Cinnamon Roll Rice Crispy Treats

So, last week we went on a staff retreat and I brought snacks (this recipe, plus this and this).

We met for hours, breaking only for an a-ma-zing dinner in Asheville, and returning back to meet some more. We actually met until midnight ~ no lie. And it was pretty awesome. But this post isn't about our staff retreat, it's about these rice crispy treats.

I brought the already shaped treats with me and a ziplock of the icing so I could pipe the icing on once we were there. I didn't want them to get smushed in transit and it lose the pretty swirly design. Priorities, you know.

We're talking... we're dreaming... we're working hard... and by mid-afternoon, I'm focused on these rice crispy treats, chilling on the table next to us.

They soon found themselves on the conference table and I realized I didn't bring a pair of scissors with me to snip off the corner of the bag. My former boy scout colleague saved the day with some fancy keychain contraption that had a teensy pair of scissors on it - just big enough to snip a corner!

So as we discussed the matter at hand, I sat and piped on cream cheese icing swirls on each person's rice crispy treat.

Thankfully, the recipe was a winner and as each colleague took a bite, there was a moment of silence in the room before we all discussed how tasty they were. And then went back to solving the world's problems.

The world's problems are way easier to solve when you're stuffing your face with one of these.

These taste remarkably just like a cinnamon roll, and the cream cheese icing takes it over the top. I came thisclose to leaving the icing at home and not messing with it but I'm so glad I didn't. This twist on the rice crispy treat is so good, it's knocking my previous favorite off the podium. Sorry, cake batter rice crispy treats. It was a good run.

 

Cinnamon Roll Rice Crispy Treats

For treats:

¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter

⅛ tsp salt

2 tsp molasses

2 tsp cinnamon

1 (10.5 oz) bag miniature marshmallows

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 cups rice crispies cereal

 

For icing:

¼ cup butter, softened

4 oz cream cheese, softened

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar



Butter a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.

 

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in salt, molasses, and cinnamon. Add marshmallows to melted butter mixture and stir constantly until marshmallows have melted.

 

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

 

Fold in rice crispy cereal, a cup at a time, and stir until evenly coated.

 

Pour mixture into buttered baking dish.Spread mixture evenly into pan with a buttered spatula or buttered hands.

 

Allow to cool several minutes, then cut while still slightly warm. Use your hands to round the edges of the cut squares (to try and resemble a cinnamon roll).

 

Allow to cool completely in a single layer to avoid sticking to one another.

 

While they cools, make the frosting by whipping together the butter and cream cheese with a mixer until fluffy. Stir in vanilla and then add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and mix until smooth and fluffy.

 

Pipe icing onto rounded and cooled rice crispy treats. (I spooned all the icing into a ziplock, snipped the corner, and piped straight from the bag)

 

Source: Better in Bulk

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