For the holidays, my mother-in-law gave me a book, Ultimate Cake Mix Book. It’s a small book, but it has many ideas, especially for those who don’t want to take the time to make a cake from scratch. It’s also full of cake mix recipes that have nothing to do with cake. It has cookie recipes, cupcake variations, and bar recipes that all can be made with a basic cake mix and a few additional ingredients. It’s a smallish book, but it has plenty of fun categories to choose from.

Not that long ago, I decided to make their recipe called “Chocolate Crispy Treat Cake.” It appealed to me because it had chocolate and marshmallows, one of my favorite combinations.

In the end, I thought this recipe was interesting, and I’d be willing to make it again. My only issue is that the crispy rice topping is not nearly enough to form its own layer, as their photo suggests. It barely covered half. So, I would double the recipe for sure.

1 – 18 ounce package of fudge cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare the cake
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups crisp rice cereal
4 cups mini marshmallows (about half a bag)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 13×9 pan. Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions. Pour in the pan and bake about 28 minutes until the cake is almost done.

Remove cake from oven, and sprinkle marshmallows over the top of the cake in a single layer. Return cake to the oven, baking 2 or 3 minutes longer until the marshmallows have puffed up slightly.

While the cake is back in the oven, heat the chocolate chips, corn syrup, and butter in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat. Stir frequently, until the chocolate and butter have melted. Remove from heat; stir in powdered sugar, and then fold in the cereal until well blended.

Spread chocolate cereal mixture over the marshmallows, and let it stand until set.

As you can see, there wasn’t enough for me to do the whole pan. Furthermore, the softness of the marshmallow doesn’t lend itself well to spreading things on top of it. So I kind of had to drop and press.

It was tasty the way they were, but I would double the chocolate mixture next time. Also, you should eat these within two days of making the bar cookies. Otherwise, the crispy rice goes soft, and the texture is kinda weird.