It was bound to happen, huh? Eventually I would get on the salted caramel kick (just in time for some new trend to hit the foodie blog world). It's not that I resisted on purpose, I just haven't had salted caramel that made the craze make sense to me. Dave and I visited Portland earlier this summer and I had a cupcake supposedly topped with salted caramel buttercream frosting. I was less than impressed. It barely tasted like caramel, let alone a heavenly salted version. And I've just always had other things I wanted to try. Not that it doesn't sound like a good idea--gooey salty and sweet treats--and I've certainly pinned, marked, and otherwise saved my fair share of salted caramel concoctions. And now, I've got to make them because these treats are a perfect ambassador for the trend. First off, it's a Rice Krispies treat, which gets lots of love from me to begin with. And the caramel just makes them that much gooier (wow, I didn't actually think that was a word, but spell check is unfazed). Add in the sweet and salty trail mix from M&M's that I didn't even know existed, which in and of itself is a perfect treat, and there's double deliciousness in the form of my favorite candy. Plus, this salted caramel shines perfectly against the sweet and salty trail mix and the crunch of the cereal provides the perfect canvas for all that's going on here. Simply put: yum.
My friend Mere had a birthday last month, but a couple weeks before her birthday, I was going to meet up with her before she caught a flight from Boston after spending a week on a business trip in Vermont. So I decided a little early birthday baking never hurt anyone and took to searching for something portable for the plane and a little different. I looked through some of my pins and some of my favorite blogs and noticed this amazing recipe from Shelly at Cookies & Cups and thought, "where has my grocery store been hiding that trail mix?", printed the recipe and hit the store on my way home.
