Rice-Krispie Hearts

Today is officially the first day of February, the month of "I love you"s and red and pink everything. Whether you love Valentine's Day or absolutely despise it, we all love seeing aisles at the grocery stores stocked with heart-shaped chocolates and candies. Valentine's Day is a day of love, and part of that love definitely includes sweets! In this post, you'll find a recipe for making some goodies of your own - heart shaped rice krispie treats.

Total time: about 20 minutes

Makes approximately 10 hearts (palm-size) or 15 mini-hearts

What you'll need:

• approx 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 10oz bag mini marshmallows
• red food coloring (optional)
• 4 cups rice krispies cereal
• wax paper
• heart cookie cutter (optional)

Recipe:

1. In a large pot, melt butter on medium heat. Be sure to spread the butter around to line the entire inside, including the walls of the pan. 
2. Add marshmallows. Once added, continue to mix the marshmallows constantly. Do not let the marshmallows sit still for longer than 10 seconds, they will burn!
3. Once the marshmallows are almost entirely melted to a liquid, turn off the stove. If you're using an electric burner, take the pot off the burner.
4. Add in food coloring until getting the desired color. It will take a lot of drops to get red!
   Or, if you'd like various-colored hearts, split the batch into 3 separate bowls. Add food coloring to two of the three bowls, one red and one pink. Leave the last bowl white.
5. Add in the rice krispies cereal, one cup at a time. Stir until evenly mixed.
6. Line a plate or cookie sheet with wax paper to place the finished treats onto. 
7. To make heart shapes, you can either use a cookie-cutter to mold, or if you're like me and don't have one, you can use your hands. Before taking the marshmallow/rice krispies mixture out of the pot, wet your hands with water-- believe me, this will help greatly! This prevents the marshmallows from sticking to your fingers and makes it much easier to shape.
8. To harden the marshmallows, place them in the fridge. Take them out to "thaw" 10 minutes before enjoying.

Tips:

• You'll probably have to wet your hands after shaping every other one. I suggest working close to a sink or have a bowl of water nearby.