Cookies for Mrs. Carlson and Simon

Right.
It's official. We have all gone cookie-mad!
And it's not just us, but the animals too...

Take a look at what's going on over at The House of Simon. You must click through to see the whole story.

There's no doubt in my mind, that this IS Simon's house, Carrie! But, that pup has some good tastebuds, imo! :)

Next, Mrs. Carlson posted a comment about a rice crispy square recipe from Cooking Light that she saw. The photo taunted her with memories of marshmallowy squares enjoyed oh-so long ago! She asked me if I could veganize. Well, I checked out the recipe, and really they are the very basic rice crispy square recipe that we all know and (used to) love, with the simple addition of pumpkin seeds and cranberries.

I got to work. I had already been thinking about veganizing rice crispy squares with something other than vegan marshmallows, since I have made them with the vegan marshmallows - but they are hard to find and expensive.

These are my squares, and in my new book I will give the basic recipe as well as this fabuloso variation with pumpkin seeds, pistachios, cranberries, and chocolate chips (here I used white chips). I changed them up a lil' with the pistachios and white chips, Mrs. Carlson, and they taste ah-mazing!

and I must tell you.... oooh, I'm excited, because I have come pretty darn close to mimicking marshmallows! (At least the taste - not so much that sticky gooey texture) But, without vegan marshmallows! With real ingredients! And, they are easy!!

I really can't wait to share this recipe with you all, and Mrs. Carlson, after I give it one more test-through I'll make a note for you to e-mail me so you can test these babies for yourself!

Now, anyone else (pets included) need a cookie problem solved? ha!