Chocolate Caramel Candies aka homemade snickers bars

I historically have made myself sick over eating an abundance of these rich little candies every Christmas and I still haven't learned my lesson. These are SO delicious. I suppose for the average person these are extremely rich and half a piece is probably sufficient, but I could eat these all day all season long!

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home:
Ingredients:

Bottom Layer
-1 Cup Milk chocolate chips
-1/4 Cup butterscotch chips
-1/4 Cup peanut butter
Filling
-1/4 Cup Butter
-1 Cup sugar
-1/4 Cup evaporated milk
-1.5 C Marshmallow creme
-1/4 peanut butter
-1 teaspoon vanilla
Caramel Layer
-1 14oz package caramels
-1/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
Top Layer
-1 Cup milk chocolate chips
-1/4 Cup butterscotch chips
-1/4 Cup creamy peanut butter

1. line a 9"x13" pan with foil sprayed with non-stick spray.
2. In a double boiler combine the 'Bottom layer' ingredients until melted and smooth. Pour into the pan and place in refrigerator to set.
3. In a double boiler melt butter over medium heat. Add sugar and evaporated milk until gently boiling. Reduce heat to medium low and boil and stir for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in marshmallow cream, peanut butter, and vanilla. Spread over first layer, refrigerate until set.
4. In a double boiler combine the caramels and cream. Stir over medium low heat until melted and smooth. Pour over marshmallow layer and refrigerate until set.
5. In a double boiler combine all 'Top layer' ingredients and stir until melted and smooth. Pour over caramel layer and refrigerate until set. Once set, cover and refrigerate over night.
6. Remove foil from pan and cut into 1" squares.

Angel Food Candy, Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles, White Chocolate Haystacks

We had a lovely work holiday party last night and I of course offered to make some candies for the occassion. In addition to a copius amount of chocolate caramel candies I also brought some other old favorites, Angel food candy and White Chocolate Haystacks (that my Grandma Vi had at every Christmas) and a new endeavor/favorite- chocolate hazelnut truffles.

Angel Food Candy- recipe from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Dark Corn Syrup
1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar (or any white vinegar)
1 Tablespoon Baking soda
1 12 oz package semisweet chocolate chips (i also threw in some leftover butterscotch chips)

1. Butter a 9"x13" baking dish
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat combine the sugar, corn syrup, and vinegar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Heat without stirring until the mixture reaches 300-310° or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda. Pour into prepared pan and do not spread. Allow to cool completely
4. In a double boiler melt chocolate chips stirring constantly until smooth. Break candy into pieces and coat with the chocolate. Place pieces on a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles- recipe from Taste of Home
Ingredients:
-3/4 Cup powdered sugar
-2 Tablespoons cocoa
-4 milk chocolate candy bars (1.55oz each)
-6 Tablespoons butter
-1/4 Cup heavy whipping cream
-1 Cup ground hazelnuts

1. In a large bowl whisk together the powdered sugar and cocoa. Set aside. In a double boiler melt the butter and candy bars. Add heavy cream and reserved sugar/cocoa mixture. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until mixture is thickened and smooth. Pour into an 8" square dish. cover and refridgerate at least 5 hours.2. Using a melon baller or spoon, shape candy into 1" balls and roll into crushed hazelnuts. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Grandma Vi's White Chocolate Haystacks

I happen to think that white chocolate is very misunderstood and people should give it more of a chance. I will say that if you are in the mood for chocolate it probably isn't going to do the trick, but on it's own it's so sweet and delicious.

My cousin Becky came to visit (and deliver my car to me!) the other weekend and I made sure to have all the fixin's to make one of her favorite treats that our Grandma Vi used to make. I did run a little short on peanut butter so we had to add a little maple flavored almond butter, which was a nice little twist on the original. Side note: if you have never tried any of Justin's natural peanut, almond, or hazelnut butter you really should, they are simply delicious!

These are so quick to throw together and will disappear in mere moments because even though they have a crunch they just melt in your mouth. If you are still opposed to giving white chocolate a shot I suppose you could use dark chocolate, milk chocolate , or butterscotch chips instead.

Ingredients:

-12oz White Chocolate

-1 Cup Peanut Butter

-2 Cups Mini Marshmallows

-4 Cups Chow Mein Noodles (or just shy of a 12oz bag)

Directions:

1. Melt white chocolate and peanut butter over double boiler or in the microwave

2. Pour chocolate/peanut butter mixture over chow mein noodles and stir in marshmallows. Gently combine.

3. Spoon clusters onto wax paper and let cool.

Birthday Brownie Marshmallow Crisp Bars

Happy Birthday to me! To celebrate the step into my late twenties, ahhh, I wanted to bring a b-day treat into the office. Having a summer birthday I never had a chance to bring in birthday treats for my classmates, so now my co-workers can reap the benefits of my over-compensating for long lost birthdays. A couple of weekends ago my Aunt Judy made a most delicious treat for my cousin's graduation party and I have been itchin' to re-create it. And one of the best parts about this brownie bar was that I didn't even have to go to the grocery store. I have finally hit a tipping point in my venture where I just happen to have a healthy stock of ingredients.

Ingredients:

Brownie Layer:

-1/2 (1 stick) room temperature butter

-3/4 C Sugar

-1 teaspoon Vanilla

-2 Eggs

-3/4 C Flour

-2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder

-pinch of salt

Marshmallow Layer:

-2 Cups mini-marshmallows

Chocolate Crunch Layer:

-1 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (don't be afraid to overfill the measuring cup a bit)

-1 Cup Peanut Butter

-2 Cups Crispy Rice Cereal (once again, I'm diggin' the store brand cereal)

Directions:

1. Beat together butter and sugar

2. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time.

3. mix together dry ingredients and then mix into the egg mixture until combined.

4. Pour mixture into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes.

5. Sprinkle marshmallows over top of brownies and bake an additional 3 minutes.

6. Lightly spread the marshmallows with a butter knife and let cool.

7. In a double boiler melt chocolate chips and peanut butter over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in cereal.

8. Gently spread chocolate peanut butter mixture over marshmallow layer and cool in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before cutting into bars.

travel treats

I am heading out to minneapolis tomorrow to visit my best friend carrie so I wanted to make a little treat that she would enjoy to say 'thanks for the hospitality'. Not only will I have a fabulous time staying with her, but she is being so kind as to let me borrow her car for a morning, and if like me, you have not had a car for the past 5 years, you know what a great offer that is!

carrie has always impressed me with her spot-on drawing of a wiener dog, so in honor of that, I have made a batch of puppy chow. sometimes it's the simplest treats that we forget about that can be the best surprises. Hands down this was a complete success. I even managed to keep all the powdered sugar in check so clean up was a breeze. Oh, and in an effort to save some benjamins I went for the jewel brand crisped rice cereal and it seemed to stay extra crispy, so my mouth and my wallet are pleased.

I did my best to re-create the wiener dog masterpiece on the label. if i'm lucky maybe she will grace me with an original drawing I can scan in to share.

Puppy Chow Recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Peanut Butter

1/4 cup Butter

1 cup Chocolate Chips

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

9 cups Crispix cereal (any flavor)

1-1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions:
1. Combine peanut butter, butter and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.
2. Microwave for one minute then stir to blend all ingredients thoroughly. Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Stir well.
3. Place the 9 cups of Crispix cereal in a very large bowl.
4. Pour the peanut butter-chocolate mixture over the cereal and toss evenly, making sure all the cereal gets a good covering.
5. Coat with powdered sugar, sprinkling evenly over the cereal and tossing as you sprinkle to cover each piece well.

6. I also tossed in some chocolate covered espresso beans at the end for a little extra crunch.