• Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Archives
  • Privacy Policy
  • February 23, 2019

Irish American Mom

Celebrating Our Irish Heritage Together

  • Irish Cooking
    • A Taste of Ireland
    • Recipe Index
    • Bread, Muffins, Pancakes And Scones
    • Drinks And Cocktails
    • Favorite American Recipes
    • Irish Appetizers And Party Food
    • Irish Breakfast
    • Irish Cakes, Cookies And Desserts
    • All Recipes
    • Irish Main Dishes
    • Irish Side Dishes
    • Irish Soups And Stews
    • Reader Recipes
    • Irish American Mom’s Pancake Roundup
  • Irish Culture
    • Blessings
    • Irish Books
    • Irish Crafts
    • Irish Expressions
    • Irish Life
    • Irish Movies
    • Irish Music
    • Irish Poetry
    • Irish Superstitions
    • Irish Television
    • The Irish Language or Gaelic
    • Symbols Of Ireland
    • The Irish Psyche
    • The Spud Saga
    • What I Miss About Ireland
    • Wise Old Words
  • Visiting Ireland
    • Ireland – County By County
    • Land and Culture
    • Why Tourists Love Ireland
  • Immigrant Tales
    • Stories of our Ancestors
    • Stories from the Present
    • Genealogy Resources
  • Ramblings
    • My American Journey
    • Why I Love America
    • Blogging
    • Holidays
    • America the Beautiful
  • Giveaways
    • Giveaways
    • Gifts
  • Buying Irish Food

Halloween Chocolate Rice Krispie Spiders

October 29, 2018 by Irish American Mom Leave a Comment

Chocolate Rice Krispie Spiders are easy-to-make, no-bake treats, perfect for Halloween. 

If you’re planning a get together to celebrate Halloween, why not make an edible chocolate spider – the perfect center piece for any festive Halloween table.

You can make a simple chocolate spider, or get creative and decorate your spider’s back.

In Ireland, rice krispie buns are a favorite childhood treat.

These are simple cakes made with melted chocolate and rice cereal.

I started thinking about how easy these Irish birthday party treats are to make, and thought why not use this simple recipe to create something special for Halloween.

M&M’s make great eyes.

I got carried away and gave this spider three eyes. Why not have a little fun?

Or specialty edible, candy eyes are perfect for spiders that seem to be watching you from the plate.

I use Cadburys Chocolate Fingers to create hinged spider legs.

Legal Notice: The links below for Chocolate Fingers are affiliate links, which means I will earn a commission should you choose to make a purchase through one of these links.

Chocolate finger biscuits can be purchased in the United States in Walmart, or Meijers grocery stores. They’re also available from World Market, or can be purchased online from Amazon or Food Ireland.

Chocolate fingers were first created way back in 1897 and are still a favorite in Ireland and England to this very day. They’re wonderful for cake decorating.

If you can’t find chocolate fingers then you could use Kit Kat sticks as an alternative.

And so, let’s get started with a little tutorial on how to make Chocolate Rice Krispie Spiders.

 

Ingredients For Chocolate Rice Krispie Spiders:

 

4 cups of rice cereal
8 ounces of chocolate chips to make the spider bodies
4 ounces of chocolate chips for decorating
4 candy eyes or M&M’s for eyes
18 chocolate fingers
M&M’s or Irish Smarties for decorating (optional)

I used a small dessert bowl to create the spider’s body and an ice cream scoop for the head. These are lined with saran wrap so that the chocolate covered cereal won’t stick to the sides as it sets.

The amount of cereal and chocolate required depends on the size of the bowls and scoops that you use.

You can figure out the amount of cereal you need for one spider by filling the bowl you are going to use for the body with rice cereal, plus one ice cream scoop of cereal for the head. Then measure the total cereal using cup measurements.

Work out how much chocolate you will need by using this ratio:

1 cup of rice cereal to 2 ounces of chocolate chips.

If you’re going to make two spiders, then measure the amount of rice cereal required to fill two of your bowls, plus two ice cream scoops.  If you are unsure about your maths, err on the side of too much chocolate, rather than too little chocolate.

Once you know the amount of chocolate and rice cereal you need, then you’re ready to start creating your spiders.

Melt the chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of boiled water, or bain marie.

Pour the melted chocolate over the rice cereal in a large bowl.

Protect your fingers with oven gloves as you handle the hot bowl of melted chocolate.

Use a spatula to scrape all the melted chocolate out of the bowl.
Use a spatula to mix the melted chocolate and rice cereal together.

Be gentle as you combine the ingredients. If you stir too violently the rice cereal will crumble and your spiders will not have cereal air pockets.

You need to blend the chocolate and cereal thoroughly to ensure all of the rice krispies are fully coated in chocolate. Scoop down into the bottom of the bowl to mix the cereal hiding way down there.

Fill the saran wrap covered bowls and scoops with the chocolate covered rice crispie cereal, keeping the upper surface flat.

Cover with saran wrap and allow to cool completely to set.

Prepare the legs by cutting the curved ends off the weight bearing sides of 16 chocolate fingers on a slightly inward diagonal.  

This means both ends of the outer leg limbs need to be cut and one side of the inner limb.

Melt the additional chocolate over a bain marie. Spread some melted chocolate on a plate underneath the body and head of the spider to help hold it in place.

Dip the weight bearing ends of the chocolate fingers in melted chocolate to help stabilize them after you place them in a hinged position on the two sides of the spider’s body. 

Eight legs are required for each spider.

Cut the last two chocolate fingers in two and use them to make two pincers for each spider’s head.

You can use additional M&M’s, or Smarties if you’re in Ireland, to decorate your spider’s back.  Just use the melted chocolate to hold the decorative candy in place.

And that’s how simple these edible spiders are to make.

If you would like the printable version of this recipe, here it is…

Print
Yum
Halloween Chocolate Rice Krispie Spiders

Prep Time: 2 hours

Yield: 2 spiders

Halloween Chocolate Rice Krispie Spiders

Edible chocolate rice cereal spiders are perfect sweet treats for Halloween celebrations and make cute, spooky center pieces for any Halloween festive table.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups of rice cereal
  • 8 ounces of chocolate chips to make the spider bodies
  • 4 ounces of chocolate chips for decorating
  • 4 candy eyes or M&M’s for eyes
  • 18 chocolate fingers
  • M&M’s for decorating (optional)

Instructions

  1. Line two small dessert bowls and two ice cream scoops with plastic saran wrap, leaving extra plastic wrap for covering over the edges.
  2. Melt the chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of boiled water, or bain marie.
  3. Pour the melted chocolate over the rice cereal in a large bowl.
  4. Use a spatula to mix the melted chocolate and rice cereal together.
  5. Fill the saran wrap covered bowls and scoops with the chocolate covered rice crispie cereal.
  6. Cover with saran wrap and allow to cool completely to set.
  7. Prepare the legs by cutting the curved ends off the weight bearing sides of the chocolate fingers on a slight inward diagonal. This means both ends of the outer leg limbs need to be cut and one side of the inner leg limb.
  8. Melt the additional chocolate over a bain marie.
  9. Spread some melted chocolate on a plate underneath the body and head of the spider to help hold it in place.
  10. Dip the weight bearing ends of the chocolate fingers in melted chocolate to help stabilize them after you place them in a hinged position on the two sides of the spider’s body. Place four legs on each side of a spider's body.
  11. Use melted chocolate to fix the candy eyes in place.
  12. Cut the last chocolate fingers in two and make two pincers for each spider’s head.
  13. If desired decorate the spider's back using melted chocolate and candy.
  14. Allow to cool completely to set before serving.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by Yummly Rich Recipes
0.1
https://www.irishamericanmom.com/halloween-chocolate-rice-krispie-spiders/

Happy Halloween to all.

Slán agus beannacht,
(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Here are some other Halloween posts, with an Irish twist, which you might enjoy.


Top Ten Reasons Why I Love Halloween In America

Colcannon – A Traditional Irish Halloween Dish

www.vintagerio.com

Irish Halloween Superstitions Foretelling Romance, Love and Marriage

Filed Under: All Recipes, Cooking, Irish Cakes, Cookies And Desserts Tagged With: Children's Treats, Chocolate Desserts, Halloween recipes, halloween treat, Kid Friendly Food, Rice Krispie Buns, Rice Krispie Recipe

Irish Rice Krispie Buns

October 29, 2018 by Irish American Mom Leave a Comment

Rice Krispie Buns are part of every Irish childhood.  These little chocolate crispie treats are the centerpieces of Irish birthday parties, and a staple at school fund raising cake sales.  They’re easy-to-make, no-bake Irish children’s favorites.

Now when I first moved stateside I was surprised to discover American Rice Krispie Treats are something entirely different.

The American variety is an extremely sweet, sticky, marshmallow and rice cereal square. Not a morsel of chocolate to be found.

In Ireland, America’s beloved Rice Krispie Treats are now available to be purchased as ‘Squares Bars’ made by Kelloggs. But they’ll never replace our Irish Rice Krispie Buns.

These are a simple, but delicious mixture of melted chocolate and rice cereal, shaped in a muffin pan and given the title ‘bun.’  No batter or dough required for these famous buns.

Check out how to make them in this short video.  You’ll also find the printable recipe at the end of this post.


Rice Krispie Buns could not be easier to make. Melted chocolate mixed with rice cereal, that’s all that is required, and if you want to make them a little bit fancy, you can add a candy on top. Milk chocolate rather than dark chocolate is usually chosen, especially for children.

When I was a little girl in Dublin in the 1970’s there were no chocolate chips to be bought. Slabs of cooking chocoate were sold in supermarkets. Or if you were really posh, you could melt bars of dairy milk chocolate.

Times have changed in Ireland and chocolate chips are easily found in grocery stores. They’re sold in 4 ounce bags not the larger bags sold in America.

The key to good rice krispie buns is getting the ratio of chocolate to cereal correct. Too little chocolate and the rice krispies will shine through, yielding a light colored bun.

Here is the ratio I like:

2 cups of rice cereal to 4 ounces of chocolate chips.

That translates to 6 cups of rice cereal for an 11.9 ounce bag of chocolate chips, as sold in America. Now that will yield around 36 rice krispie buns.

I usually use 4 cups of cereal to 8 ounces of chocolate or roughly 2/3’s of a bag of chocolate chips to make about 24 buns.

I don’t bother weighing the chocolate chips but eyeball two-thirds of a bag. You can’t go wrong with a little extra chocolate.

Place muffin case liners in two trays.

You don’t necessarily need to use a muffin tray and can simply fill the liners with the mixture.  However, I find the metal tray helps the buns to maintain their shape as they harden and become firm.

Melt the chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of boiled water, otherwise known as a bain marie.

Pour the melted chocolate over the rice cereal in a large bowl.

Protect your fingers with oven gloves as you handle the hot bowl of melted chocolate.

Use a spatula to scrape all the melted chocolate out of the bowl.

Use a spatula to mix the melted chocolate and rice cereal together.

Be gentle as you combine the ingredients. If you stir too violently the rice cereal will crumble and your buns will lack their distinctive cereal air pockets.

You need to blend the chocolate and cereal thoroughly to ensure all of the rice krispies are fully coated in chocolate. Scoop down into the bottom of the bowl to mix the cereal hiding way down there.

Spoon the mixture into the lined muffin cases.

The number of buns yielded by this recipe depends on how much you fill each muffin compartment.

Top each bun with a Smartie, if you’re in Ireland, or an M&M if you’re in America.

Set the buns aside to cool and allow the chocolate to harden again.

And that’s all there is to it.  Ireland’s favorite children’s treat are beyond easy to make, but will never lose their appeal.

Here’s the printable recipe:

Print
Yum
Irish Rice Krispie Buns

Irish Rice Krispie Buns

Ingredients

  • 4 cups of rice cereal
  • 8 ounces of milk chocolate chips
  • 24 coated chocolate candies like M&M's.

Instructions

  1. Place muffin case liners in two trays.
  2. Melt the chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of boiled water, or bain marie.
  3. Pour the melted chocolate over the rice cereal in a large bowl.
  4. Use a spatula to mix the melted chocolate and rice cereal together to fully coat the cereal in chocolate.
  5. Spoon the mixture into the lined muffin cases.
  6. Top each bun with a candy.
  7. Set the buns aside to cool completely before serving.
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by Yummly Rich Recipes
0.1
https://www.irishamericanmom.com/irish-rice-krispie-buns/

 

When some Irish mother’s hear there is a cake sale or bake sale at their child’s school they slave for hours over a hot stove baking their finest confectioneries.

Little do they know, the treats that sell out first and are in highest demand are these no-fuss, easy peasy rice krispie buns.

What’s a cake sale without rice krispie buns.

At Halloween I love to get creative and I use this basic Irish rice krispie bun recipe to create chocolate spiders. These make a lovely center piece for Halloween get togethers. Here’s how I make my Chocolate Rice Krispie Spiders for Halloween.

For those of you who were born in Ireland, I hope this post brought back happy memories of childhood birthday parties, and for all my Irish American readers I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial about Irish Rice Krispie Treats.

 

Slán agus beannacht,
(Goodbye and blessings)

 

Irish American Mom

Filed Under: A Taste of Ireland, All Recipes, Cooking Tagged With: An Irish Childhood, Bake Sale, Birthday Party, Buns, Cake Sale, Children's Treats, Chocolate, Easy Irish Recipes, Favorite Irish Food, Irish Treats, Melted Chocolate, Rice Krispie Buns, Sweet Treats

Search My Site

A Warm Welcome From Mom

I believe it’s never too late to explore your Irish cultural heritage and celebrate your ancestors’ spiritual legacy. Read More About The Irish American Mom Community

My Latest Videos

Mom’s Recipes Are Featured On:

Mom’s Recipes and Ramblings Are Featured On Irish Central

Thanks For Visiting

Advertising
Comment Policy
Disclaimer
Disclosure
Privacy Policy
Contact
FAQ's
Sitemap

 

© Copyright 2011-2018, Irish American Mom.

All Rights Reserved.

Previously Featured On Irish American Mom

https://www.irishamericanmom.com/2016/09/05/irish-words-of-wisdom-for-labor-day-the-importance-of-hard-work/
https://www.irishamericanmom.com/2016/06/04/the-triads-of-ireland/
https://www.irishamericanmom.com/2014/08/09/beans-on-toast-an-easy-lunchtime-staple-for-irish-moms
https://www.irishamericanmom.com/2014/06/03/the-beaches-of-ards-friary-county-donegal

Blogroll

  • Celtic Thoughts
  • Irish Fireside
  • Irish Hillwalkers
  • Irish-Americans in the Bronx
  • Married an Irish Farmer
  • Martine Brennan – The Irish Genealogy Coach
  • The Wild Geese
  • Wee Kitchen

Many Thanks to the Irish Blog Awards – Irish American Mom Won the Silver Award in the 2018 Diaspora Category

Recent Reader Comments

  • Irish American Mom on Irish Buttermilk Scones
  • Ducklady on Irish Buttermilk Scones
  • Irish American Mom on Mushy Peas
  • Irish American Mom on Furze – The Yellow Flower Of The Irish Landscape
  • Bob Percy on Furze – The Yellow Flower Of The Irish Landscape

Copyright © 2019 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This site uses cookies: Find out more.