When I was growing up, every year we drove out to Colorado to visit my mom’s parents and her brother. I LOVED going. It was the one time of year I saw my grandparents, and though I wasn’t especially close to them, I have such warm fuzzy feelings when I think about that week every year that we spent there. Watching gameshows with my grandfather, smelling my grandmother’s sauerkraut cooking, going hiking in the mountains, spending time with my cousins. It was always around Easter, and we would do fun Eastery things. Like making bunny shaped cakes and coloring eggs. I even remember my gruff, totally not a softie grandfather dying Easter eggs with us. So now when I think of starting Easter traditions with my own kids, I think about that week with my mom’s family and I get all mushy and sentimental and just want to make it all so special for them. I want there to be coloring Easter eggs, building houses out of candy for candy bunnies to live in, Easter egg hunts, Easter basket scavenger hunts, and enough paper grass to drive me insane. (Hint: That’s like anything more than two straws.) And treats! There always need to be homemade treats. Easter treats are so fun to make, because there are SO MANY DIFFERENT OPTIONS! But I especially like these Carrot Cake Rice Krispies® Treats. You guys. These are treat perfection. First of all, they seem way fancy, but they start with the basic Rice Krispies® Treats recipe, so you know they are super easy. But! They pack in so much flavor that they are absolutely addictive. And then you put the cream cheese frosting on top, and you take an amazing treat to a whole other world. A few things about this recipe: While it is very easy, you do really have to follow the steps, or you will end up with Rice Krispies® Treats that taste stale. You need to throw the spices in with the marshmallows to fully distribute them, but you need to wait on the carrots until the cereal is completely coated by the marshmallows. That way they will make a nice little coating for the cereal and it won’t soak up the moisture from the carrots. Finally, when I say a quarter cup of carrots, I really mean it. If you add more, you risk the stale soggy issue. But if you follow the recipe as written, you will end up with a pan of Rice Krispies® Treats that you know you should share with everyone but that happens to begin and end with you. ;)
