Food Network Star Giada De Laurentiis’ Sweet and Salty Marshmallow Treats Are Great Day-After-Halloween Snacks
Halloween is just about here! But what to do with all that leftover candy?
While the holiday is mostly about the kids, celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis is making sure there’s a little something for everyone.
Here’s her Halloween Marshmallow Treats, sure to satisfy both sweet and salty trick-or-treaters.
De Laurentiis is all about the pumpkiny season
The Giada At Home star relishes in the autumn season and loves nothing more than to work with the season’s star gourd, pumpkin. One of her favorite dishes to make at home is creamy Pumpkin Carbonara.
While classic Spaghetti Carbonara usually calls for pancetta, Parmesan cheese, and eggs. De Laurentiis adds a dimension of warmth to the popular Italian recipe, noting on her blog, “Nothing sounded more comforting than giving it a warm, autumnal element – so I introduced pureed pumpkin and nutmeg to the dish.”
De Laurentiis’ version of the classic features spaghetti, pumpkin puree, chicken broth, eggs, Pecorino cheese, nutmeg, pancetta, garlic cloves, onion, Parmesan cheese, and parsley.
While pureed pumpkin may seem to defile the traditional version, it doesn’t overwhelm with pumpkin flavor. Instead, it miraculously complements the other ingredients and adds more body and creaminess.
“It was a fast favorite in my house,” she added, “and I’ll be making it on repeat throughout the season – it’s so comforting and creamy, and really easy to whip up on any night. I love to serve it with a simple salad.”
Her marshmallow treats will make every trick or treater’s day
The perfect day-after-Halloween treat for anyone with a sweet tooth, De Laurentiis’ marshmallow clusters fit the bill for those wanting a sweet or salty special snack. As the mother of one tweeted from her Giadzy blog about this recipe, “Turn all that Halloween candy into something extra tasty in the form of these gooey marshmallow popcorn treats!”
The recipe calls for popcorn kernels; butter; vanilla extract; mini-marshmallows; chopped candy bars such as Twix, Snickers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups; chopped salted almonds; and orange and black candies such as M&Ms or Reese’s Pieces.
Put that leftover Halloween candy to good use and create a unique dessert using candy bar favorites.
How to make Giada De Laurentiis’ Halloween Popcorn Clusters
De Laurentiis in her Giadzy recipe advises spraying the inside of your mixing bowl and baking sheet with cooking spray. Pop your kernels in a heavy pan and then set the popped corn in the sprayed bowl.
Next, in a saucepan, melt the butter and add to it the vanilla and marshmallows. The Giada’s Italy author notes to keep stirring until the mixture is smooth.
Once it’s well-mixed, pour this marshmallow mixture over the popped corn and mix, mix, mix until it’s thoroughly covered with the sticky concoction. At this point, the marshmallowy popcorn is ready to be spread into the greased cookie sheet.
Once that’s done, all the candies can be sprinkled and pressed into the flattened popcorn.
Let it dry for an hour and ,after that, pull it apart into chunky servings.
It’s a simple-to-make snack for post-Halloween fun!
