Last week I had the pleasure of spending a day at the office of the Cicerone Certification Program in Chicago. I’ve been doing design work them for quite a long time and it was great to finally get up there for a visit. Prior to heading to their office that morning, I popped in for a bagel at Chicago Bagel Authority, conveniently located next to my hotel. Their menu is immense! But for some reason, just a plain rye bagel was on my mind and it did not disappoint. At the register, there was a pile of what I now know to be Rice Krispie treats, but made with Golden Grahams and Cocoa Puffs. The girl told me that people refer to them as “cereal bars” which I found to be hilarious. Never being one to pass up a new treat, I bought one and brought it home to share with Lance (on Valentine’s Day no less, go me!). It was delicious, and we immediately began scheming to make our own. Here is the recipe if you too wish to indulge (we chose to omit the cocoa puffs, but you can get as crazy as you want with your cereal choices for this!):
- melt 5 tablespoons of butter in a large pot over LOW heat
- add 4 cups of mini marshmallows
- stir until melted
- remove from heat
- add 6 cups of Golden Graham cereal
- spread into a 9×13 pan coated with cooking spray
- let cool, cut & serve!
The beginning of one sweet treat.
Kid hands going for Golden Grahams!
Golden Grahams with Funky Buddha’s Maple Bacon Coffee Porter.
Beer Pairing
Seeing as these bars are made with cereal, I couldn’t resist pairing them with Funky Buddha Brewery’s Maple Bacon Coffee Porter. Yep, you read that correctly. MAPLE. BACON. COFFEE. YUM! This beer was so generously gifted to us from a childhood friend of mine. There is some serious malty darkness going on in this beer. With a gorgeous deep, intense color reminiscent of coffee, it’s a beautiful accompaniment to these “cereal bars”.
Music Pairing
For our music selection, not only did I go way back to 1967, but also the mid 80’s. The Turtles’ Happy Together was used on the old Golden Grahams’ commercials and like this beer, invokes a feel of whimsy. This tune is going on 50 years old, and is still fresh and timeless, it was even used last summer on the soundtrack to the Minions Movie.