Vegan Krispy Treats (or How to Salvage Failed Homemade Marshmallows) And Yet Another Recap of EWR13

 

I tried to make vegan marshmallows, but I didn’t want the effort to turn into a science project. I wanted it to be simple. I didn’t want to coat my entire kitchen in gums and powdered sugar.  I wasn’t even going to post this, but I decided that occasionally (very occasionally, mind you) I would share with you the odd failure. Because I don’t want you to think it’s you. Sometimes, it’s me. This is not one of the lessons I learned at the 2013 Eat Write Retreat food bloggers conference, but just so you know that I’m not perfect. Ha!  A little joke there.

The whole thing started with the swag bags Mike and I got when we checked in at the 2013 Eat Write Retreat conference in Philadelphia.  The bags were filled with all kinds of wonderful things from conference sponsors such as Calphalon, OXO, Safest Choice Eggs, Attune Foods, and much more.  In fact, from previous experience, we drove from Miami to Philadelphia so we could bring an empty trunk with us (which, by the way, still didn’t hold everything we brought home with us. You’d think we’d done a “smash & grab” at a kitchen store! Which we didn’t. I swear.)

The nice folks at Attune Foods even stuffed full-sized boxes of their rice cereal into those bags.

Which gave me the idea of making krispy treats. But first, I had to make the marshmallows. After all, I wanted them to be vegan (not because I’m vegetarian or anything, but I do keep kosher in my home, and do you know where gelatin comes from? Ick.)  So I tried substituting vegan gelatin. It does exist, and I’ve had some success using it before in things like my Halloween “jello” shots. I had every expectation it would work.

I tried, people. I really did. I measured.

I cooked it to the perfect temperature. I beat it for 3 times the amount of time they tell you to!

I did it twice.

Turning lemons into lemonade, etc. etc. (Monica Bhide would be so upset at my using all these clichés – she told us to throw them all out. Well, oopsie!), I thought that since the goop is very sticky, and I’d have to melt the damn marshmallows down with butter anyway, why not just melt some vegan butter/margarine, mix it into the goop, then add the cereal?

While the end product is slightly softer than the traditional version, these turned out really good!  So, knowing what you know now, if you’d still like to make vegan krispy treats for yourself, you can!

 Vegan Krispy Treats

Ingredients:

• 2 packages vegan gelatin (available at natural foods markets and kosher grocery stores)
• 3/4 cup cold water – divided
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 Tbs. vegan margarine or butter substitute
• 6 cups Erewhon Honey Rice Twice cereal

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/4 cup of the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Using a candy thermometer or instant read thermometer, continue boiling until the liquid reaches 244º F (or hardball stage on a candy thermometer).

In a small microwave-safe bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together the vegan gelatin with 1/2 cup of the cold water.  Microwave it on high for 1 minute, and pour into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment.  Turn the mixer on to the lowest setting. Add the boiling hot sugar mixture slowly to the gelatin, with the mixer running.  Mix for 5 minutes.  Turn the mixer up to its medium-high setting and continue beating for another 5 minutes.  Now, turn the mixer up to its highest setting and beat for another 5 minutes.

Melt the vegan margarine or butter substitute (use the saucepan you boiled the sugar in – why dirty something else?) and add to the mixer bowl. Mix on medium until it’s completely incorporated. Turning the mixer down to it’s lowest setting again, add the cereal, one cup at a time.

Prepare an 8″x 8″ baking pan by either greasing or spraying with cooking spray.  Add the cereal mixture and press it into the pan firmly.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours before cutting into squares and serving.  You can also shape handsful of the cereal mixture into balls or other fun shapes!

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I don’t want to give you the impression that EWR13 was all about the swag. The intimate weekend was filled with sessions on food writing, SEO and Google Analytics, we learned about water from Brona Cosgrave (representing Gerolsteiner) and Deanna Segrave-Daly, mushrooms (sponsored by The Mushroom Channel), we learned about the nutritional benefits of potatoes (and made some yummy potato kale pizzas!) courtesy of U.S. Potatoes, and so much more! In fact, I imagine references to this year’s Eat Write Retreat will pop up in more posts to come. And not just by me – check out some of the posts written by other attendees!