I have a sweet tooth, though through the years I have become much pickier about what I will eat in order to satisfy my sweet tooth. Today I realized I was in the mood for Rice Krispy treats, but in this house we eat Special K, and lots of it. So, I pulled out my mini marshmallows and some butter and made up a pan of Special K treats.

6 cups Special K cereal
½ cup butter
16 ounces marshmallows
1 teaspoon or so of vanilla

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. A Swiss Oven is even better, because you are going to need to fit all of the cereal in there eventually. Then, melt the marshmallows into the butter over low heat, stirring constantly. I like to use a rubber spatula that is formulated to work in high heat. After everything is melted, add the vanilla. More or less is fine, but I firmly believe this treat is just not as good without it. Finally, stir the cereal a little at a time.

Once everything is evenly mixed, press the mixture into a buttered 9×13 glass baking dish. Use a buttered spatula or a piece of waxed paper to press so you can get the treats firmly into the pan without sticking to your hands.

Let this sit for at least a half an hour, then cut into squares and serve.

Remember that butter is better than margarine in the long run. It has a much better flavor and no partially hydrogenated oils. Actually, pretty much everything is better with butter. Real vanilla is also much more flavorful than the immitation stuff. Spend the extra buck and buy the real thing.

It’s cheap, it’s easy, and it tastes great.

This post is my entry to the contest at JAB - JustAbout Everything