A few weeks ago, when the county fair carnival was in town, Joey and I decided to host our 6-year-old niece for a sleepover.
Well, I should say I decided to host her, and Joey was allowed to participate as the fun uncle who was then relegated to sleeping in the guest room with the dog.
We spent the whole of Friday night on all of the rides at the carnival. We might have gone on the big slide over a dozen times. I lost count.
Our niece came away with a stuffed animal, thanks to Uncle Joey, and a stunning face full of bright paints. We also fulfilled her one food request: a funnel cake. It was a long evening but a lot of fun.
On Saturday, after a lunch of macaroni and cheese, my little helper and I decided to make a treat recipe to share with all of you. These bars are a perfect recipe to make with a young, budding chef or just on your own. Regardless, the end result is the perfect combination of sweet and salty, and these were absolutely delicious.
This comes from the blog “Life of a Foodie.” You can find the original link at https://lifestyleofafoodie.com/ruffles-krispy-treats/. I added a little chocolate to my version.
Potato Chip Krispies Treats
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter plus more to grease pan
- 4 cups miniature marshmallows
- about 8 ounces wavy potato chips
- about 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
- Coarse or flaked salt to taste
Instructions
- Liberally grease the bottoms and sides of an eight-by-eight-inch baking pan with butter, and set it aside.
- Add the three tablespoons of butter to a large saucepan over low heat. Once the butter is melted, add in the marshmallows, and stir constantly until they are melted and smooth. (This may take awhile, so it’s a good spot for a helper to step in to help stir.)
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the potato chips. Don’t worry about whether they break and crumble as you go. Once the chips are well combined, dump the mixture into your prepared baking dish, smoothing it out evenly.
- In a small, microwave-safe bowl, microwave the chocolate chips, 30 seconds at a time, until you can stir them and they are completely melted.
- Drizzle the melted chocolate over top of the bars, and then top with a big pinch of coarse or flaked salt.
- Let the mixture cool completely before slicing into bars. Store leftovers in an airtight container.
I loved the flavor combination in these, and so did the 6-year-old, although our bars turned out a lot chewier than I expected. If I were to bet why, I’m guessing it was a combination of having a bag of older marshmallows in my pantry and having a cooking assistant who insisted on taste testing quite a few of them before they went into the pot.
It’s always a great time to have our niece for a visit, and I love being able to share my interest in cooking with her, too.
I can’t wait for our next adventure together, but for now, I just need a nap.
This piece first appeared in print Aug. 29, 2024.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
