Caramel Rice Krispie Marshmallow Beasts

In high school, my best friend's mom was the best cook and a crack baker. She made the best school lunches - tomato AND mushroom soup, the creamiest Kraft Dinner - that's Kraft macaroni and cheese, and boiled hot dogs. All this while watching The Flintstones on their cushy beige velvet couch. I'm not sure why her soups tasted so good, since our moms all cooked the same Campbell's soup for lunches. It had something to do with the old balloon whisk and whole milk she mixed hers up with. One day she popped open her Tupperware container and gave me a gigantic marshmallow bristling with Rice Krispies. I bit into its belly gingerly. The taste was like sweet, smooth and crisp, with a deeply golden milk flavor surrounding a sweet puff of nothing. They were the product of unwrapping a pound of Kraft caramels and melting a can of condensed milk into them, then coating marshmallows with the caramel and rolling them around in a plate of Rice Krispies. I never forgot that milky caramel flavor, so I dipped and rolled a batch. They are a bit fussy to make, but they freeze well and are delicious beasts indeed.


1 16 oz. package of large marshmallows (stash them in the freezer overnight for easier dipping)
1 16 oz. package of caramels (Kraft, which come in 16 oz. bags, or Brach's, which come in 11 oz. bags. I think Brach's caramels have a richer, milkier taste)
1 14 oz. can of condensed milk
1/4 c. butter
Rice Krispies to coat (about half of an 18 oz. box)

Stick some Rice Krispies into a container with high sides. I used a loaf pan, which preventing cereal escaping all over the floor. Stash the caramels, condensed milk, and butter in a smallish saucepan that is deep enough for dipping and melt over low heat.

It's difficult to stir at first but make the effort as the mixture burns easily. When the caramel is completely liquid, switch the heat to the minimum and give it a stir once in a while in between dips. Plunge in a marshmallow and worry it around with a fork to coat it, then fish it out and let the caramel drip between the tines. My first attempt was to impale the marshmallow on a skewer, which was really difficult to remove after dipping.

Drop the caramel-coated marshmallow onto your Rice Krispies and use a second clean fork to move it around and coat it fully with cereal. Then place your marshmallow beast onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, and continue till the marshmallows are gone. To freeze, place them onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, and stick in the freezer till hard. Then pop into freezer bags for stealthy sweetness later.