Creepy Crawlies and Cute Candy Corn

As I cruised into our shared driveway late at night a few weeks ago, I nearly slammed on my breaks. A 2-foot-long snake slithered out of our neighbor’s bushes! And a 1-foot-tall… Spider? I stopped short of the garage, untangled myself from the seatbelt, and cautiously approached the…

Oh. Paper animals.

As a decorating procrastinator, I completely forget that other people set out pumpkins and orange twinkly lights in early October. (Sure, I buy my trick-or-treater candy around the, but that’s only because I need enough time to test it all before hanging it out to innocent little kids!)

Since the little girl next door really, enjoyed pinning up her black cat cutouts and crinkly pumpkin streamers, I wanted to contribute to the Halloween festivities. I don’t own many decorations, but I sure can bake—or at least melt marshmallows for candy corn rice krispie treats!

Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats

based on the recipe from Glorious Treats

makes 8

The color possibilities are endless! Red and blue for the 4th of July, red and green for Christmas, pink and red for Valentine’s Day… Or yellow and orange for Halloween! These are best served the day of.

yellow layer

2¼ c. rice krispies cereal

1¾ c. mini marshmallows

1½ tsp butter

12 drops yellow food coloring

orange layer

1¼ c. rice krispies cereal

2¼ c. mini marshmallows

1 tbsp butter

10 drops yellow food coloring

3 drops red food coloring

white layer

1 c. rice krispies cereal

1½ c. mini marshmallows

Coat an 8” round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. For the yellow layer: In a medium pot, melt the butter over low heat. Add in the marshmallows, and stir with a spatula until melted and a gooey blob. Stir in the food coloring, and pour the yellow sugar mixture into a bowl. Add in the rice krispies, and stir until well coated. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spray your hands with nonstick spray, and mold the mixture into a ring (about 1½ inches thick). For the orange layer: Follow the above directions, and mold into a ring inside of the yellow ring of rice krispies. For the white layer: Follow the above directions, skipping the food coloring step, and press the mixture into the hole left in the center of the prepared pan. Cool the rice krispie treats completely, at least 30 min. Invert the cake pan onto a cutting board to remove the treats. Cut into 8 equal triangular slices and serve.