The big love holiday is right around the corner. I am already planning what treats I am going to make for my kid’s various parties. The obvious choice of course is a heart shaped cookie or two, but why do that when I could think outside the box just a tad. My daughter’s favorite treat happens to be rice krispy treats. These are some of the easiest things to make, thank goodness. In fact I just use the recipe found on the side of the cereal. Nothing too fancy here.

As luck would have it, you can make a batch of krispy treats and then use a cookie cutter to shape them into hearts. That already makes them much more valentine friendly right? Continuing on my theme, when making my rice krispy treats, I like to add some food coloring to the marshmallow mixture before adding the cereal. A few drops of red and now we have pink (or red) valentine heart krispy treats.

We are well on our way to making them more festive already, but why not go the extra mile? Is there an extra mile when talking about rice krispy treats? I sure think so. Right after you have mixed in your cereal, try mixing in valentine candies. I like to add Red Hots,but that is just because I love the spicy cinnamon flavor. Plus the red looks pretty festive. If you or your kids are like mine and don’t care for cinnamon, then throw in some conversation hearts.

When I add in the conversation hearts I spread them on top of my rice krispy treats just after I have poured them into their pan. Then very gently, I press the candies into the treats. This makes the candies more visible, and you are more likely able to read what they say. You don’t have to be like me though, you can totally just mix them in and have them equally dispersed. Either way you end up with a super festive Valentine’s Day treat that your children are sure to love.

–Stephanie Wright