Twinkie Minions & Macaroon Krispie Treats

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Happy Monday, folks!

Remember how I told you I was working on a recipe for a contest? Well, I am entering these Twinkie Minions & Macaroon Krispie Treats in the Creative Recipe Contest hosted by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and Cookies & Cups!

I actually met both of these ladies at BlogHer Food this summer. At the closing party, where I goofily smiled with The Pioneer Woman, I just-as-goofily oogled Kristan’s adorable daughter, Lucy, and awkwardly sputtered, “Oh, I know who you are!” after Shelly introduced herself to me. *facepalm*

But, I was so excited when they announced this contest! I’ve needed a culinary challenge to tackle with creativity and this was the perfect opportunity. Instead of coming up with an entirely original recipe, the goal was to adapt a recipe of theirs and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to capture their blog personalities…and I couldn’t pick just one!

Kristan is all about Twinkies. Decorating Twinkies, using Twinkies in recipes (people, she made a Twinkie Tiramisu!), and, well, just plain eating Twinkies. So, I knew there had to be Twinkies involved and I chose to transform her Mummy Twinkie Pops into minions.

Shelly is all about the Krispie Treats. She has just about every flavor of Krispie Treats imaginable and then comes up with adorable presentation ideas like stuffing ice cream cones with candy and topping them off with Krispie Treats. So, I knew there had to be Krispie Treats involved and I chose to modify her Basic Krispie Treats recipe.

So, I combined the two into a cute (because both of these ladies are the queens of cute desserts!) little scene of Twinkie Minions hanging out on a Macaroon Krispie Treat Minion Isle, like they did in Despicable Me 2.

For the Macaroon Krispie Treats, start by toasting some coconut. In a separate pan, melt marshmallows and butter, then stir in the crispy rice cereal. Let it cool for a few minutes, then mix in the toasted coconut and mini chocolate chips. Normal people would press this into a 13×9 pan and stop there. (They are totally delicious plain!)

But, I’ve never been big on normal. So, I shaped them into an island, frosted part of it, and surrounded it with blue Jello water. Complete with sharks and an octopus.

This is Minion Isle pre-water. I wanted you to be able to see which part I frosted. It also helped to pre-“drill” the holes with lollipop sticks while the treats were still soft, so that I could remove them and easily slide in the minion lollipop sticks later. When I was thinking about flavors I wanted to add to the treats, I knew coconut was a must, because it just felt island-y. And toasted coconut smells (and tastes) fantastic. And the chocolate chips add a little crunch and little pockets of chocolate-y sweetness. Perfection.

For the Twinkies, freeze them on a Silpat, dip ’em in blue candy melts and stick in a lollipop stick. Freeze ’em again, dip the other half in yellow, and very carefully stick chocolate jimmies into the top for hair and place their candy eyes. Then freeze ’em again and use a decorating bottle to add blue overall straps. Freeze again and use a food safe marker to draw on their smiles. That last part if the trickiest, because if you draw over a line you’ve already drawn, it erases your mark. I had to have a few deep-breathing-and-reciting-the-Fruit-of-the-Spirit moments, but the minions ended with smiles, so it was definitely a success!

And then…it all came together. I sprinkled the island with some extra toasted coconut, then sprinkled Runt bananas over the island, because even though I despise bananas, those adorable little minions just love those things.

While I was decorating, I was channeling my inner minion and chanting “Papoi?” and “BEE DOE BEE DOE BEE DOE!” I’m quite sure Boots was thrilled with my performance. So, I sang him “I Swear” in (almost) minion-speak.

Okay, so he wasn’t all that thrilled.

So, there ya go. I’m sure there will be a ton of fabulous entries and I can’t wait to see them all, but here’s hoping at the end of the week I’ll be the owner of a new blue KitchenAid mixer!

*Update – I won the mixer! Twinkie minion party to celebrate!  

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Twinkie Minions on a Macaroon Krispie Treat Island

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Ingredients

For the Twinkie Minions

• Twinkies
• blue candy melts
• yellow candy melts
• chocolate jimmies
• lollipop sticks
• candy eyes

For the Macaroon Rice Krispy Treats

• 1/4 cup butter
• 10 oz bag marshmallows
• 6 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

For the Twinkie Minions

1. Unwrap Twinkies and set onto Silpat (or wax paper). Freeze for about an hour.
2. Melt blue candy melts according to package instructions.
3. Remove Twinkies from freezer and dip between 1/4 and 1/2 of each Twinkie into the melted candy, gently tapping for the excess candy to drip off. Insert a lollipop stick into each one.
4. After they have been dipped, place Twinkies back onto the Silpat (rounded side up) and place into the freezer for 1 hour, until blue candy has set completely.
5. Melt yellow candy melts according to package instructions.
6. Remove Twinkies from freezer and dip the other half of the Twinkie in yellow candy until the Twinkie is completely covered in candy, tapping gently for the excess candy to drip off.
7. Before the yellow candy is set, gently place candy eyes and jimmies for hair.
8. Put back in the freezer until candy has completely hardened.
9. Melt blue candy melts in a decorating bottle, remove Twinkies from freezer, and squeeze on overall straps. Freeze for another 10 minutes or so.
10. Using a food coloring marker, draw on smiles.

For the Macaroon Rice Krispy Treats

1. Put the coconut into a small saucepan.
2. Toast over medium heat, stirring frequently, until coconut is golden brown. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in a large pan over low heat.
4. Add marshmallows and cook, stirring occasionally, until marshmallows are completely melted.
5. Remove pan from heat and stir in cereal.
6. Let cool for 3-5 minutes, then stir in coconut and chocolate chips.
7. Press mixture into a greased 13x9 pan and let cool.

Notes

To make the water, shape the treats into a large mound in the back/middle of the pan. Frost the treats that will be covered by "water" with vanilla frosting. Boil 2 1/2 cups of water and pour it over 4 (3 oz) boxes Berry Blue Jello and stir for 3 minutes. Refrigerate for 45-60 minutes, until just starting to set. Pour into the pan and return to refrigerator for another 2 hours for the Jello to set completely.br]
Macaroon Krispie Treats adapted from Cookies & Cups' [Basic Krispie Treatsbr]
Twinkie Minions adapted from Confessions of A Cookbook Queen's [Mummy Twinkie Pops