Monster Cereal Treats

When it comes to baking, my girlfriend knows what she's doing.  She's really good and I'm sure I'll have a few posts dedicated to what she makes in the future.  But, when it comes to making Cereal Treats, neither of us had ever attempted their creation.  Well, I did once.. When I was about 8 years old, I tried making Fruity Pebble Treats.  My Aunt had made something similar earlier that week and, I figured, that must be easy.  So, I melted butter and marshmallows in the microwave, poured an entire box into the mix and immediately ate them.  I don't think I have to tell you how horribly disgusting they tasted.  I had no idea what I was doing and was too young to realize that I actually needed a.. ya know.. recipe.  Yeah, so that was my only attempt at making any variation of Rice Krispies Treats and, because it was such a mess, I choose to pretend it never happened and you should too..

When I found Frankenberry and Boo Berry cereal at Walgreens, I wanted to do something with them that I hadn't done before.  I wanted to take things up a notch and decided to turn them into Monster Cereal Treats.  At first, I thought about making them separately, but changed my mind.  No, I wanted to combine these two worlds and watch them collide to create Frankenboo.  Oh yeah.. it was on!

To avoid the debacle that was my last attempt, my girlfriend and I wanted to make sure we had the recipe right.  We looked online and watched videos to make sure these treats came out perfect.  We had two boxes of cereal and Walgreens was completely sold out so we were only going to get one shot at this.  We picked up butter and a pack of Jet-Puffed Marshmallows and we were ready to go.  Our ingredients were in hand and we were prepared to create Frankenboo Cereal Treats.

Unlike me, you probably already know how to make these marshmallow treats but, just in case you don't, you basically melt half a stick of butter, followed by a 10 oz bag of marshmallows.  I used the larger marshmallows but that was probably a bad move.  If I were to do it again, I'd use the smaller ones because, from what I've read, they melt faster.  Either way, Once the two are completely melted and create what appears to be a batter, you're ready to pour in the cereal.

We used about half of each cereal box but, as you may be able to tell, something started to go wrong.  As I've said, I don't have any experience when it comes to making these treats, but even I started to think this idea was quickly going downhill.  I figured the marshmallows would make things sticky, but this just didn't look right.  I knew better than to leave the stove on and I removed the pot from any heat, but I don't think that even mattered.  I was having flashbacks of my last attempt 16 years ago and my inner 8-year-old was laughing at me and my girlfriend.  How could I have this wrong?  Maybe I didn't.. Maybe it was supposed to be this way.  Yup, that's what I told myself as I continued on with the process.

We took the sloppy mess of Frankenboo and poured it into a pan.  Well, I really shouldn't say "pour" because it definitely didn't "pour."  Water pours, coffee pours, soda pours.  But this goop? No, this stuck.. This slowly but barely fell into the pan and, parts that didn't, had to be forced out with the help of parchment paper and strength.  That certainly didn't seem to be the standard, but what do I know?  I've only done this once and for as bad as this appeared to be going, it was already better than last time so we spread the mixture out and put it in the fridge to cool.

A few hours later, we woke Frankeboo from his slumber and this was the end result..

Wow, now that looks appetizing.. Seriously, what happened?  These things were hard as a rock and, if you did manage to bite a piece off, they tasted more like butter treats than marshmallow treats.  I'll admit, they weren't horrible tasting.  Afterall, they did have that Frankenboo flavor, but it was so overwhelmed by half a Hotel Bar that it was impossible to take more than two bites.  Very disappointing.I don't know what wrong, though.  Did we use too much butter?  Not enough cereal?  Was I not supposed to refrigerate them?  I have no idea.. All I know is that these did not come out the way I expected them to and, when it comes to marshmallow treats, I am now 0-2.

At some point this Holidaze season, I'll most likely make another attempt at making these Monster Treats.  I just need to figure out where I went wrong.  Maybe they just don't come out as well when you're not using Rice Krispies.  I don't know, but I'm determined to find out.  Until then, enjoy looking at this picture of the final product.  I know you're dying to taste them, but there's a reason why they title says "caution."