So. We recently installed cable television. We had cancelled it in revolt a couple years ago, because we weren’t really watching much and the bill was astronomical! Not worth it, especially when we bought a mac mini with the money we were saving, and Jason set it up so I was still able to watch my morning news (The Today Show) while getting ready each morning.
Recently, though, Quest made promises of (much) higher speed internet and eleventeen hundred channels for a third of the price we were paying before.
Well, twist my arm!
They came out, dug a hole, poured concrete and installed a huge dish in our side yard. I now am reunited with my beloved IFC, Discovery, and weekend reruns of the original 90210. Don’t pretend you don’t know about that.
But seriously – I can now watch Portlandia. I also love the Auction Hunters show, will admit to watching some of the Real Housewives (usually while I am across the room in the kitchen), and I’m excited about The Next Iron Chef – Super Chefs that just started. I love almost all of those people! Wait, Robert Irvine is gone, I love all of those people!
One of my favorites right now? Grimm! Extra fun for us that it is filmed in Portland, this is a great show! For a weenie like me, it is a perfect blend of scary and cheesy – just when you are on the edge of your seat, they do something that makes you give them the side eye. I love it!
I love my Bakers Edge pan. Love it. Do you like edges of bars? You need this pan.
Before last week’s Grimm episode, I made these. A perfect blend of scary and cheesy sweet and salty. Of chewy and crunchy. Of euphoria and bliss. Wait.
They lay down power chords of tasteocity?
Indeed they do. To level eleven.
salted marcona & chocolate rice crispies
vegan, gluten free
makes 20-24 squares
2 tablespoons butter (Earth Balance)
1/2 + 1/4 cup Marcona almond butter
10 ounces marshmallows (Dandies)
5 cups rice crisp cereal
6-9 ounces dark chocolate, melted
In a large saucepan on low heat, melt butter, adding 1/2 cup almond butter and stirring until completely melted. Add marshmallows and stir until almost completely melted (if you like a few ribbons of marshmallow throughout). Remove from heat and add cereal, one cup at a time until incorporated. Press into prepared pan, let cool.
Once the rice crispies are cool and set, ‘frost’ with remaining almond butter. Let set, cut into squares. Melt chocolate (I used Endangered Species Supreme Dark, the one with the chimp on it) and using a spoon or spatula, pour over top of each square. Let cool. Pretend they’ll be around a while and store in an airtight container.
Enjoy with your favorite person and your favorite television show. Repeat as necessary.
Have you watched Grimm? What are your favorite television shows?
Do you like sweet and salty together?
{ 128 comments… read them below or add one }
These look delicious, and I had to pin the photo of the stack!
I could never do without cable TV, even though I probably only watch about 6 hours of TV a week, I have to have it when I want it.
thank you for the pin, Curt!
we don’t watch A LOT of television either, but I like to have it on for background noise while doing other things. I rarely can sit and just watch television, but we definitely have our favorite shows.
Seriously???? You are just teasing me with those. Incredible. I love salty/sweet combos. And rice crispie treats were my favorite treats as a kid.
ah, I wish I could get one to you somehow!
Um me too! It’s a shame you can’t email it right about now
when WILL that technology be available??! I’ve got Jess offering me a million dollars for one!
I LOVE the Baker’s Edge plan! That how I made my s’more brownies! Edge pieces of anything are the best and it makes cutting sticky goodies so much easier.
These bars look awesome – I am addicted to sweet/salty combos.
that’s the reason I used it with these – SO easy to cut and I get a couple finished edges. the Bakers Edge is just a brilliant creation. I LOVE it for brownies.
I think Grimm is pretty decent. It’s no Buffy, but I think it has a ton of potential.
I love sweet and salty too! I haven’t ever put almond butter in my my rice krispies, but I think I am going to have to try it soon!
would you believe I’ve never seen Buffy? now you are making me want to watch it – I know it was very popular…
and almond butter in rice crispies – it’s a must!
O.M.G….these look freaking incredible. For this chick getting hit with the PMS stick like whoa this week, I want to marry these (after eating them, of course). Yum!
oh, I wish I could somehow get one to you, RIGHT NOW!
The chocolate on those bars was captured so perfectly it kind of made me want to cover everything on my office desk with it simply because it looked so pretty. (OK. That was weird, but it was meant as a compliment.)
Anyway, I need TV for my sports, but I’m also addicted to food reality shows like The Next Iron Chef (go Anne Burrell!) and Chopped. Then there’s Modern Family and Parks and Rec…While I don’t watch a lot of TV, I love what I watch!
that is awesome, and made me laugh. I am now picturing it – with you sitting there just looking at it proudly.
yep – we watch the same shows – Modern Family is our favorite, and Parks and Rec is a good one too. We just started getting into How I Met Your Mother – ever seen that one? I’m rooting for Anne Burrell too – I really hope she gets it, she’s got a background there since she used to be Mario’s sous when he was on Iron Chef! it’s a natural progression. I think pretty much all of them would be fun to watch, and this is going to be a great competition – I loved when he said “he lost because his hummus was too thick!!” yep, that’s crazy good competition if it comes down to that!
Morning ya’ll…Those look so yummy..great pictures….and Grimm…oh yah…we watch it..even when you know it’s coming..the cool face changing..Ha…..it still creeps me
yes, the face changing! like the creepy ladies from Devil’s Advocate… I still cannot see that one actress without seeing her creepy fangy face!
love to you all – Basil sends wags!
I love Dandies AND they’re on sale right now(although they’re still a ridiculous price). I’ll probably pick up a bag and make it last a year again like I did the last bag.
I know, pretty ridiculous, but sometimes you just HAVE to have the marshmallowy goodness! is this sale on vegan essentials or something?
salty and sweet trail mix… is like crack. i can NOT stop once i start. chocolate with salty cashews and almonds? theres no stopping me
I agree – I often make a bowl of exactly that – cashews, almonds and some chocolate chips – for a snack. perfect!
Love the salty/sweet combo!
We cancelled our cable almost a year ago for the exact same reason. I hate Cablevision (our local provider) so much, I literally turn red thinking about them. Unfortunately, Fios isn’t available in our area and anything satellite isn’t fast enough for my husband’s gaming (<–super dork.) I've gotten used to Netflix though and honestly can't complain when comparing $7.99/mo to $130/mo. cable providers are all evil, I wish there was more competition in that business to keep them fair!
exactly! we were paying even more, it’s just ridiculous! cable is like the insurance business of the entertainment world!
if this wasn’t such a great deal (still watching for an increase in the bill…) we’d still be doing the netflix/hulu thing, which was really pretty good!
Pretend they’ll be around a while….indeed!
I love that you caught that…
Talk about a fancy rice krispie treat– yum!!
yep – a grown up version of the classic!
I love seeing Portlandia get a shout out, what an awesomely bizarre show. And sweet and salty is the best combination, I can’t resist a good sweet and salty trail mix (with chocolate, of course). Let me know if you get around to trying my French onion soup
YES – I love Portlandia, just hilarious! I guess I’m among the Portlanders that is not easily offended, or can laugh at myself! (many of the quirks of the show? yes, real Portland…) I will definitely let you know when I make the soup – it looks SO good!
Oh. MY. GOD!!!! These look/sound amazing.
thank you, Lacey!
marcona almonds are my FAVORITE!!! i bet these are incredible.
I love marconas. if you like sweet and salty, yep, they’re pretty incredible. I like to add just enough cereal to make them really gooey, too. YUM.
Portlandia! The Next Iron Chef! It’s like we’re TV samies! Actually, I only have television because it’s included in my rent – but those are two of my favorite shows.
Also on the list: Grey’s Anatomy; Dinner Party Wars; Chopped; The Big Bang Theory; The Amazing Race; The Walking Dead.
I can’t wait for Portlandia to start up again… Chopped is good, and I’ve seen the Amazing Race (many seasons ago…) but have never tried any of the others … Dinner Party Wars?? when is THAT on, and what channel?? never heard of it but I MUST watch!!
Dinner Party Wars! I don’t know if yall have the station in the states but it’s on The Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.ca/ontv/shows/Dinner-Party-Wars/show.html?titleid=255588). It’s kind of awesome!
woo HOO – thanks, Kristy Lynn! although, it looks like it’s not here (which would explain why I didn’t know about it??) that is interesting – I didn’t realize there were whole SHOWS that others have! hmm… I’m going to try to find it somehow, though.
I loved the original 90210!!! These look heavenly. We have a birthday slumber party this weekend and these might be the perfect accompaniment to the movie!!
isn’t it fun? I’ve most likely seen every episode now, but it’s fun to have on if I am around on the weekend – I’ll be doing something else and have it on in the background, you know? I’ve even caught Jason watching…
these would be GREAT for a slumber party!! 
These look like amazing dessert treats that should be sold in a bakery! Fabulous!!!
I heard about Grimm, is it great?! I am interested in watching it!
Have a great day! <3 xo
thank you, Katie!
perhaps one day… Grimm is good – it’s on Friday evenings, you should watch! happy Wednesday!
so if jason is gone, who’s gonna help you eat those? Darn, wish i was your neighbor even more now!!
ha – oh, these are LONG gone!
(I actually wrapped some up and took them to the hair salon…) still wish you were my neighbor, though. I’d make these JUST for you!
so… you know… keep that in mind.
Sweet and salty is the cat’s pajamas!
I LOVE The Real Housewives! So does my hubby- though he won’t admit to it. He can tell you anything that’s going on in Beverly Hills or Jersey.
the cat’s pajama, indeed!!
that is HILARIOUS – Jason “complains” that The Housewives are awful and he puts on his headphones… then I’ll look over at him and he’ll have the headphones up above his ears and he is watching!! 
these look awesome and sounds like you’re enjoying tv again..glad you’re catching up on things.
that baker’s edge pan…never heard of it….do you have details about it? I’m intrigued!
hi Averie! the pan is awesome – it is designed so every bar has edges – here is the info –> Bakers Edge < -- they also have a larger pan for lasagna and bigger things, but I have made lasagna in this small pan and it works just fine! you make so many bars - I'm surprised you hadn't seen this! :D
YUMM!! I made a unique version of vegan rice krispies a few weeks ago but I want to give yours a try! There’s always room for more rice krispies
oh, Char, I agree – always room for more rice crispies! I love to make fun flavors (the orange cardamom from this summer – oh SO good!). what did you make?
I made CCK’s recipe {http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/09/18/chocolate-rice-crispy-treats/} but I used equal parts macadamia & cashew butter in place of PB, and I added a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
SO YUMMY!! I only had like, 4 from the pan because my boyfriend scarfed the rest in less than two days, haha. That’s how I know when a recipe is really good 
ha – yes, that’s always a good indicator here, too.
This looks so drool-worthy! And I want that pan, Kristina
hi Kiran – thank you! the pan is SO great – I love this thing! I’ve made lasagna in it (they have a larger pan specifically FOR lasagna, but this one works fine for me…).
I have to admit, I don’t bookmark recipes often. But this one is bookmarked!
well, I am flattered! I hope you make it and LOVE it. they really are kinda sinful.
First let’s talk about 90210 and how my *boyfriend* perks up anytime it is on. Yes, I even catch him watching it as I walk into the room. What’s up with *that*? Secondly, loving the dark chocolate on the top–it’s perfectly set and I wanna kiss it. Thirdly, and this is from your previous post about karaoke, of course you would mention “Bust a Move”–my *go-to* song if I’m singing. Nothing better than a blonde-haired girl rapping
haha.
AAAAHHHH, geez, you caught my subtle hint! I love you! (and I love that you sing that song – blonde? even better!!) and 90210 – that is awesome. I call Jason out on it and he just laughs. He knows those people. He sees a hipster looking dude and he will call them “Dylan” – so you KNOW he pays attention, because how much was Dylan even on??!
Just so you know, I read your posts and think that we were twins separated at birth. You say things that I think/say/feel
I even find myself shouting, “YES!!! I do that too!” hehe. And about Dylan, man, even the dudes want to be like him–how can they not?! With that rugged yet smooth look, continual “Ouch, my eyes really hurt so I have to squint,” and high forehead, we all wanted him! haha
aw, I love this!
so awesome. haa haa – “my eyes really hurt so I have to squint” – I am totally picturing that Right Now, and it is a spot on description of Dylan!! 
I want one of these so badly right now! They look like the perfect combination of textures and flavors! YUM!
We don’t have cable anymore. We turned it off when we left this summer and haven’t turned it back on. Most people are shocked by this. We have internet and Netflix, so we have most tv shows for when we want to watch something. I haven’t seen Grimm. I don’t really have a favorite show right now, but I did catch Sister Wives on Netflix and I am embarrassed to say how much I was hooked on the craziness of this family. We love Modern Family too and catch that on Hulu.
they really are just perfect, if I can say.
I love marconas, and the salty with the chocolate and the gooey – oh my!
I’m not really shocked by your lack of television – I see you guys as more than sitting in front of a squawk box…
we were actually fine without it too – watching our favorite television shows online and movies from netflix or online. I haven’t seen Sister Wives?? I can’t imagine… Modern Family is one of our favorites – we always laugh out loud and appreciate the humor. 
Yes, yes, yes. You are doing it for me with these guys. I would throw in a few peanuts for crunch and maybe some butterscotch chips and caramel. Where am I going with this?! You’ve inspired me. MMM!
ah, now you’re talkin’ my friend!! more crunch would definitely be good with these – all I had was crunch from the chocolate on top – Mmm. and caramel is NEVER a bad thing.
I looooooooooooove sweet and salty. That picture has me drooling all over my desk, legit. You are so creative in the kitchen, I wish I was good at that stuff! I always end up with the tried and true recipes and meals and stuff that I always make. But then I see what you create all the time, and well – I hang my head in shame. I would pay a million dollars to have one of these babies right now with a cup of coffee on the side.
a million dollars?! dang, where’s my teleporter? beam me, Scotty!
and these are so easy – actually many of my recipes are – so that’s what I’m here for, I lay it out for y’all to play it out… 
I tried SO hard to read this post, but I couldn’t stop staring at the photos and scrolling down to the recipe to make a list and go to the store ASAP (I’m out of crispy rice cereal and don’t keep marshmallows on hand…although I’m beginning to think I should.) DROOL. xo
it’s okay, Dorry, I forgive you – all I talked about was television – you didn’t miss much. but YES – these! I know you love marconas, so… yes. I hope you are at the store now…
I adore salty & sweet treats
Now – let’s chat about Grimm. It took two episodes but I’m hooked. I also liked Once Upon A Time – two similar groups of characters – two totally different shows and concepts!
I am totally hooked too – to these treats AND to Grimm! I may have to look into Once Upon A Time… is it still on or would I be able to find it on hulu or something?
We must be sisters! Besides the fact that your bars look amazing (and you made Marcona almond butter!), but we too did away with our cable and replaced it with a Mac mini. I am still waiting patiently though for a way-too-amazing offer to pass up, so I too can be watching Food Network and IFC.
Fortunately I can at least watch Grimm, and maybe soon with the Marcona Almond Butter Crispy Bars; )
isn’t the mac mini a perfect setup? Jason also made it so I can log on from my laptop and control it from there – a fun addition.
we had some Quest guy just show up at our door, really weird, but it was totally legit. for Portlanders without cable, IFC should be accessible so we can all watch Portlandia, right? also, these bars go PERFECTLY with Grimm. makes it less grimm? 
Cheers!
I’m a recent convert back to rice krispie treats. The sweet and salty combo is calling my name here. YUM.
these would be a great welcome back to the treat world…
hi hi!!! this is chelsea, the one who does jasons hair that you always send wonderful treats for!!!! those were so yummy!!! all the girls loved them!! thank you thank you thank you!!!! i love your blog btw. oh, also we were having a 6 year shop party and really wanted you to come but i was sadly informed that you two will be playing in the sun… have fun!! come to our next event though
hi Chelsea!! I’m happy you enjoyed them, I’ll continue to send them in
wish we could be there for the party, but… yeah… we’ll be having our own! you have them often enough I’m sure we will get to one soon enough – and I’ll come visit with Jason sometime too. Cheers, thanks for visiting and saying hello! Kristina
I am so in love with macron almonds! Great recipe
thank you, Marla! I love marconas too – amazing flavor! Cheers, happy Thursday!
These look amazing ! And I NEED that pan!
We just got direct tv after not having cable for 3 years—I love it (and yes, I’ve watched 90210 re-runs, along with Little House on the Prairie…shhh! don’t tell!).
I’m a little overwhelmed with all the channels, and have been still watching my fave shows on hulu on my laptop — I need to work on that!
aw, Little House! I need to find that one…
and yeah, it is WEIRD, it feels like so many MORE channels than before. maybe I just don’t care as much? it is fun to scroll through and find the crazy while I’m on my treadmill at home…
and P.S… (shhh…) I’m doing a giveaway of the pan soon…)
These. Look. Wonderful. If I make these, there’s no way they are going to even make it into the pan!
haa, Sally! I know, I’m sure I ate at least two bars’ worth before they got in the pan… then the two bars worth of chocolate as I was covering them!
I love sweet and salty together! These bars look amazing. I may have to make them after I finish of the pan of blondies currently residing in my fridge. As for TV, I’ve not seen Grimm yet but I saw a preview for it the other night. It definitely looks interesting! My current TV loves include Glee and Modern Family. And you know I’m addicted to reruns of 90210. But we’ve already covered that.
yes, haa haa, 90210!
I haven’t watched Glee (GASP!) but we love Modern Family! you should try to find Grimm reruns and catch up (only two episodes so far, but it covers a lot!) – it’s good!
I’m scared to get cable, too tempting! And speaking of tempting… you are such a meanie butt to be tempting me with these amazing bars that I can’t reach out and take through the computer screen!
I know, I know… perhaps I’ll have to make some while we are in COLORADO!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!
I have fallen in love with these squares and that pan! The edges are the best part of everything
yes they are! um, a heads up! I’m giving one of these pans away soon…
Reading this sort of made me want to get rid of cable, just so that I can be as thrilled as you are to have it back! I think I take it for granted, ya know?
These look amazing – cereal bars are my weakness. I eat like 3 or 4 before I feel like I ate one!
you should do it – and if you do, you will almost IMMEDIATELY get mail from them, asking you back, giving you a great deal. DO IT !
yeah – these bars especially … I could eat several at once…
MARCONA ALMOND BUTTER!!???!!??!?!?! Holy crap, I’m going to make some of that! These look amazing.
We canceled our dish service much as you did- in revolt plus we rarely watched anything. Sillyness. BUT in the desert we get a bunch of PBS channels and one of them is a world channel. OMG I LOVE IT! In the past week, I’ve watched news programs from: India, Singapore, UK (BBC), Japan (my fave!), Al Jazeera (great news programs!), Israel, Germany, France. And Rick Steves has his cheesy travel program on there as well. I know I’m forgetting some, but now I know where all my time is going! :-0
PS plus I love the local news where the reporters are all about 20 yrs old. “Elderly lady mugged crossing East Palm Canyon!!”
oh my!! #Shouldn’tBeLaughing
seriously – make the marcona. SO good. then please tell me you’ll pair some of it with chocolate. Mmm. World channel – now that we have eleventeen hundred of them I’ll have to look for that. I always say when you want to hear what’s REALLY going on in THIS country, watch the International news.
You are sooo right. Plus I find that even though I’m pretty good with sciency stuff, I suck at understanding politics and foreign affairs. To hear it explained from a foreign source, it just seems to make much more sense! And I’m learning to count to ten in Japanese! woo! haha
ooh, you will have to teach me Japanese counting! you know, IN COLORADO!!
Ohhh, it’s highly unlikely that I’ll be there. Right now we’re supposed to be out of town for about a month right around that time
If it changes however, I’ll be there!
yum yum. it has been years since I have enjoyed a rice crispy!!
and I have always wanted that pan! what a fun pan to bake with I bet
*hey girls* shhhhh, guess what?? I’m giving one of these pans away soon…
and I KNOW – before this summer and my orange cardamom rice crispies, I had not had one in a LONG time… I seem to have set something off and now I cannot quit…
oh really?!?! awesome
OMG – are those real? They look amazing!
Delicious!
yes, Jamie they ARE real!
um, well, they WERE real… 
I am making these for a birthday party for tomorrow, they are setting right now but I can’t keep my hands out of them, LOL! I may have to make a new batch.
ha – did you end up making more? I am not surprised at all…
delicious, we made these today and they are almost all gone already! the marcona almonds were a first for me, and truly magical. thank you for this! -Gwen
I understand that – ours did not last long enough either! glad you like the marconas – I remember when I first found them, I was amazed!
Oh, these look very good!
that they were… SO good!
oh good lord.
yep. I know.
That Edge Pan… what a great idea!
hi Susan, isn’t that a GREAT idea??!! I thought it was genius – and I use this thing all the time. (hint – I’m giving one away soon…)
New fan via La Fuji Mama – these looks incredible!! I was just looking at one of those pans the other day and thinking “I really should buy this”. Thanks for the push. Is it ok if I tell the Hubs it was your fault?
Kidding. Great recipe!!
Heather
hi Heather!! ha, you can totally blame the pan on me.
IN FACT, I am giving one away soon… so if you were to win, I suppose you really COULD blame me. 
thank you for saying hello, I will come visit you later!
I have plenty of guilty pleasures… but I’m not going to share them here (too embarassed
). These treats look marvelous!
haa – I totally understand, Brian!
these were pretty dang good!
I’m finally catching up on my RSS reader and see that my last post was for something very similar (puffed quinoa peanut butter balls, some dipped in chocolate). Great minds!
I tried making them with brown puffed rice, but I found them to be really soggy so I’ve switched to quinoa. Are you using white or brown puffed rice here?
I know, I’ve had the (brown) rice puffs get soggy too, but with these they were just chewy, not soggy. I used brown rice, and knew I was taking a gamble, but they were not soggy!
I have such a big bag (ALMOST all gone!) and I probably wouldn’t buy it again because it’s not very versatile… if I were making these again, yes! 
simply sinful! your photos are stunning and…… these…… I have no words. okay, I have one more, YUM!!!
ha, thanks, Pat!
they left me speechless too…
ah yes the classic combo of you got your chocolate in my peanut butter!! I have just dated myself with that comment, do you know it?? these look amazing!
WOW these look great!
yum. brilliant with the marcona!
found you with the feature on Earth Balance site – this recipe is on there. these look so good, and many of your recipes here do too.
thank you Orie, happy you found us.
wow, gorgeous pics, looks amazing
DMW
Holy crap, that looks ridiculously good!! I am glad you got your beloved shows back! I wouldn’t know what I’d do without Chopped haha.
oh, NO!!! I thought you would! boo. well, all the more reason for me to make a trip down there sometime…
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