Salted Brown Butter and Nutella Rice Krispy Pinwheels

The joy of cooking can be a curse sometimes. I have lots of ideas flying around and bits of different recipes sound good so every now and then I'll cobble some together and experiment, which is how I got these.

Salted Brown Butter and Nutella rice krispy pinwheels



If you're not a big fan of rice krispy treats they probably won't make your socks roll up and down. But if you are...and you like Nutella...it's good stuff.

Start by melting 4-8 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Continue to let it simmer over low to med heat until the milk solids settle to the bottom and the butter gets brown and smells nutty. (standard krispies call for 4 T, my salted brown butter recipe called for the full 8, next time I'll probably use 6 or 7 as I can see how with 4 T the flavor isn't as strong but with 8 T it was a little too gooey on the outside.)

Add a bag of large marshmallows and stir into the butter until they melt and the consistency is smooth.

Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp vanilla (preferably Mexican if you've got it)

Stir in 6 cups of rice krispies until everything looks evenly covered.

Dump out onto a large, rimmed, lined baking sheet. (I happen to love non-stick aluminum foil.) If you want to line the sheet with plastic wrap then you'll need to spray it with cooking spray before putting the krispies in. If you use non-stick aluminum foil you're good to go, no spray needed.

Press the krispies into the pan with a spatula (or hands) sprayed with cooking spray or better yet...a square of non-stick aluminum foil!

Let them cool a little bit and then spread a layer of Nutella on the surface. (I didn't measure the amount of Nutella I used) don't put too much or you'll get Nutella squeezing out when you slice them.

Take the plastic wrap/foil on one of the long sides of the pan and slowly lift the krispies up and start rolling them using the wrap/foil to guide it.

Once you've got your roll get a sharp knife and slice it into ~1" rounds.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days. (after that's it's not spoilage you have to worry about so much as the krispies getting stale. I can vouch for them still tasting good at the 4 day mark, they were just a little stiff.)

The thing I love about this is there are so many variations. Don't love brown butter? Ok. Just melt the 4T and go. Not a Nutella person (I hear they exist, kind of like the loch ness monster) then use chocolate peanut butter, or chocolate butterscotch, or caramel...you get the idea. :)

Cousin Kathy's Liquid Laundry Detergent

Here it is...as promised. :) These are the pictures I took when I made my first, and so far only, batch. In July. There is still more than half of the 5 gallon bucket left and I still have most of the box of both the washing soda and borax! It was less than a new 128 oz. jug of Tide/Gain/Dreft, etc for the materials.

The Ingredients:

First, grate the bar of soap. 

(Which in Houston I could only find at Wal-Mart. Target, Kroger and HEB didn't have it.)

Second, screech at your son that it's soap not cheese and to put the clump back down.

Third, add to a saucepan with 4 cups of hot tap water. 

Stir continually over medium heat until the soap dissolves and is melted.

Next, fill a (clean) 5 gallon bucket halfway with hot tap water. 

Then, add the melted soap, 1.5 cups of washing soda and 1.5 cups of borax.

Stir well until everything is dissolved.

Fill the bucket to the top with more tap water, stir, cover, and let it sit overnight to thicken.

Last, stir the soap again. then take an empty detergent bottle (the one I have is 128 oz), fill it halfway with the soap and then fill it the rest of the way with water. 

Make sure to shake it before each use! (And then chuckle at all the money you're saving.)

For a top loading machine use 5/8 of a cup, in a front loading machine, 1/4 of a cup. 

[I measured the 5/8 into the cap of the bottle I was using the first time and then I knew where to fill it without checking after that.]

In the end it makes 10 gallons. That's it, you're done!

If you prefer dry, powdered detergent you might also be able to just mix 2 cups of grated soap, 1 cup borax and 1 cup washing soda. Use 1 or 2 Tablespoons per load. 

(One of her friends suggested that as it takes up much less space. I've never tried it mostly because I prefer liquid. Also, Houston is humid and I'm afraid it  might get cakey or gummy, and our machine doesn't always dissolve everything like it should. But, in the interest of full disclosure...)

Here is the "recipe" all together.

Ingredients:
1 Fels Naptha Soap Bar
4 cups hot tap water
1.5 cups super washing soda
1.5 cups borax
1 store-bought laundry detergent bottle, cleaned and emptied
1 5 gallon paint bucket, cleaned and emptied

• Grate the bar of soap 
• Add to a saucepan with the 4 cups of hot tap water. 
• Stir continually over medium heat until the soap dissolves and has melted.
• Fill the 5 gallon bucket halfway with hot tap water, then add the melted soap, washing soda and borax.
• Stir well until everything is dissolved.
• Fill the bucket to the top with more tap water, stir, cover, and let it sit overnight to thicken.
• Stir the soap again. then take an empty detergent bottle, fill it halfway with the soap and then fill it the rest of the way with water. 
• Shake before each use.