Throwback Thursday: Cookies and Cream Bars

Welcome to Pinstrosity's first ever Throwback Thursday! What will we be doing for Throwback Thursdays? We'll be featuring classic posts from the "early days" of Pinstrosity, featuring vintagey projects gone wrong (repurposing old furniture, upcycling vintage clothes, etc.), or showing you a "repeat submission" (a submission we received for a Pinstrosity already posted on the blog). 

Today I have a repeat post for you. Back in April of 2012 (aka Pinstrosity's "Stone Age"), we did a post on the oreo version of rice krispie treats. 

This was the original pin:

http://picky-palate.com/2011/03/17/no-bake-chewy-cookies-and-cream-bars/

This was how they turned out:

http://pinstrosity.blogspot.com/2012/04/ooey-gooey-cookie-creamy.html

There were problems with mixing, problems with stickiness, problems with hardening, and it just didn't look like the photo at all. No bueno. 

Fast forward to Viktoria's submission.

The Original Pin:

http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/06/grand-cayman-no-bake-cookies-and-cream-bars/

While the two original pins come from different site, the recipes are the same.   

Well, Viktoria and her roommate had some troubles and ended up with this:

The Pinstrosity:

After getting all the supplies at their dorm market store, Viktoria and her roommate jumped into the recipe. The first problem was a little confusion with the amount of marshmallows they'd need, but they got it sorted out (they said 5 cups=1bag of mini marshmallows). Problem number two was figuring out how to crush the Oreos. "Living in a dorm we didn't have the tools to crush the Oreos so we used a spoon and that didn't work the greatest but we crushed them."  Problem number three was the size of their bowls...there just wasn't one large enough to fit all the marshmallows. Apparently the small bowl, the over abundance of marshmallows, and the microwave didn't mix well. Yea for messes! Problem number 4: mixing it all. In their words, "that was a chore." It didn't mix well and was sticky and messy. Problem number 5 was the lack of an 8x8 pan. They improvised and put it on a microwave safe plate with a rim. The whole thing didn't go as smooth as they would have hoped, and it looks like ash mud pie...but they said it still tasted good (and taste is what really matters with food). 

From our experience and gleaning tips from comments on the first post, here are some things you can do if you decide to give these a try:

• Don't over crush the Oreos. You don't want a powder, you want chunks. Chunks will help it not turn out as much like a brick. 
• If you can, melt the butter and marshmallows slowly on the stove. The microwave works, but a stove is better. 
• Too much butter can make the end result more like a brick, so don't add extra. 
• Place parchment paper on the bottom of the pan (I've become a parchment paper convert!). That will help make it easier to pull the bars out of the pan. Then either butter or Pam the paper. 
• Butter or Crisco the spoon/spatula and your hands when trying to move the mixture from the bowl to the pan. This will help reduce the mess on your hands. 
• Use Double Stuff Oreos (we hear these work better than regular)
• Mini marshmallows are easier to mix than the large marshmallows  

So give it a go and let us know how it goes!

Have any projects you tried but didn't send us because we already had a post about it? Send it our way anyway and we can feature it in a Throwback Thursday post! Some Pinstrosities are just too good to only feature once.