Fruity Pebbles Stockings

***UPDATE – See this post about our new eating habits. (7/10/11)

I made these several years ago, so I decided to do a tutorial on them. They’d be really easy to make with your kids……if you don’t mind sticky, buttery hands……or sticky, buttery hands for your kids either. I got the idea out of magazine. I’m not sure which magazine it was, but I’ve seen it several times since in several other ones. I wish I could tell you I’m the genius that came up with them, but I’m really just good at following directions. Barry would say differently, but who’s asking him?

To make these, we need marshmallows, Fruity Pebbles, and butter. That’s all! I love simple things, but you’ve heard me say that a million times. See the frosting? Initially I thought I would decorate them using icing……but then I changed my mind. I hate canned icing, so I couldn’t bring myself to use it. I’m still not even sure why I bought this tub. Someone will eat it! I’ll take it to some potluck event and make another poor soul eat it. I didn’t want to mar the beauty of these “treats” by using it. I was going to include these during candy week, but was informed that they are not candy – they are treats. Details, details.

Grab your big Chex Mix bowl. Mine is making a lot of appearances this season. Plus, it’s green so I feel festive when I use it. Melt your butter in it in the microwave. I always do mine at a low heat level, like 3, for 1 ½ minutes. That keeps it from splattering all over my microwave. I can’t stand nasty microwaves. They make me shudder. I’ve been places that have fossils in the microwave. That just makes me want to barf.

When the butter is melted, add the marshmallows and stir them a bit to coat them up with butter. Sorta like they’re going to the tanning bed. We don’t want them to burn. I don’t want to burn or coat myself in butter, so I don’t visit the tanning bed. Stick them in the microwave for 45 seconds so they can start to melt.

They’re not going to be ready after 45 seconds. See? Stir them up and put them back in for another 45 seconds.

After another 45 seconds, they should be melted. If they’re not, try again for a shorter time, stirring after each microwave session. Mine never did get ALL melted, but that’s okay. They were puffy, so I knew I could make them work.

Add the entire box of cereal to the marshmallows…….it’s okay to eat a handful if you need too. They do smell pretty fruity and delicious. FRUIT! It’s health food!

Time to stir. It’s going to take a bit of work to get them all coated, but you can do it. If they’re not all coated with marshmallow, they won’t stick together. Sometimes I get impatient and use my hands. I didn’t do that this time because Annie was watching. I can’t tell her not to play with her food and then play in a big bowl of Fruity Pebbles. That’s just wrong.

When it’s all mixed up, you’ll want to form it with your hands. Get a fairly large sized ball, like so, in your hands and start to form it into a stocking shape. I find it’s easier if I do this on the baking sheet instead of trying to do it in my hands. But, I’m not a potter.

I can’t stand it when the stuff sticks to my hands, so I always coat my hands up with cooking spray. You could use Crisco too, but this was just easier for me to get to. My cabinets are literally covered up with baking ingredients……and this was the first thing I came to. I’ve even spread out to the coffee table in the living room. And yesterday I had things cooling on top of the entertainment center. Make do.

They should look something like this……stockings. CUTE! If you have large feet, you can make them accordingly. Just make them look like socks – or boots. Now that I’m looking at them, they sorta resemble boots.

You’ll want to let them cool on foil lined pans. That way you don’t have something extra to clean up! And you can recycle your foil. All my aluminum goes to my sister’s college food fund. You’re welcome, Jamey.

So, somewhere in the middle of my forming I decided that I’d dip mine in melted chocolate instead of canned icing. Ew. Did I mention canned icing is gross? I grabbed some chocolate almond bark and melted it in the microwave. I could have used white, and that would have been really cute…..but I didn’t have white. Why? They were out at Kroger. Apparently lots of people read the Peppermint Bark post.

Dip the top, toe, and heel part of the stocking in the chocolate. Now it really looks like a sock! Before it just looked like a boot. This really helps. It’s gives it that extra little oomph.

Return the treats to the foil lined pan and let them set up. Almond bark sets up really fast. That’s why I love it….I don’t have time to wait around for chocolate to harden.

And there you have it! A treat that doesn’t stink. They are pretty delicious. How could they not be?