Secret Santa & Holiday Baking
18 Dec
Every year (since I’ve been there anyway), the employees at the school where I work do a secret Santa. Anyone can elect to participate & the name of a fellow colleague is drawn before Thanksgiving break. All throughout the month of December, you are supposed to surprise your chosen person with little items, & then, at the end of December, present them with a slightly larger gift at our little “secret Santa reveal” get-together.
You also have to turn in a list of 3 things that you like so that the person that chooses you has some sort of insight into your interests. On my list? 1) Coffee, 2) Chocolate, 3) The Phillies!
Anyway, tomorrow after school we’re doing our final gift exchange. Today I prepped my final gift & then it was time to do the first of my holiday baking.
For the get-together tomorrow, everyone is asked to contribute something (savory snacks, desserts, paper products, beverages, etc.). I, of course, always prefer to bake, so bake I did!
I’ve had this recipe for cake batter rice crispy treats pinned on my “Looks Yummy” board for weeks now! Cake batter? Good! Rice crispy treats? Good! Combining the two? Heavenly!
Whenever I hear “rice crispy treats” I always think of them as being the one off-limit baked good from when I was a kid. (Not to eat, but to make!) I think my mom had an aversion to sticky marshmallow… correct me if I’m wrong, mom! 
Needless to say, I can’t remember the last time I had a homemade rice crispy treat (sooo much better than the pre-packaged kind!) & I’ve certainly never attempted them on my own. That changed today!
I followed the recipe exactly, only using festive holiday sprinkles instead of the rainbow variety.
Stirring the melted marshmallows & rice crispy cereal was a good arm workout!
Of course I had to taste-test five one to make sure they were good enough to serve to my co-workers.
Erica-approved!
I love the addition of cake batter; it really adds a different taste to a traditional rice crispy treat! These were so good, I had to be sure to package up the ones to take to work tomorrow to prevent Chris & I from sneaking bites all night!
Do you participate in any secret Santas? In addition to the one at work, the adults in my family do a secret Santa every year.
Do you have any holiday baking to complete this week? I’m making cookies for Christmas Eve, but those probably won’t get done until Friday.
They look delish!! Can’t wait to try them tomorrow!!
Yum! My husbands family does a secret santa every year. We pick the names at Thanksgiving and then exchange them over Christmas! Have fun tomorrow..hopefully the kids aren’t too wound up…HA! (teachers should have off from Thanksgiving until the new year!)
Off from Thanksgiving to the New Year? That sounds fantastic!
We do Secret Santa at work too. It is a good time- people go NUTS trying to figure out who has their name! For real, people are detectives alllllll week, hardcore detectives, trying to figure out who has them!
Yummm! Perfect little treat to bring to the party!
I had no idea who my person was this year! I was too busy to even think about it!
Gah, I’ve been wanting to bake SO bad for the holidays, but just haven’t gotten around to it. So much to do & so little time!
You are so right, I will bake you your funfetti anytime, but sticky rice crispy treats ugh!
I loveeee rice krispie treats! I think I will have to try this new spin on an old favorite!
I was in San Antonio the weekend that my office did their Secret Santa party. Last year I got a Santa snuggie that was so fun. I love sprinkles in everything this time of year:)
Wow those look great! Nice idea..Merry Christmas
I spent hours and hours baking cookies for my coworkers over the weekend. It was delightful
Funny- my mom’s go to dessert was Rice Krispie treats. Her reason, though, was to use up stale cereal- so it was often Cheerios treats, or Froot Loops treats. We thought they were improper Rice Krispie treats and got mad 
I love the idea of using a different cereal!