ingredients for six:
- 6 cups rice crispy cereal
- 1 bag large marshmallows
- 3 tsp butter
- 1 can cream cheese icing
- orange food color
- melting chocolate
- 6 lollipop sticks
- 6 green pipe cleaners
- (NOTE: For egg and dairy free, use dairy free chocolate and Smart Balance buttery spread)
tools:
- pumpkin shaped cookie cutter
- parchment paper
- cooking spray
- large spoon
- 2 resealable bags
- 1 icing connector (NOTE: These are available at craft stores and are roughly 4 for $2)
- #3 icing tip
- toothpicks
packaging (not shown):
- 6 cello bags
- black or orange ribbon
steps:
making pumpkins
- 1. Melt butter and marshmallows over low heat.
- 2. Lay out a piece of parchment paper and spray your cookie cutter with cooking spray so that your crispy cereal will release easily.
- 3. Add your rice crispies to your marshmallows and butter and stir well. (Tip: Add the cereal a little at a time to ensure you don’t make them too dry.)
- 4. Spray a large spoon with cooking spray and then scoop up the crispy cereal and mold it into your cookie cutter. Pack down the cereal mixture and set the newly formed pumpkin to the side. Repeat this five more times and allow them to cool for at least 15-20 minutes before icing.
icing prep
- 1. Insert the popsicle sticks into the bottom of each crispy. (Caution: Doing it later might cause your icing and chocolate to crack.)
- 2. Spoon out about a half cup of the icing into a bowl and tint it orange (gel food coloring works best).
- 3. Clip the corner of a resealable bag, insert the bottom of a connector, and add 3 large spoons of icing into the bag. Place the #3 tip on the outside, secure the top of the connector and set aside.
- 4. Place 7-8 melting chips into your second resealable bag and melt it in the microwave slowly. (Tip: No more than 15 seconds at a time, massaging the chocolate in between so that you get all the lumps out, not to exceed 60 seconds.)
- 5. Snip a corner, about 3/8 of an inch, of the chocolate bag.
icing and packaging
- 1. Outline each crispy with chocolate and allow it to set for about 2 minutes.
- 2. Fill in each crispy with chocolate (you may need to reheat your bag and add more chocolate; you’ll want it warm enough to smooth out with a toothpick) and set them aside for 10-15 minutes until completely cool.
- 3. Using the photo as a guide, pipe the outline of the pumpkin onto each crispy.
- 4. Embellish the exposed popsicle sticks with the green pipe cleaner by winding one around each as a green stem.
- 5. Set your crispies aside and allow them to harden for several hours before packaging in clear cello bags and tying with ribbon.