Fun cooking recipes

Tree Rice Crispy Treat

These rice crispy treats look impressive, but they are super simple to put together.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 10 ounces marshmallows (or 4 cups miniature marshmallows)
• 6 cups crispy rice cereal
• 12 to 14 candy canes
• Decorations: Red and green gel icing, M&Ms, and colored sugar

STEPS

1. Gather the ingredients.
2. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment paper.
3. Melt the butter and the marshmallows in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the marshmallows melt completely.
4. Immediately stir in the crispy rice cereal. Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, so that the rice crispy treats are about 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick.
5. Spray a sharp knife generously with cooking spray. Use it to cut the rice crispy treats into large triangles.
6. Break or cut the candy canes into 3-inch pieces. Insert a candy cane into the bottom of each rice crispy treat triangle to form the trunk of the Christmas tree.
7. Let the rice crispy treats cool completely before decorating with icing, candies, and colored sugar.​

Dirt Cake

This dirt cake recipe is a fun cooking activity to do with your buddy. It is easy to make as there is no baking or heating required.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 box chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreos)
• 2 (3.9-ounce) packages instant chocolate pudding
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 8 ounces of softened cream cheese
• 2 or 3 gummy worms
• A wide flower pot

STEPS

1. Gather the ingredients.
2. Wash a 7-inch deep by 9-inch wide flower pot with soap and warm water. Dry and line with plastic wrap. (If the flower pot has a hole at the bottom, place it on a clean dish. If you are using a regular dish, then you do not need to line it with plastic wrap.)
3. Place chocolate sandwich cookies in a food processor, fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until the cookies become coarse crumbs.
4. Whisk together the chocolate pudding and milk until thick and pudding-like. Chill while making the cream cheese mixture.
5. Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy.
6. Beat in 1 container of thawed whipped topping until smooth.
7. Add the cream cheese mixture to the chocolate pudding mixture, mixing until smooth.
8. Place a layer of the cookie crumbs in the bottom of the lined flower pot.
9. Top with a layer of the chocolate pudding mixture.
10. Continue making layers of the dirt cake: the cookie crumbs, then the chocolate pudding mixture, until there is about 1 inch left at the top. (Note: Be sure to leave plenty of cookie crumbs for the top - you can't have a dirt cake without a lot of dirt!)
11. Spread the remaining container of thawed whipped topping over the last layer of chocolate pudding.
12. Top with the remaining cookie crumbs and place a few gummy worms on the dirt cake. You could even bury them partially, making it look like they are crawling out of the dirt.
13. Place a clean fake flower stem in the dirt to finish the effect.