Dulce De Leche Rice Krispie Treats

This idea popped into my head the other day on my way to work.  Rice Krispie treats with a new twist.  I love Rice Krispie treats and I know they have been done several ways, but I don't think anyone has used dulce de leche before, so I wanted to be the first.

Dulce de Leche Rice Krispie Treats

by The Sweet Chick

Prep Time: 15-20min

Cook Time: 5 min

Keywords: no bake dessert rice krispies dulce de leche white chocolate chips

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Ingredients (12 servings)

• 3 tbsp butter or margarine
• 1pkg (10 oz.) regular marshmallows or
• 4 cups mini marshmallows
• 1/2 cup dulce de leche
• 6 oz. white chocolate chips
• 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 4 squares (4 oz.) Baker's semi-sweet baking chocolate

Instructions

In a large sauce pan, melt butter and marshmallows over low heat. Stir until completely melted.

Remove from heat. Add dulce de leche and stir until all incorporated. Then add Rice Krispies cereal.

Add white chocolate chips and carefully blend into the Rice Krispies mixture. Some of the chocolate may melt.

Pour the mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan or a cookie sheet and spread it evenly with a piece of waxed paper.

Place in fridge to cool.

When cooled, melt chocolate squares per directions on package and place in a piping bag or Ziplock bag with tip snipped off. Drizzle the melted chocolate in diagonal pattern across the Rice Krispie treats.

Place the treats back in the fridge to cool.

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The combination of the dulce de leche and the white chocolate was fantabulous.  And with just that hint of semi-sweet chocolate...perfection!  They were a big hit in my household and also at the office.  I will definitely be making these again.  They are not too sweet and very light.  You can't help but eat more than one.

 For Nutritional Information click on the magic button. 

Chocolate Dipped Candied Orange Peel

I had a bowl full of leftover candied orange peel from my Chocolate Orange Cupcakes (http://thesweetchick.blogspot.com/2012/02/dark-chocolate-orange-cupcakes-topped.html) and was looking for something different to do with them.  I found some semi-sweet Baker's chocolate in my pantry and decided to melt some and do some dipping.

They didn't look so pretty when finished.  They just looked like a bunch of twigs, but oh my they sure tasted good.  Chocolate and orange has now become my new favorite combo.  Tangy and sweet, oh yeah!

Dark Chocolate Orange Cupcakes topped with Orange Spice Buttercream and Candied Orange Peel

It has come to my attention that I need a new clock.  My current one simply doesn't have enough hours on it to allow me to do everything I want to do in a day.  If anyone know of one that does, please tell me where they got it from.  I need to find more time to blog and more time to bake!

The other night I came home from work and just had to make cupcakes.  Of course, I didn't go to the store, so I had to work with what I had in the pantry.  I did find a recipe for dark chocolate cake on he back of my Hershey's Cocoa box.  That sounded good, but needed a little umph.   I have noticed some food bloggers adding pudding to their cake mixes lately and thought, well why not try Jello.  I had some orange flavored jello on hand and some orange marmalade.  Mmmmm....dark chocolate and orange, how can I go wrong?  Time to experiment.

Dark Chocolate Orange Cupcakes
(adapted from Hershey's Kitchens)

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 pkg. (3 oz.) orange flavored Jello
• 1 jar (12 oz.) Smucker's Sweet Orange Marmalade (reserve 3 tbsp. for frosting)

Cooking Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Add eggs, milk, oil, vanilla, and orange marmalade. Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
4. Stir in boiling water and Jello (batter will be thin).
5. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins using a small ladle. If you use a regular scoop like I did, you will make a mess.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
7. Makes about 36 cupcakes.

OH. MY. GOD.  The cupcakes came out delicious.  They were moist and dark chocolaty, with a hint of orange.  Just perfect symmetry.  So next I had to come up with a frosting. Although, hubby and I did eat a few cupcakes just as they were.  I thought about a cream cheese frosting, but hubby doesn't like cream cheese, so I made a buttercream frosting instead, inspired by the orange in the cupcakes.

Orange Spice Buttercream

by The Sweet Chick

Ingredients

• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 3 tbsp. reserves orange marmalade
• 1/4 tsp. pumpkin spice
• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp. orange juice
• 2 tbsp. or more milk

Directions

1. Using an electric or stand mixer, mix together butter, 3 tbsp. marmalade and pumpkin spice on high until well blended.
2. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until mixture is thick and creamy.
3. Add orange juice and milk. If needed add more milk until consistency is fluffy.

I wanted to add just one more element to the cupcake, something fun and different.  So I tried my hand at candied orange peels.  I found a basic recipe online and went with it.  They are actually not hard to make.

Candied Orange Peel

Ingredients

• 3 medium oranges
• 1/2 tbsp. salt
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup sugar (plus extra to roll peels in)

Cooking Directions

1. Remove peel from oranges with an orange peeler or a spoon. Also remove most of the pith or white membrane from the peel.
2. Add salt to 2 cups water. Soak peels in the salty water overnight.
3. Drain and rinse peels thoroughly. In a pot, cover peels with cold water and heat to boiling. Then drain and repeat process 3 times to remove any bitter taste.
4. Cut peels into strips. In a sauce pan, combine peel, sugar and 1/2 cup water. Heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Continue to cook until peel is translucent.
5. When done, drain any extra liquid and roll peel in granulated sugar and allow to dry completely.

I chopped up the strips and added them to the tops of the cupcakes.  Perfect texture and taste.  Now I need to get back to looking for a new clock.