Happy 3rd of July! Really the superior of the summer holidays, in my opinion. Nothing beats a day at the beach followed by a night of fireworks and bonfires. And, of course, cookout food.

Cookouts are a mysterious event to make dessert for. They are all about an abundance of food, between the hamburgers and BBQ and hotdogs and mayo-based salads and chips and beer. And yet, no one ever really seems to feel like eating dessert at the end, unless it has the novelty aspect carried by such treats as s’mores or sundae bars.

So over the years, I’ve tried a lot of different things to convince people to eat what I bring. Cupcakes, cookies, cake – there always seems to be leftovers. This year, I’m working on a new theory (I’ll let you know next week how it goes) – dessert at a cookout should be something light and easy to eat with just your fingers. Something that can be put on the end of your plate after you’ve piled on everything else. I decided to go with rice krispie treats.

I’ve made a variety of these before, but for an all-American holiday I felt like being a purist was the best way to go. With a minor tweak to make them just a step above the ones that come in the shiny blue wrappers.

The other great part about rice kripsie treats? If you just realized you don’t have dessert for your 4th of July cookout tomorrow, you could make these in about 15 minutes, no problem.

First, melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Meanwhile, line up bowls with everything else you’ll need. When the butter is melted, add the first 8 cups of mini marshmallows and continue to stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the rice krispies until well coated. Stir in the remaining two cups of marshmallows. This is the step that will make your rice krispie treats better than everyone else’s.  Line a 9×9 inch square baking dish (or two loaf pans) with tin foil and spray with cooking spray. Spread the rice krispie treats in with a sprayed spatula and allow to set. It’s that easy. And yet, my mom hates them. So she did her own baking this week (SMiLes by Mom, coming soon) and made an Old Glory Berry Pie.Obviously, my affinity for baking was not completely out of the blue.

Finally, if you are making these for America’s birthday, you may want to make them red, white, and blue. To do that, I melted some white chocolate melting chips and spread them on one batch, sprinkling some appropriate sprinkles on top.Unnecessary, but no one complains about white chocolate and sprinkles. Don’t worry, I left one batch plain as well.Rice krispie treats should be enjoyed day of, but if not, store them in an airtight container. They are the type of thing that goes stale fast.

Enjoy!

Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons salted butter
• 8 cups + 2 cups mini marshmallows, divided
• 6 cups rice krispies cereal
• melting white chocolate and sprinkles, if desired

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat.
2. Stir in the first 8 cups of mini marshmallows over low heat until melted and smooth.
3. Remove from heat and stir in rice krispies to coat.
4. Stir in remaining 2 cups of mini marshmallows to distribute.
5. Spread into a 9×9 inch square pan lined with tin foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Use a spatula sprayed with cooking spray to flatten.
6. Allow to harden before cutting into squares to serve.
7. Optional: Melt white chocolate and spread on top, sprinkling with sprinkles. Allow to harden before cutting.