I dream of Tosi

Since Rob broke the oven over Columbus Day Weekend and it cannot be repaired until next week and the kids just finished the last of the Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars, I had to come up with a solution to my inability to bake anything sweet for the next seven days.  I began to envision a blog post entitled, "No Oven, No Problem".  Then I went to the supermarket for some inspiration, searching for ingredients to make something "home baked" out of a bunch of store bought stuff.  I came up with a jazzed up version of the ever popular Rice Krispie Treat.
All summer I had been obsessed by the flavors in s'mores: graham cracker with gooey marshmallow and melted chocolate.  My fanaticism continues while I am reading for the second time, Christina Tosi's book about her bakery, "Momufuku Milk Bar".  While Christina is a trained pastry chef, her approach to baking and creating recipes is straight from her childhood favorites.  Her memories of Jello Cheesecake and the milk leftover at the bottom of the bowl after finishing her Fruity Pebbles flavor her baking.  She has ingenious "mother" recipes that morph into a myriad of many more only limited by her imagination.  One of her inventions is the "crumb" which she combines with cakes, cookies and ice cream to make them even more magical.  The graham crumb caught my eye, of course considering this past summer. The chocolate addition would have happened anyway as one of my favorite ways of decorating a cookie or brownie is to melt chocolate and using the famous artist, Jackson Pollack's style of painting, I "Pollack" them with melted goodness.  The following recipe is the type of thing that happens when one falls asleep while reading Christina Tosi's take on desserts combined with childhood memories.

 Rice Krispie "Tosi" Treats

(makes 24 squares)

 1/2 recipe Graham Crust (Momufuku Milk Bar)

 2 tablespoons butter

10 oz bag mini marshmallows

6 cups Kellogg's Rice Krispies

4 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 teaspoons Crisco

Make the Graham Crust and allow to cool. Crumble crust into small crumbs.

Heat the butter and marshmallows in a large pot on low until melted.  Add the Rice Krispies and stir to coat.  Spray a 9x13x2 inch pan.  Using a sprayed spatula, press mixture into pan.  Cool treats.  Flip treats onto a cutting board and cut into 24 square pieces.

Place squares slightly apart on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  

Melt chocolate and Crisco together in a microwave safe bowl on high using 20 second increments. 

Pollack the Rice Krispie  squares with the chocolate and quickly sprinkle the wet chocolate with Graham Crust crumbs.  Pollack on top of the crumbs again, if desired.  Allow chocolate to harden overnight.  Place squares in an airtight container for up to 5 days.  (If they last that long.)

Lazy

Sometimes I just don't feel like cooking.  But I want something delicious and satisfying to eat without leaving my house to go and get something that someone else cooked or baked.  Lazy.  There are also other mouths to feed.  My kids get home from school asking for a snack.  While their mouths are still full, they question, "What's for dinner?"  Don't they know I'm tired and I have no idea what the heck I am going to put on the table?  Monsters.
Sometime around the end of June, I began to crave s'mores.  Not that s'mores are difficult to make but they don't keep or travel well.  What to do if there is no open flame available to toast the marshmallows at a moment's notice?  I researched s'mores bars on the internet.  Thanks to sites like Pinterest, Food Network, and good ol' google, I was able to come up with some starter recipes.  But they were all a bit too involved.  By involved, I mean there was measuring required.  I didn't want to measure at all.  I wanted something easier than that.  Oh, and I didn't want to dirty any bowls and barely any utensils.  Too lazy to wash dishes. I managed to come up with a version of my own that is a blend of Val's Magic Cookie Bars and a few of the s'mores recipes I found.  It's crazy easy and quite addictive.  Just let the bars sit overnight after taking them out of the oven so that they stay intact when cut.  Or, don't wait and eat the gooey fabulousness while they are hot.  But you may need a plate and a fork which defeats the purpose of not washing anything extra.

S'Mores Bars

(makes 16 bars)

 1 stick unsalted butter

1/3 package graham crackers (4-5 oz)

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk (7  oz)

1/2 bag semisweet chocolate chips (6 0z)

1/2 bag mini marshmallows (5-6 oz)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Place butter in an 8x8 baking dish and put baking dish in oven to melt butter.  Meanwhile, leave the graham crackers in their packaging and use a meat tenderizer or rolling pin to smash them into crumbs.  (Be careful not to break open packaging during this process as it will create a mess!).  Once butter has melted, remove baking dish from oven.  Using a fork,stir smashed graham crackers into butter. Press graham/butter mixture to create an even layer.  Open sweetened condensed milk and drizzle half of its contents in an even layer over the graham/butter mixture.  Evenly pour chocolate chips over condensed milk then top chocolate chips with an even layer of mini marshmallows.  Place baking dish back into oven and bake for 25 to 35 minutes until marshmallows are puffed up and lightly browned.  Remove bars from oven and allow to cool for at least 25 minutes but best to cool overnight before using a sharp knife to slice into 16 pieces.  These transport well to the beach and are delightful when kept chilled in a cooler!!