Rice Crispy Easter Eggs

Rice Crispy Easter Eggs
Dorcas Annette Walker

The Easter holidays bring back memories of when my children were small. Our family celebrations were quite a departure from my own childhood. I colored hard-boiled eggs with my kids using Easter egg color kits and then graduated to the colorful shrink-wrapped egg decorations that you attached by placing a hard boiled egg into a thin wrapping, immersed in boiling water, and instantly you had a decorated egg. Easter Sunday I’d hide plastic eggs around my yard with small pieces of candy or money inside. I had a large prize egg that I filled with something special. Easter was a fun time of celebrating together as a family in a simple manner. I’m amazed at how enormous the Easter holiday has exploded into. The commercialism is almost as bad as Christmas. I still enjoy making up Easter baskets for my two grandkids.

The first time I ever ate Rice Krispie cereal was at my grandmother’s house. At home we started out each day with a bowl of cooked oatmeal and applesauce. We were fascinated eating a cereal that came out of a box, popped and crackled, and had small prizes inside. The secret to the Kellogg Rice Krispies famous snapping and popping sound was rice grain that was cooked, dried, and toasted forming bubbles of thin walls that would collapse suddenly when exposed to milk. It wasn’t until I was grown and married that I heard of and began making Rice Krispie Treats. It was a quick, popular snack that I could whip up for overnight visits of my children’s friends and these treats were always a welcome addition to school bake sales.

Malitta Jensen and Mildred Day are known as the two that invented the Rice Krispie Treats as a way to raise money for the annual Campfire Girls troops. The residents of Battle Creek, Michigan were fiercely loyal to the local Kellogg Company that didn’t lay off a single employee during the 1940’s when other companies fell broke. Malitta and Mildred wanted to come up with something different than the usual chocolate chip cookies sold to raise money for their girl’s troop. They were familiar with an old recipe using Puffed Rice, molasses, and vinegar, but they decided to try using a box of Campfire marshmallows instead with the Kellogg’s Rice Krispie cereal. Cut into squares, wrapped in Saran Wrap, and tied with ribbons these treats were an instant hit. Recipes of the Rice Krispie Treats first appeared on Kellogg cereal boxes in 1941 and were homemade until January 15, 1995.

My Rice Crispy Easter Eggs evolved during an Easter holiday when I was making a Rice Crispy snack. My kids were teens and I missed the mess and excitement of coloring eggs. What could I do as a substitute? My imagination kicked in as I experimented with adding colorful candy sprinkles. I then shaped the Rice Crispy’s into egg shapes and sat them in pastel baking cups. Presto! I had a perfect Easter egg treat for my teens. These Rice Crispy Easter Eggs take only about fifteen minutes to prepare and one batch makes around twenty-five eggs.

Rice Crispy Easter Eggs

Microwave in large bowl 3-5 minutes until melted:
1stick of margarine
½ c chunky peanut butter
1 bag marshmallows

Stir in until coated:
6 c any brand of rice crispy
½ c candy sprinkles

Let sit for five minutes to cool and then form into ball-shaped eggs. Place the Rice Crispy Easter Eggs in pastel baking cups. Store in airtight container. May decorate with colored Easter grass!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a freelance writer, author, columnist, and photographer from Jamestown, TN. If you have any cooking tips or favorite recipes you are welcome to contact me by email at: dorcaswalker@yahoo.com. For more information about the Walker family and Dorcas’ books check out her website at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com or htpp://dorcasannettewalker.blogspot.com for other Creative Mountain recipes.