be incorporated into the cookie dough, so you may have to use your hands to make the marshmallows cooperate, like I did. 

Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, drop cookie dough onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until a light golden color. Leave on the sheet for about 1-2 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. 



This recipe made about 2 dozen cookies for me.