Dessert

Beet Red Velvet Cupcakes

February 13, 2019 by laurenpacek 5 Comments

These Beet Red Velvet Cupcakes are moist and a little chocolatey, just like any good red velvet cupcake should be. AND they’re 100% food coloring-free! Their gorgeous red hue comes from the addition of cooked beets. But don’t worry – you can’t taste the beets!

I have to get this out of the way: I am generally not a big fan of red velvet. I know, I know.

Sure it’s really pretty, and is super moist. But it’s this like, vaguely chocolatey cake that’s usually made with a TON of food coloring. What gives?

There’s even a scene about it on an old season of Orange is the New Black. Remember?

Red velvet IS bullshit. EXCEPT when it’s made without a ton of food coloring. Like these cupcakes right here.

Plus beets are the best. I love them in a way that if they weren’t a vegetable would maybe be considered unhealthy.

Check out these easy roasted beets. Or how about either of these salads?

Though it may seem a little daunting, these cupcakes are actually very easy to make. Microwave some beets, chop ’em up, and toss ’em in a blender/food processor. Blitz them with wet ingredients, add them to the dry, and mix. Bake. Frost. Voila!

The red/white color combo makes these cupcakes an easy choice for Valentine’s Day or Christmas. But make them whenever you’re in the mood for a pretty, sweet treat!

The cupcake recipe comes from the good folks over at Southern Living. The cream cheese frosting recipe comes from Sugar Spun Run.

5 from 5 votes

Beet Red Velvet Cupcakes

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

18 mins

Total Time

48 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

10 oz fresh red beets, peeled
1 lemon, juiced
3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder, see notes
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

For the cream cheese frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened
8 oz unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

To make the cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners. Set aside.
Wrap the beets in parchment paper. Microwave on high until they are tender (about 8 to 10 minutes). Allow the beets to cool, still wrapped in the paper, until they are just warm to the touch.
Coarsely chop the beets. Add them, along with the lemon juice, to a food processor. Process until they are finely chopped. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add the oil and buttermilk and process until smooth. Add the eggs and process until completely combined.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add the beet mixture, and whisk until just combined.
Using an ice-cream scoop, fill the prepared cupcake liners two-thirds full with batter.
Bake 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pans on wire racks for about 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pans to the racks, and allow them to cool completely.

To make the frosting

Combine the softened cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until creamy and well-combined.
Add the vanilla extract and kosher salt. Beat again until combined.
Gradually add the powdered sugar on low speed until it is completely combined. Beat on medium-high speed for a few minutes to really whip things up.
Frost the cooled cupcakes.

Recipe Notes

Notes: Do not use dark cocoa powder. It will really mask the red color that the beets impart.

If you’re looking for more baked goods for Valentine’s Day, I got you. Try these Double Chocolate M&M Cookies and Triple Chocolate Raspberry Brownies?

If cocktails are more your thing, see these Blood Orange Bourbon Sours and the Kinkytini Cocktail (kind of like a Cosmopolitan)!

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pie with Pretzel Crust

February 5, 2019 by laurenpacek 3 Comments

This Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pie is a lot of things. It is sweet, cold, creamy, and yet also a bit salty and crunchy.

One of the best things about this pie, in my opinion, is that it is nearly no-bake! Just pop the crust into the oven for 10 minutes and then let the freezer do the rest of the work.

This pie was inspired by a candy bar that I impulsively picked up while in World Market a few weeks ago. It was a milk chocolate bar that had peanuts, pretzel pieces, and marshmallow in it. I mean, sure, I was walking around the store while borderline hangry, but that thing was good.

I went home and started to wonder how I could incorporate all of those flavors into a dessert creation of my own. Pie seemed like a good candidate. I thought back to the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie that I shared with you before and wondered what would happen if you folded marshmallow fluff/creme into the peanut butter filling. As it turns out, delicious things would happen if you did that.

The crust is a little sweet, but mostly salty, and made out of pulverized pretzels, brown sugar, and melted butter. The combination of cold and creamy filling, salty crust, and crunchy toppings (okay there are soft marshmallows, too) is 10/10.

After you whip up this Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pie, don’t forget to check out this Almost No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, too!

5 from 3 votes

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pretzel Pie | A Nerd Cooks

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Pie with Pretzel Crust

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Freeze time

3 hrs

Total Time

3 hrs 25 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8 people

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

For the crust

8 oz small pretzels
2 tbs brown sugar
8 tbs unsalted butter, melted

For the pie

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
7 oz marshmallow creme
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

For the topping

mini chocolate chips
salted peanuts
mini marshmallows

Instructions

To make the crust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Blitz the pretzels in a blender or food processor until fine crumbs form.
Add the brown sugar and melted butter. Blitz again until everything is well combined.
Press the pretzel crust into the bottom, and up the sides, of a 9-inch pie pan.
Bake for 10 minutes. Allow the crust to cool.

To make the pie

Using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, marshmallow creme, and peanut butter together. Add the heavy cream and beat again until a smooth filling forms.
Add the mini chocolate chips to the pie filling and mix until they are well distributed throughout the filling.
Pour the filling into the prepared pretzel crust. Smooth the top with a spatula.
Top with mini chocolate chips, peanuts, and mini marshmallows.
Freeze for 3 hours. This pie can be served frozen or refrigerated.

Maple Bourbon Chocolate Chunk Pecan Cookies

November 19, 2018 by laurenpacek 1 Comment

I’ll admit, there’s a lot going on in these Maple Bourbon Chocolate Chunk Pecan Cookies. Heck, the name itself is a mouthful. But trust me. And stay with me here! All of these flavors and textures are dang near perfect together.

I mean. Chewy cookies studded with melty dark chocolate and crunchy pecans, topped with sea salt, AND a hit of sweet maple bourbon flavor? Come on.

These cookies include some of the same delicious smoked maple bourbon that I used to make these Maple Bourbon Moscow Mules. While the maple version isn’t 100% necessary, I do think that it tastes particularly good with the brown sugar heavy flavor of these cookies. It also makes them extra Autumnal, in my opinion.

Looking for more bourbon-y baked goods? Mini Bourbon Pecan Pies and No-Bake Bourbon Balls are always a hit!

In the mood for a cocktail? How about a Bourbon Pumpkin Shrub Cocktail, Bourbon Moscow Mule, or Maple Bourbon Moscow Mule??

This recipe comes from Baker By Nature.

5 from 1 vote

Maple Bourbon Chocolate Chunk Pecan Cookies

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

cooling the butter

2 hrs

Total Time

40 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

For the brown butter

16 tbs unsalted butter

For the buttered pecans

1 1/2 cups pecans, finely chopped
2 tbs unsalted butter

For the cookie dough

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs smoked maple bourbon, see notes
2 eggs
12 oz dark chocolate, roughly chopped, plus more for pressing into the tops of the cookies
36 pecan halves, for pressing into the tops of each cookie, see notes
sea salt, see notes

Instructions

To make the brown butter

Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and cook for about 3 minutes (stirring pretty much constantly) until the butter has browned.
Pour the brown butter into a heatproof bowl. Make sure to scrape all of the toasty, brown bits into the bowl as well.
Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 2 hours, or until the butter is at room temperature. It should not be liquid at all.

To make the buttered pecans

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped pecans and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes. Set them aside until needed.

To make the cookies

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, kosher salt, cinnamon, and baking soda together. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, on medium speed, cream the brown butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla and bourbon and beat until combined.
Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating until they are totally combined.
A little at a time, add the flour. Mix until the flour has just disappeared.
Add the chocolate and pecans. Mix to distribute throughout the dough.
Using a cookie scoop, portion the cookie dough out onto the prepared baking sheets. Press pecan halves and chopped chocolate into the top of the cookie dough, if desired.
Bake 9-10 minutes, or until golden brown at the edges but still soft in the middle. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Recipe Notes

Notes:

More on how to make brown butter
I used Knob Creek Smoked Maple Bourbon, but use whatever bourbon you like/have on hand
I pressed more than 1 pecan half into the top of each cookie, but you do you.
I really love Maldon sea salt

Mini Bourbon Pecan Pies

November 6, 2018 by laurenpacek 1 Comment

These bite-sized Mini Bourbon Pecan Pies are undeniably delicious. And their tiny size makes them perfect for sharing. They would make great party food and also be very welcome at a cookie exchange.

Like I mentioned when sharing these No-Bake Bourbon Balls with you, I made these mini bourbon pecan pies for a bourbon-themed birthday party. What could be better?

You can feel free to dial back the amount of bourbon that’s added to these pies. However, since the party was bourbon-themed, I wanted to make sure that the bourbon flavor was pretty pronounced.

The recipe for the pie filling comes from Brown Eyed Baker, though I added bourbon and kosher salt.

Bite-Sized Pecan Pies

Prep Time

3 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

28 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 48 mini pies

Ingredients

For the crust

4-5 pre-made, refrigerated pie crusts

For the filling

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup pecans (plus more for topping), chopped
2 eggs
2 tbs unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup bourbon, see notes

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Lightly grease a mini muffin pan with butter or cooking spray.

To prepare the crust

Using a round cookie cutter, cut 48 2- to 3-inch rounds (slightly larger than the opening of the muffin tin openings) of pie dough from the pre-made, refrigerated pie crusts.
Press one round of dough into each well of the mini muffin tin.

To make the filling

Mix all filling ingredients together and divide it evenly between the dough-lined muffin cups.
Sprinkle the extra chopped pecans evenly over the top of the unbaked pies.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops of the pies are set. Cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin before carefully removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Recipe Notes

Notes: You can reduce the amount of bourbon (or omit it entirely) if you'd like. I wanted to make sure that the bourbon flavor was pretty pronounced in these mini pies, though, so I used 1/4 cup.

No-Bake Bourbon Balls

October 9, 2018 by laurenpacek 3 Comments

These No-Bake Bourbon Balls are the perfect sweet and boozy treat. Best yet? You don’t even have to turn on the oven to make them!

Some may consider it a little early in the year to break out the bourbon balls. But I’m of the opinion that it’s officially Fall, which means that it’s basically Thanksgiving. And if it’s Thanksgiving, then Christmas is right around the corner. Right?

Okay so maybe this is a stretch. But I still think that there’s no wrong time to make bourbon balls.

I was recently tasked with concocting a variety of bourbon-based sweets for a bourbon-themed (!!) 40th birthday party. These No-Bake Bourbon Balls were one of the treats that I whipped up. Even after decreasing the amount of bourbon in the recipe slightly, the bourbon flavor is still pretty potent. Watch yourself!

Need more no-bake cookie action? How about these Hot Chocolate No Bake Cookies?

I found this recipe on Saving Room for Dessert. After testing this recipe out on my lab, the only change that I made was to use 3 tbs of bourbon instead of 4.

Bourbon Balls

Prep Time

30 mins

rest time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 30 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 40 cookies

Ingredients

3 cups vanilla wafers (12 oz. box), crushed
1 cup pecans, ground
3 cups powdered sugar, divided
1.5 tbs cocoa powder
3 tbs light corn syrup
3 tbs bourbon

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine the vanilla wafers, pecans, 1 cup of powdered sugar, and cocoa powder. Whisk to combine.
In a mixing cup or small bowl, whisk the corn syrup and bourbon together.
Add the corn syrup/bourbon mixture to the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
Place the remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, then immediately roll them in the powdered sugar. Set them aside on a baking sheet for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, roll the cookies in powdered sugar again. Store the cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Recipe Notes

Notes: I ran the vanilla wafer cookies and pecans through a food processor to ensure that they were finely ground.

Homemade Cherry Crisp

September 19, 2018 by laurenpacek 2 Comments

Before you start baking pumpkin everything, honor the remaining days of Summer by baking and enjoying a Homemade Cherry Crisp. You will not be disappointed.

I’ve talked about it before (see my Strawberry Crisp post) but a crisp/crumble really is pie’s less fussy cousin. It still delivers the same sweet, juicy flavor that you get from a pie. But there’s no chilling and rolling of dough involved. Just mix up a crumbly topping, sprinkle it on your fruit, bake, and you’re done!

September is a weird month for me, food-wise. You’re just as likely to find me making a summer fruit-filled crisp or whipping up a hearty mushroom risotto or turkey pumpkin chili. <shrug emoji>

I’m doing my best to not rush into Autumn (even though I love it) and to savor the last bits of summer. Starting with this Cherry Crisp. While still warm (or reheated), top it with some vanilla ice cream. It’s the right thing to do.

The topping for this Cherry Crisp is based on the one from my Strawberry Crisp.

5 from 1 vote

Homemade Cherry Crisp

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8 people

Author: Lauren Pacek

Ingredients

For the filling

5 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved (see notes)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbs cornstarch
3 tbs bourbon, optional but recommended
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 lemon, juiced

For the topping

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the filling

Add all of the filling ingredients to a large bowl. Toss to combine.
In an even layer, spread the filling into a 9-inch pie plate. Set aside.

To make the topping

In a medium-sized bowl, combine all ingredients for the topping. Mix until crumbly and everything is incorporated.
Sprinkle the topping over the cherries in an even layer.
Bake for 45 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the cherries and juices are bubbling around the edges.

Recipe Notes

Notes:

2 lbs of cherries will yield approximately 5 cups after pitting
I'd recommend investing (~$10) in a cherry pitter to make your job easier

Firecracker Pudding Cookies

July 4, 2018 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

These Firecracker Pudding Cookies are soft, sweet, and all dressed up for the Fourth of July. Happy birthday, America.

I know I post about pudding cookies pretty often (go ahead and take a look). But there’s a good reason for it. They are consistently delicious! Plus I think that they come out being good looking cookies just about every time, too. There’s nothing wrong with an ugly cookie (provided that it tastes good), but ugly cookies aren’t exactly photogenic for a food blog.

Pudding cookies are also endlessly customizable. Switch up the mix-ins and pudding flavors to suit your needs. I obviously went red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July, but you can switch things up for any holiday or occasion.

This recipe is adapted from one found on Crazy for Crust.

Firecracker Pudding Cookies

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

11 mins

Chilling time

1 hr

Total Time

26 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3.4 oz (1 box) instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup red, white, and blue sprinkles
3/4 cup red, white, and blue M&Ms, plus more for pressing into the top of the cookies

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until smooth.
Add the pudding mix, baking soda, and kosher salt. Mix until combined. Add the flour. Mix again until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed. Add the sprinkles and M&Ms and mix on medium-high speed until they are well distributed throughout the cookie dough.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop ~1.5 tbs balls of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the chilled balls of cookie dough on the prepared baking sheets, approximately 2 inches apart. Bake 9-11 minutes, or until the edges just start to turn brown.
Remove the cookies from the oven and press additional white chocolate chips into the warm cookies, if desired. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

April 20, 2018 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

Some days, there are few things more satisfying than the simplicity of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Sure, the flavors aren’t particularly complex. But they’re sweet and chewy, and totally delicious. Complexity can be overrated, I say.

I haven’t really addressed this yet, but here goes… You may have noticed that things are looking a little different around here lately. I finally took the plunge and decided to take my blog self hosted! Basically this means that I now have all the creative control over the functionality and appearance of A Nerd Cooks that I could ever want.

It’s a bit of a work in progress since it’s just me working on this, not a team of people. So if you happen to come across broken links or missing photos (or anything else that looks wonky), please bear with me. Also feel free to also shoot me an email to let me know! I’m steadily working through my blog posts to freshen things up and make sure that everything is working the way that it should so that you can have the most enjoyable experience possible.

Stay tuned for more updates and lots of good stuff. Thank you so much for reading and for coming along on this journey with me! I appreciate you all very much.

In the meantime, please enjoy some of these chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies! I think that you’ll be pretty pleased with them. I know I am. In fact, I’m eating one as I type this.

This recipe comes from Bunsen Burner Bakery. If you haven’t been to her blog yet, I strongly suggest that you do. Of course the photos are beautiful, and the food looks and sounds delicious. But I’m also a fan because she, like me, is a scientist by day. Check it out!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

12 mins

Total Time

27 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. One at a time, beat in the eggs, followed by the vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and beat until just combined.
Add in the oatmeal in batches, stirring after each addition, until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
Drop the dough by the 1.5 tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the bottom is golden brown.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Haven’t had your fill of cookies? Check out these Thick and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, and Lemon White Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

March 30, 2018 by laurenpacek 1 Comment

These Carrot Cake Cupcakes are PERFECT for ushering in Spring. it’s officially here, folks! The weather is warm and my allergies are really starting to act up.

What better way to mark the start of Spring than with some sweet, super moist, carrot cake cupcakes? The recipe calls for freshly shredded carrots. While this might involve a little more effort than cutting open a bag of store bought shredded carrots, trust me when I say that taking the extra step is worth it.

The store bought shredded carrots are dry and pretty thick compared to what you’ll end up with if you grate them yourself. Just make sure to peel your carrots before taking a box grater to them. I use this one, and love it.

Once these carrot-flecked, moist spice cupcakes have baked and cooled, it’s time to frost them generously with cream cheese frosting. Get fancy and pipe the frosting, or go freeform, like I did. You can’t go wrong.

These cupcakes would make an excellent addition to your Easter table.

This recipe comes from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Cooling time

1 hr 30 mins

Total Time

2 hrs 5 mins

These cupcakes are sweet (but not too sweet), moist, warmly spiced, and flecked with shredded carrots.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 people

Ingredients

Cupcakes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar packed
2 eggs
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup carrots freshly grated

Frosting

8 oz cream cheese softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
3 cups powdered sugar plus more if you want a stiffer frosting
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

To make the cupcakes

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together. Set this aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the oil, brown sugar, eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract, and shredded carrots together.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until they are completely combined. The batter will be pretty thick.
Fill the prepared cupcake liners approximately 2/3 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick, when inserted into the center, comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting

Use either a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer to cream the cream cheese and butter together until they are smooth and creamy.
Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat on low speed for about 30 seconds, then on high speed for about 2 minutes. If you want a stiffer frosting, add a bit of extra powdered sugar and beat to combine.

Frost the cupcakes

Frost the cupcakes. I went freeform with my frosting, rather than using a piping bag and tip. Either way, it's all good.

Lucky Charms Marshmallow Bars

March 21, 2018 by laurenpacek Leave a Comment

These Lucky Charms Marshmallow Bars are a fun, sweet twist on the traditional Rice Krispie treat. They’d be perfect for St. Patrick’s Day!

This post contains affiliate links.

I love cereal. Like, to an unhealthy, almost unnatural degree. It really doesn’t matter what kind of cereal, either. Super sugary children’s cereals? Yes, please. Healthier options? Also yes. I’m not exactly sure what it is that I love so much, but I can’t help myself. We don’t keep in the house for this reason.

An exception was made for these bars. Lucky Charms (for which I have a particular affinity) replace puffed rice cereal in a traditional Rice Krispie Treat recipe to make Lucky Charms Marshmallow Bars. These were perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, and seriously couldn’t be easier to make.

Lucky Charms Marshmallow Bars

Prep Time

15 mins

Total Time

15 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12

Author: laurenpacek

Ingredients

3 tbs butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups Lucky Charms cereal

Instructions

Line a 9x13-inch pan with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray. Set aside.
In large saucepan or pot (I used a Dutch oven), melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until they are completely melted. Remove from heat.
Add the Lucky Charms cereal. Stir until the cereal is well coated.
Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into the prepared 9x13-inch pan.
Allow the bars to cool before cutting into squares.