Someone (definitely not our Managing Editor) thought I was writing too many Instant Pot recipes and challenged me to expand my cooking horizons. Jokes on him though—there’s really only one thing I can make outside the Instant Pot at this point: Rice Krispie squares.

Even though this is a ridiculously easy recipe, you do get a little strut in your step when you walk into your study session with a tray of these prepped for devouring. Want to feel real fancy? There are various ways you can “spice up” the recipe and make it your own at the end. Add some lemon extract with your vanilla, melt some chocolate chips on top of it, throw in candy sprinkles at some point and see what happens.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/4 cup margarine or butter
  •  5 cups miniature marshmallows
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional… but not really)
  •  6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a large saucepan, or any sort of bowl you can put on the stove, melt butter. Add marshmallows and stir until melted and blended. Remove from heat.*
  2. Dump in your vanilla and cereal. Stir until evenly (ish) coated with marshmallow mix.
  3. TECHNICALLY you should press the mixture into a buttered cake pan at this point. Don’t have a cake pan? Butter up that one popcorn bowl, the muffin tins your grandma gave you (convinced you would use them to make quiches, but who has that cleanup time in their life), the way-too-big frying pan… anything that works.
  4. Let cool. Then start divvying up and digging in.

*Fun fact. You could do this in the Instant Pot. Turn it to saute function and melt the butter and marshmallows in the pot.