Hotel Room Gourmet: Egg-free, Edible Cookie Dough and Cookie Dough Rice Krispie Squares

Another weekend, another round of hotel-room baking - I just can't seem to help myself! Like some my earlier forays into hotel room cooking, this simple treat was inspired by ingredients collected from our hotel's complimentary breakfast.  I added some of our store-bought cookie dough and marshmallows to some complimentary crisp rice cereal (and a bit of butter) and - voila - a new ultra-convenience treat was born.

The cookie dough is heated in this recipe, but I'm not really sure whether you can consider it baked...so, for those of you who are worried about things like salmonella, I'm including a recipe for egg-free cookie dough.  It's designed to be eaten raw and tastes just like the real thing. Make this recipe once and your girls' nights will never be the same (I just wish I'd known about this when I was still in the slumber party stage!).

No-bake, No-egg Cookie Dough

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Stir in vanilla and salt until blended. Alternately add condensed milk and flour until ingredients are incorporated and mixture is smooth.  Fold in chocolate chips.

This recipes makes much more dough than you'll need for the crisp rice treats so store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Rice Krispie Treats
(Small Batch)
3 Tablespoons butter
4 cups Marshmallows
6 cups crisp rice cereal
1/2 cup no-bake cookie dough

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Add marshmallows and stir continuously until melted. Remove from heat.  Stir in cereal until well coated.  Add chocolate chip cookie dough and stir until blended. Spoon cereal into greased baking tin (or, if you don't have a kitchen, onto a plastic plate!!) and press down with fingertips.  Allow to cool before serving.

A few notes: I cut my finished treats with a greased cookie cutter that I just happened to have in my suitcase (it's a bit like a Mary Poppins bag, I guess!) and they turned out pretty cute. With the cookie dough blended into the Rice Krispies, the flavor was rich and creamy - almost caramel or malted. I'd like to experiment with different 'dough delivery methods' (i.e. what would happen if you put a baked cookie in the treats? or froze the dough before incorporating, so that it doesn't melt completely?) but I'll have to save those variations for another time. In any case, they're deliciously indulgent and simple just as they are!

This post linked at:
33 Shades of Green: Tasty Tuesdays
Two Maids a Milking: 2 Maids a Baking
Sweet as Sugar Cookies: Sweets for a Saturday