Valentine Marshmallow Krispie Hearts

Sometimes nothing beats a Rice Krispies treat, especially a Valentine's Day pink heart Rice Krispies treat with sugar sprinkles. I whipped these up for my funny valentines last week. We had tons of extras so I sent them to school with the little kids for an early Valentine's Day treat.

That's candy coating on top, not frosting, which is a total bonus if you're feeding them to a classroom of 3 to 6-year-olds. No mess. Ok, very little mess.

A word of CAUTION here. I used Wilton Candy Melts. Wilton's allergy information is hazy at best. As far as I can tell, Wilton candy melts don't contain nuts as an ingredient but they are processed in a plant where peanuts and tree nuts are present. I cannot get a straight answer as to whether the manufacturing lines are shared. Thankfully, we've never had a problem personally but if you're baking for anyone with a serious peanut or tree nut allergy, I strongly advise you to use these super guaranteed nut-free candy melts from Vermont Nut-Free Chocolates. Get the white vanilla candy melts and some safe food coloring and you'll be set for any holiday or color scheme. I'll be using them from now on.

Valentine Marshmallow Krispie Hearts

3 tbsp butter
10 ounces marshmallows (any size)
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
Heart shaped cookie cutters
12 ounces chocolate candy melts
sugar sprinkles or any other sprinkles of your choice

1. Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Stir in the marshmallows and continue to stir slowly until they are melted and soupy. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the Rice Krispies.
2. Dump the mixture onto a lightly greased sheet pan or wax paper.

3. Use a spatula sprayed with cooking spray to press the marshmallow cereal into a single flat layer about 1-inch thick. Cool for 15-20 minutes.

4. When the mixture is cool to the touch, cut out heart shapes with your cookie cutters. If things are getting a little sticky, spray the cookie cutters with cooking spray.

5. Melt the candy coating according to the package instructions and spread it onto the hearts. Immediately top with sugar sprinkles or any sprinkles you like. Any red, pink, and white sprinkles would be festive but Roo is exceptionally sensitive to sprinkles so I played it safe with the simplest of sugar crystals. Let the candy coating set and hand them out to all your valentines.