Blackberry Peanut Rice Krispies Treats by Dennis Weaver Once you have made these treats with jam, you'll never go back to the plain variety. The jam adds sweetness, color, and flavor to the cereal. Of course, you can use jams other than blackberry.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
4 cups miniature marshmallows
2/3 cup blackberry or black raspberry jam
6 cups Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal or equal
3/4 cup snack-type salted peanuts

Directions

Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

1. In a large pan on the stovetop, melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows. Stir until the mixture is melted and smooth. Add the jam and stir.
2. Add the rice cereal and peanuts. Stir until the cereal is uniformly combined with the marshmallow mixture.
3. Remove the mixture to the buttered pan. Evenly distribute the mixture and press it down into the pan with buttered fingers, a piece of waxed paper, or a spatula. Let cool and cut into squares.

Baker's notes:

If you use a large enough pan, you can mix the treats right in the pan, not in a bowl. The hot pan makes it a little easier to stir the mixture together and there is less clean-up.

Rice Krispies Treats are best eaten the same day.

 

Dennis Weaver -- having burnt food from Miami, Florida to Point Barrow, Alaska -- is RTA's road food expert. He has logged thousands of hours on the roads, trails, and waterways of America including many of Alaska's wilderness rivers and has consistently been elected the trips' "chief cook and bottle washer." Dennis is currently general manager at The Prepared Pantry, a company in Rigby, Idaho, that produces ready-to-eat meals and baking mixes packaged in Mylar. Weatherproof, bug-proof, and critter resistant, they're ideal for both roadtrips and back woods camping. Dennis may be reached at dweaver@preparedpantry.com.