Snow White Bunnies or Chocolate Brown Bears
What could be better than two gifts in one? Here is everybody’s favorite no-bake rice cereal treat stashed inside an animal-shaped cookie cutter. After the crispy critter is eaten, the cookie cutter can be used over and over again. To make your gift even nicer, write out the recipe on a card and slip it into the gift sack so your friends can make their own.
If you want to give a gift platter of ready-to-nibble snow bunnies, use one cookie cutter to make a whole bunny brigade. Simply slip the cookie out of the cutter after it’s formed (and pat it back into shape if necessary). Then use the cutter to make another and another and another. . . . If you have difficulty finding bunny or bear cookie cutters, use other animal or holiday shapes.
Makes 4 large bunnies
4 bunny cookie cutters, each 7 inches tall
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups miniature marshmallows or 40 large marshmallows
5 cups puffed rice cereal
1 cup flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
flaked sweetened coconut for tail (optional)
Red Hots (cinnamon candies) or round miniature M&Ms for eyes (optional)
ribbon in any color, 1/8 inch wide
Clear cellophane gift bags
To make the bunnies, coat a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Coat a spatula with cooking spray. Set aside the 7-inch bunny cookie cutters.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the rice cereal, and stir until coated. Add the coconut and white chocolate chips and stir until blended. The mixture will be sticky. Using the spatula, press the rice cereal mixture into the pan. (The recipe can be made ahead to this point, covered with plastic wrap, and kept at room temperature for several hours or overnight.)
To make each bunny, press the cutter into the cereal mixture. Run your fingertips around the perimeter of the cutter to make sure the cutter touches the bottom of the pan. Wriggle the filled cutter free and set aside on waxed paper. Repeat with the remaining cutters. Round out or fill in each cutter with any leftover cereal to make each bunny plump. If desired, press coconut on top of the cereal to make a fuzzy bunny tail and press in Red Hots to create eyes.
To make a Christmas collar, use the ribbon to tie a bow around each bunny’s neck. Place each bunny in a gift sack and tie the sack closed with additional ribbon. The cookies taste best if eaten within 5 days.
Chocolate Brown Bears: Proceed as directed, but set aside twelve 3 1/2- to 4-inch bear cookie cutters. Use 6 cups instead of 5 cups puffed rice cereal and substitute 1/2 cup Nutella hazelnut chocolate spread or other chocolate spread and 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips for the coconut and white chocolate chips. Makes 12 bears.
From "Christmastime Treats," (Chronicle Books, 1999) Sara Perry