Maple-Bacon Rice Krispies Treats

The week between Thanksgiving and Advent. The garden is mostly down. The kale is producing slowly. The collards are gone. The turnips are mostly gone. The fall greens season is closing.

I worked in the workshop. Memory project pieces two and three — a digging stick (a wood handle with a steel shod tip) and an antler grip frame for a hide-scraping blade. The digging stick took most of one day. The antler grip frame is more delicate — I had to coordinate with a Cherokee elder who is providing the antler. He brought one Saturday. We worked together. The grip is fitted now. The blade comes next.

Caleb and Miriam came Saturday. Miriam's lease at her Stilwell apartment is ending December first. She'll be fully moved into Caleb's by then. The transition has been gradual exactly the way Caleb said it would be. Hannah and I are watching the rhythm of two people becoming one household, and the rhythm is settling well. They are both careful people, post-recovery, post-grief, post- whatever it is that comes before fifty-three for both of them. They are not racing. They are landing.

Sunday Lily came over with Quoy. Ada is at Haskell finishing the semester. Lily and I worked on translating part of the cohort's graduation certificates into Cherokee — Lily wants the certificates bilingual starting with this fall's class. I read her a draft. She corrected my Cherokee three times in five minutes. She laughed at me. I laughed at me. The certificate text is short and ceremonial: "By the work of your hands and the patience of your teachers." She rendered it in Cherokee. The Cherokee is more elegant than the English. It always is.

By the end of that week — the digging stick fitted, the antler grip nearly done, Lily’s Cherokee letters still ringing in my head — I wanted to make something with my hands that didn’t require a chisel or a dictionary. The maple-bacon version of Rice Krispies Treats had been sitting in the back of my mind since Thanksgiving: salty, sweet, a little smoky, the kind of thing you set on the counter and watch disappear when Caleb and Miriam are still lingering at the table. It is not a ceremonial food. But it is a good-week food, and this was a good week.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 16 bars

Ingredients

6 strips thick-cut bacon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 package (10 oz) mini marshmallows
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
Flaky sea salt, for topping

Instructions

Cook the bacon. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until crisp, about 8–10 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate, let cool, then roughly chop into small pieces. Set aside.
Prepare your pan. Lightly butter a 9x13-inch baking pan or line it with parchment paper. Set aside.
Melt butter and maple syrup. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven over low heat, melt the butter with the maple syrup, stirring to combine. Do not let it boil.
Add marshmallows. Add the mini marshmallows to the pot and stir constantly over low heat until fully melted and smooth, about 4–5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Season and flavor. Stir in the vanilla extract and fine sea salt until incorporated.
Fold in cereal and bacon. Working quickly, add the Rice Krispies and three-quarters of the chopped bacon. Fold gently until everything is evenly coated.
Press into pan. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan. Using lightly buttered hands or a sheet of parchment, press the mixture into an even layer — firm but not compacted.
Top and set. Scatter the remaining bacon pieces over the top and finish with a light pinch of flaky sea salt. Allow to cool at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before cutting into bars.
Cut and serve. Slice into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Maple-Bacon Rice Krispies Treats — Something Sweet for the Hands That Built Things