Toasted Coconut Rice Krispie Treats

Easy by The Commodores
Hahaha!  I always get a good laugh when I hear this song!  I have a very particular moment attached to it from my teen years.  I'm riding in the car on my way to the mall and it comes on the radio.  My mom is driving.  I'm riding shotgun.  I start to sing along, naturally.  I loved this song.  My mom is listening quietly - or thinking about what she's going to do later, I don't know, she's just quiet.  But, she is, in fact, listening to me sing.  And suddenly starts chastising me for singing such a song!  She was only listening to parts of the words - namely the chorus - where I'm singing "Yeah, I'm easy!  Easy like Sunday morning!"  She pontificated on my poor judgment to sing a song that would lead young men to believe I was a girl of loose morals!  I should know better than that - putting ideas into their heads!  Haha!  And then when the guttural cry at about 2:47 (my favorite part) takes place - and I do it justice - she is completely exasperated!  I cautiously smile and let her know that she needs to hear the whole song and know that I'm not advertising myself at all!  To my surprise, she gave up the sermon and let me enjoy the rest of the song - and even smiled herself!  Haha!  But I share it today because this recipe is soooo easy!  Like a Sunday morning!  Oooooo!

I think this might be the last of the

Rice Krispie Treat experimenting!

My intention was to do another

flavor combination - 

like Coconut Lime -

which would have been awesome!

And even though, by nature,

Rice Krispie Treats are as easy

as it comes,

I wanted something

even EASIER!

What would happen

if I just let the coconut shine

on its own?

As it turns out,

something pretty

spectacular happens!

Toasting coconut

releases the best parts of

the ingredient!

And those toasted bits 

of tastiness are scattered 

all over with those 

rice krispie bits!

I reinforced the flavor 

by adding some 

Cream of Coconut

to the marshmallow mix

and some coconut flavoring oil

to the melted almond bark on top.

BAM!!

HOME RUN!

The pictures I'm sharing 

are of the last lone treat

that survived.

Nobody could stop the nibbling!

So get toasting some coconut

and sing along with Lionel

about how easy life can be!

Ooooo!

Toasted Coconut Rice Krispie Treats

Makes 12

Printable Recipe Card

5 cups Rice Krispie Cereal

1 1/2 cups coconut, divided (I used desiccated coconut)

3 Tablespoons butter

1 10 oz bag of mini marshmallows

pinch of salt

1/2 cup Cream of Coconut

1/2 package of almond bark, melted

1/2 teaspoon of coconut flavoring oil

1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place all of the coconut on a cookie sheet and spread out evenly.  Place in oven and toast for about 10 - 15 minutes, stirring and checking after five minutes and every two minutes after that until done.  Remove and let cool.

Prepare pan by greasing with butter.  Use a plastic sandwich baggie over your hand to spread it around and save the baggie to use when pressing the finished mixture into the pan.

In a large pot, melt the butter.  Add the mini marshmallows and stir until melted.  Stir in the Cream of Coconut.  You can find this product at the grocery store where they serve cocktail ingredients.  Sprinkle in the salt.  Stir in the cereal and one cup of the toasted coconut.  Mix until well blended and the marshmallow mixture is evenly distributed among the cereal and coconut.

Spread mixture out into the prepared pan and use the baggie over your hand to help press it out even. Set aside.

Melt the almond bark in a microwave-safe bowl for one minute, stirring every 20 seconds, until completely melted.  Stir in the coconut flavoring oil and the coconut oil.  Spread out evenly over the top of the treats and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup toasted coconut.  Let cool so bark sets back up.  Serve!