candy Archives - The Midnight Baker

White Chocolate Fudge

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 00:00:36 +0000

White chocolate fudge is perfect for the holidays or any time.

White Chocolate Fudge–For The Holidays

Bark and fudge have become traditional for the winter holidays and you can see why.

The holidays are a time where most diets go out the window and people splurge. Heck, you can start that diet after New Years!

Since there are a great number of recipes for any flavor fudge–not only chocolate–out there, you have many from which to choose.

My love is white chocolate so naturally, that was my choice. I left mine undecorated, but there’s many festive holiday-colored sprinkles that can be used to make it more holiday specific.

Quick Fudge

I remember when “quick” fudge became all the rage. It was back in the 1960s sometime and it was actually a great way to make fudge, especially if you didn’t have a candy thermometer. It employs the use of marshmallow cream. About the only downside of the process is getting the marshmallow cream out of its jar. It’s thick and tenuous. A tip I can give is get as much as you can out of the jar before you start cooking the fudge. Put it on a paper plate and just scrape it off into the saucepan.

However, with this quick method, they ask you to do the cold-water test for “soft-ball” stage just to make sure your fudge will set. There’s a lot of variables with this which is why I only use it as a secondary test. I still use a candy thermometer.

There’s a recipe on the jar for fudge which you can change up flavorings as you see fit.

White Chocolate

You’ll want to make sure you use a high-quality product here because it will taste better.

Bypass those generic white chocolate chips; they should work but won’t taste as good. This is one time I say spend more because it’s worth it.

The Recipe

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White Chocolate Fudge

Excellent for the holidays or any other time

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: holiday fudge recipe, quick fudge, white chocolate fudge

Servings: 58 (varies)

Calories: 101kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

12 oz white chocolate baking morsels
7 oz marshmallow fluff (1 jar)
3/4 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk (1 small can)
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Line a 13 x 9-inch pan (metric is approximately 3L) with foil and spray with non-stick spray.
Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the evaporated milk and the sugar.
Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and boil for 4-5 minutes. It's strongly suggested that you use a candy thermometer to see if the mixture is 235 F/113 C which is the temp for "soft-ball" stage. You can also test this by using the cold water method (see post).
Once the mixture is at soft-ball stage, add the entire 7 oz jar of fluff and the white chocolate chips. Stir until the morsels are melted and everything is well incorporated.
Spread it in the prepared pan and chill for at least 2 hours. Cut into squares of the desired size (up to you).

Notes

I cut them into 2-inch/5 cm squares on which the nutrition info was based, but bear in mind if you cut smaller/larger squares, the info is not accurate.

Nutrition

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Tiger Butter

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 23:00:05 +0000

Tiger butter is a real treat for chocolate and peanut butter lovers.

Tiger Butter Has Stripes

Which is why I guess this fudge got it’s name.

Regardless, it’s delicious and easy to make. Anyone who loves Reese’s will love this and that’s a fact.

It’s texture is exactly the same as it looks–smooth and velvety. It’s luscious texture is the main draw at least for my tastes.

As for the taste, the peanut butter is mellowed out by being mixed with almond bark. That also makes that layer very creamy and silky.

Almond Bark

I had recently heard from a Canadian friend that almond bark is almost impossible to find in Canadian stores. I can’t figure out the reason for this either, but if you are in Canada, I will be giving some substitutions for it.

Almond bark, despite its name, is merely a synthetic white chocolate. It’s often called white candy coating. While I like genuine white chocolate for eating purposes, it’s very hard to work with if you want to melt it. It can be done, but it’s a real pain and may times quite unsuccessful. This is where almond bark rules the day. It’s easy to melt, doesn’t seize easily and it’s pretty creamy. It also has a indefinite shelf life. I’ve had a large package for ages and it still tastes fine and behaves well for melting.

Now to substitutes–if you can find those white melting disks they’re a pretty good substitute. There are a number of manufacturers but if I use those I prefer Wilton. White baking morsels can be substituted, but I would caution agains the higher-quality ones that contain cocoa butter. You want to go cheap here; generic. As long as it doesn’t include the cocoa butter, they should melt and not seize.

Coconut Oil?

That or the vegetable shortening adds a gloss to the chocolate. Years ago, they’d use paraffin wax. It’s totally optional if you don’t want to use it.

The Recipe

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Tiger Butter

A creamy peanut butter and chocolate candy just right for the holidays

Prep Time10

Cook Time0

Chill Time30

Course: Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: holiday fudge, peanut butter and chocolate fudge, tiger butter

Servings: 24

Calories: 192kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

16 oz almond bark white candy coating or white chocolate chips
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 oz dark chocolate morsels
1 tsp coconut oil or vegetable shortening

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Line a 13 x 9-inch/30 x 23 cm baking dish with aluminum foil, using enough so the edges overhang.
Place the almond bark in a microwave-proof bowl and microwave on high for 60 seconds; remove and stir. If there are still big lumps, microwave an additional 30-45 seconds. Stir until there’s no remaining lumps.
Add the peanut butter to the melted bark and stir until completely combined.
Spread in the prepared pan.
Microwave the dark chocolate morsels with the coconut oil on high for 20 seconds. Stir until there are no lumps. You may have to microwave an additional 10 seconds.
Drizzle the dark chocolate over the top of the other layer in stripes. Swirl with a butter knife or the other end of a spoon so you get a marbled effect.
Chill for 30 minutes; remove from pan by lifting the foil out of the pan. Cut into squares of desired size.

Nutrition

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Chocolate Peanut Butter BonBons

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 00:00:09 +0000

Just in time for Easter. These egg-shaped peanut butter bonbons are awesome and easy. An easy candy to make with kids!

Great Treat For Easter: Candy To Make With Kids

With Easter just around the corner everyone’s mind turns to candy eggs.

This Easter is likely to be like no Easter before with everyone self-sheltering due to this world-wide illness. But that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate–either by yourself or if you’re all hunkered down in the same house.

If you have kiddos, this is a great project to do with them for the holiday. Who knows? It even may become a brand-new tradition from here on. With schools shut and most parents doing remote lessons with the kids or home schooling even, this just might fit into one of those “necessary life skills” classes.

More Than Deviled Eggs

Ok, so you’re thinking, “What do deviled eggs have to do with this.”

A deviled egg plate just happens to be the perfect way to shape these chocolate peanut butter bonbons. You just press the peanut butter filing in, chill and voila–an egg shape.

I will admit it’s a bit of a trick to get them out because they form a sort of vacuum between the plate and the peanut butter mixture. All you have to do is break the “seal.” I do this by using a small paring knife.

Now, if you don’t want to bother with any fancy shape, you can just form the filling into balls about the size of a walnut and take it from there. And if you’re doing these with the kiddos, that would definitely be the way I’d go–for several reasons! Let’s just say everyone can say they helped and leave it at that

Chocolate Coating

Any chocolate you have on hand will be good for this.

I had some dark chocolate morsels and used those. If you have a bar of semi-sweet baking chocolate, that’s good too. White chocolate? That’ll do, although it wouldn’t be my first choice–and I love white chocolate. In this unprecedented time, use what you have. It’ll be good.

The Recipe

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Bonbons

Even better than Reese’s because they’re creamy and made with super-dark chocolate!

Prep Time10

Cook Time0

Chill Time30

Total Time40

Course: candy, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: candy to make with kids, easy homemade Easter candy, homemade peanut butter cups

Servings: 12

Calories: 595kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

4 oz cream cheese softened
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
16 oz confectioner’s sugar 1 small bag
2 1/2 cups dark chocolate morsels
2 tbs coconut oil or shortening

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Beat in sugar. Stir in coconut if desired. Form golf-ball sized portions into egg shapes or balls. Place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill for 30 minutes.
In a microwave-safe bowl or heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil/shortening: stir until smooth. Dip in melted chocolate until coated; place on waxed paper to harden
You can leave them plain or sprinkle with colored non pareils or sprinkles

Nutrition

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Crockpot Cashew Clusters

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:00:36 +0000

Great candy for the holidays or any time! Easy to make in the crockpot.

Addictive And Easy

These are just too good for words!

I’m pretty sure everyone has made, or at least heard of, the famous crockpot peanut clusters. This is just a variation on that.

These are made with cashews–mainly because I had a lot of those–and white chocolate. I’m confident that they can be made with any nuts. Yes, even peanuts if that’s what you have on hand, but I think that this candy gets a little more interesting if you use different nuts. It’s a year-round treat so try a few variations.

An Older Recipe And A Caveat

As I said before, this is a variation on an old recipe. That old recipe has been updated with a warning (of sorts).

Newer slow cookers cook hotter than the original appliances. In my crock pot group, I’ve seen people ask from time to time why their older recipes now are overcooked or done faster in their new slow cookers. The reason is that it is now deemed that 200 degrees F (which was low on the old slow cookers) is not a safe temperature to cook at. I don’t recall anyone getting sick from meals made in the old appliances, but I’m just going to leave that there because I’ve not done extensive research on the matter. However, now the new “low” is 300 degrees F so cooking times have to be adjusted.

The original recipe has been updated to inform you of this difference. It even states that you may not get the same results. Which leads to…

Another Happy Accident

You’d think I’d have paid attention to these warnings. Especially when I’ve answered questions such as these in that group. My experience just proved I was somewhat of a ditz and didn’t take my own advice.

However, this, much like my maple meatloaf, proves that what you think is a disaster can have surprisingly good results.

First of all, most white chocolate clusters are actually white. Mine are tan. Why? Because my new slow cooker cooks hotter–DUH. My heart sort of sank when I opened the lid to see this non-white concoction. But when I tasted it, it was fantastic because the extra heat caramelized the sugars and gave this a rich, deep taste.

Another instance of something better coming from pure ditziness! Enjoy them!

The Recipe

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Crockpot Cashew Clusters

Cashew clusters make great candy for the holidays or any time! Easy to make in the crockpot.

Prep Time5

Cook Time2

Total Time2 5

Course: Slow Cooker

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cashew clusters, crockpot recipes, homemade candy, slow cooker recipes

Servings: 24

Calories: 294kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

12 oz white chocolate chips see NOTES
4.4 oz white chocolate bar I prefer Lindt, but Ghirardelli is good too.
20 oz almond bark
2 tbs coconut oil or solid vegetable shortening
1-1 1/2 cups cashews I used unsalted

Instructions

Place all ingredients, except the cashews in a 4-6 qt slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low about 1 1/2-2 hours, or until when stirred, the mixture is melted and has no lumps.
Stir in the cashews and drop by tablespoon-fulls onto parchment or waxed paper. Garnish with colored sprinkles, if desired

Notes

Use high-quality white chocolate chips. I used Ghiradelli.

Nutrition

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Slow Cooker Chunky Bars

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 00:00:06 +0000

If you loved Chunky candy bars as a kid, you’ll love these copycat bars you can make easily in the slow cooker!

Chunkys was one of my favorite candies from childhood. I go back far enough that I remember these selling for a nickel!!! They seem to have shrunk somewhat in the ensuing years, but what hasn’t? Plus, just like everything else that got smaller, it now costs more.

I got out of the Chunky habit somewhere in my teens and honestly haven’t given them much thought until lately. And it’s strange how they came to mind.

On one of my Facebook groups devoted to appliance junkies–those of us who for no special reason have to have any and all kitchen gagetry–someone was searching for an authentic Hamilton Beach malted milk maker. You know, those light green monster machines that weighed a ton and were in every candy store from coast to cost.

The funny thing is, a childhood friend, and we’re STILL friends after 57 years–had parents who owned a candy store and had two of these machines. When they retired, they offered them to me, but I had no use at that time for them.

That story is pretty much aside, but thinking about the Friedmans made me think of how Mrs. Friedman would say about how you had to be careful because lots of times you got something quite unexpected in candy bars with fruit. Now I have heard that you never buy chocolate candybars with fruit in the summer time because of the “summer crop,” as my friend’s mom used to say, but she also said there were winter, spring and fall crops too. This of course was before candy was hermetically sealed as nowadays. Back then it was just folded paper wrappers.

I realize that story may be too gross for some, but it got me thinking about Chunkys again. Not with the “summer crop” mind you (in reality I NEVER ever had a bar of candy back then that had more than I paid for in it), but nice clean homemade versions of it.

Making candy in a crock pot is nothing new. It’s very popular to make the great peanut “crock pot candy” around Christmas. The formula is pretty much the same for all of this candy, differing only by what you add to it.

The crockpot is an excellent vessel for chocolate candy making because of the low temps. One thing you absolutely must NOT do is use the high heat. ONLY use the low setting. And the stuff that won’t melt, such as nuts, fruit, whatever, MUST go in the bottom of the pot to insulate the chocolate. So you layer it nuts, fruit, chocolate and confectioner’s coating. The confectioner’s coating is in there for some gloss and to stabilize the chocolate somewhat since it doesn’t have to be tempered like chocolate does.

I put the finished product in a foil-lined small oblong pan so I could cut it into squares like Chunkys come. But you can also make this into clusters by dropping it by tablespoons full onto parchment or waxed paper.

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Slow Cooker Chunky Bars

If you loved Chunky candy bars as a kid, you’ll love these copycat bars you can make easily in the slow cooker!

Prep Time5

Cook Time1 30

Total Time1 35

Course: candy, Slow Cooker

Cuisine: American

Keyword: candy, candy recipe, chunky candy bars

Servings: 24

Calories: 122kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup chopped pecans or any nuts
1 cup raisins
1 cup semi sweet or milk chocolate chips
2 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate chopped up
6 oz white confectioner's coating i.e. Wilton's Candy Melts--see NOTES

Instructions

Place ingredients as ordered in ingredient list in a small (4 qt or less) slow cooker.
Place a layer of paper towels across the top of the crock and place lid on top (secures the towels).
Set cooker to low ONLY and cook for 1-1 1/2 hours.
Line a 9 x 9-inch or small (10 x 7-inch) pan with aluminum foil. Lightly spray foil on bottom and sides.
Stir the contents of the slow cooker and if the chocolate completely melts when stirred it's done.
Pour into prepared pan and chill until set--about 30 minutes.
Remove the chocolate candy from the pan by lifting the edges of the foil. Place on a solid even surface.
Peel back the foil. Cut into squares. You may also make clusters by dropping heaping tablespoons full onto a parchment or foil-lined baking sheet.
Amount will vary as to how big you cut, but I got 24 squares from a 10 x 7-inch oblong pan

Notes

In place of the confectioner's coating disks (Candy Melts), you may also use the equivalent amount of almond bark cut up (almond bark is sold without the nuts and it a big bar of white candy coating)

Nutrition

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Crock Pot Cherry Almond Clusters

Judith Hannemann — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 00:00:55 +0000

You’ll think these cherry almond nut clusters come from a fancy confectionary shop, but surprise! They are super easy and made in your slow cooker!

Valentine’s Day will be here sooner than you think! Whip up a batch of these fruity and nutty chocolate clusters for your honey and watch them disappear! The original recipe comes from BHG. I omitted one ingredient and upped the fruit.

They’ll think you slaved away all day to make them, but the secret is, they are easy and your crock pot does all the work.

All you have to do is layer all the ingredients, making sure that the nuts are at the bottom of the crock and pretty much cover the entire bottom. The reason behind that is it prevents the chocolate from scorching as it forms a nice “bed” for the chocolate and nut layers to rest upon.

Your crock pot is an excellent appliance to temper chocolate because of it’s low and slow heat. You never use the high setting when working with chocolate–so please keep that in mind. There really is no way here you can speed up the process.

It cooks pretty quickly as it is–requiring only 1-1.5 hours. And to prevent any condensation from falling in the chocolate because chocolate will seize if ANY moisture is added, I used a couple of layers of paper towels right under the lid. I just laid them across the top of the crock and placed the lid on top of them. The lid will secure the paper towels so there’s no worries of it falling into the chocolate. I reckoned the cooking time was so short the lid wouldn’t build any condensation, but having made candy for many years, I wasn’t going to take the chance so just play it safe and use the paper towels.

This is also great candy for Washington’s birthday because you have the cherry element added.

These candies are a bit different from the usual crock pot peanut clusters because they are more fancy–but still easy!

You can also use almond bark in place of the candy melts (the disks) that I used because it amounts to the same thing. The brand I used was Wilton, but there are other manufacturers.

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Crock Pot Cherry Almond Clusters

You’ll think these cherry almond nut clusters come from a fancy confectionary shop, but surprise! They are super easy and made in your slow cooker!

Prep Time5

Cook Time1 30

Total Time1 35

Course: candy, desserts, Slow Cooker

Cuisine: American

Keyword: almond clusters, cherries, slow cooker baking

Servings: 45

Calories: 122kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

3 cups whole almonds
1 12 oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate broken up
8 oz dried cherries cut up if large
10 oz white candy coating -OR- almond bark

Instructions

Place almonds in the bottom of a 3.5-4 quart slow cooker.
If using almond bark, cut it up in small chunks about 1-inch.
Layer the chocolate chips, baking chocolate, cherries and candy coating, having the candy coating on top.
Place a layer of paper towels on top of the crock and secure them with the lid.
Cook on low ONLY for 1-1.5 hours. Candy will still appear whole, but if you stir it like in the photo in the post, and everything blends well, it's ready.
Drop chocolate mixture into paper bonbon cups (about 1.5-inches diameter at bottom). I got 45 bonbon cups out of this recipe.

Nutrition

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Chocolate Orange Fruit Bark–From BHG

Judith Hannemann — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Chocolate Orange Fruit Bark

A fruit-filled chocolate bark with a hint of orange. Perfect candy for the Christmas holidays or any time!

I’m having a really nice walk down memory lane with the new Better Homes & Gardens® cookbook I was sent to review.

16th Edition of Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

Years ago, when I first got married, I made my first candy recipe, English Toffee, out of that book. It got me hooked on candy making!

Barks were not in the old book–guess because they were not popular 30-odd years ago, but they are included in the newest edition. There’s a basic recipe and many variations on the side of the page. Here’s a couple of variations~~

Double Decker-melt dark as in original recipe; add 2 drops oil of peppermint; chill, then melt white, spread over and top with crushed candy canes.

Marble–melt chocolates as in original recipe and add 2 drops oil of peppermint to both colors. Drop one color randomly on prepared sheet, then drop other color in the spaces and swirl lightly with a knife. Top with crushed candy canes.

And this is the one I used of these variations to make this. It’s the “dried fruit” bark and I chose to use dried cherries. Absolutely fantastic!

Smooth as silk texture

And I learned something new from this book; the reason my other attempt at making bark was a minor fail. You MUST use confectioner’s coating–at least 50%–to get that smooth, silky appearance and texture. Confectioner’s coating is also known as candy melts (that’s a Wilton trade name), almond bark, candy coating or summer coating.

I decided to drizzle some melted vanilla candy coating on top of my bark just for a dramatic look, but it’s totally not necessary. I just melted that according to package directions and used about 4 oz of the chips.

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Chocolate Orange Fruit Bark --From BHG

A fruit-filled chocolate bark with a hint of orange. Perfect candy for the Christmas holidays or any time!

Prep Time15

Total Time15

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate bark, easy chocolate desserts

Servings: 10 -12

Calories: 222kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chopped
6 oz chocolate -or- vanilla-flavor candy coating chopped
1 tbsp shortening
1-2 tsp finely shredded orange or lemon peel optional
1 1/2 cups dried fruit raisins, cranberries, cherries, etc

Instructions

Line a large baking sheet with heavy foil; grease foil and set aside.
In a large microwave-safe bowl combine candy coating, chocolate, and shortening. Microwave, uncovered on 100% power (high) for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until chocolate melts, stirring every 30 seconds. If desired, add citrus peel; mix in fruit.
Pour mixture onto the baking sheet. Spread about 1/4 inch thick.
Chill candy about 30 minutes or until firm. Use foil to lift candy; carefully break into pieces. Store between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
Recipe duplicated from latest edition of the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook with permission from Better Homes & Garden & the publisher.

Nutrition

Chocolate Orange Fruit Bark

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English Toffee–A BHG Classic

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 18:57:00 +0000

English Toffee

A perennial favorite of candy lovers and classic recipe from Better Homes & Gardens®! This toffee is so easy to make, you’ll make it often.

I was very glad to see that this recipe was still in the latest edition of Better Homes & Gardens’ Cookbook.

BHG New Cookbook

This was the very first candy, and if I recall, the very first recipe I made from my original version of this cookbook way back when I first got married. That was a lot of years ago now.

Since way back then I was a novice candy maker, I appreciated all the clear and in-depth steps the book followed.

Easy to make

Everything was just text way back then, and in fact, there were very few photos in the book. Now I’m glad to say, there’s pictorial steps of key points (such as the stages that sugar syrup goes through) of candy making as well as photos for most of the recipes in the book. I imagine most folks are like me that you’d want to see the completed dish before you make it. If it catches your eye in a pic, chances are you’ll like it.

The book has been updated from my original version. It now includes many new recipes. A good deal of the new content features healthier fare than my old copy did, although there’s still plenty of good old “comfort food” included here. And a plus is that even though you have the original comfort-style recipe, there are hints at the bottom of the recipe to give you healthier alternatives.

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English Toffee--A BHG Classic

A perennial favorite of candy lovers and classic recipe from Better Homes & Gardens®! This toffee is so easy to make, you’ll make it often.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: candy

Cuisine: American

Keyword: candy recipe, english toffee, toffee

Servings: 48

Calories: 84kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds or pecans toasted
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp light-colored corn syrup
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans toasted

Instructions

Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Sprinkle the 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts in pan. Set pan aside.
Butter sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. In saucepan melt butter. Add sugar, water, and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture boils. Clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Reduce heat to medium; continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate, stirring frequently, till thermometer registers 290 degree F, soft-crack stage (about 15 minutes). Watch carefully after 280 degree F to prevent scorching. Remove saucepan from heat; remove thermometer. Pour candy into the prepared pan.
Let candy stand about 5 minutes or till firm; sprinkle with chocolate. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. When chocolate has softened, spread over candy. Sprinkle with the 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts. Chill until firm. When candy is firm, use foil to lift it out of pan; break into pieces. Store tightly covered. Makes about 1-1/2 pounds (48 servings).
Recipe duplicated from latest edition of the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook with permission from Better Homes & Garden & the publisher.

Nutrition

English Toffee

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Black and White Pretzel Mix

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Black and White Pretzel Mix

A bag of mini pretzels, some white chocolate, some dark chocolate and a microwave. What can be easier?

This is a KINDA healthy snack mix. It doesn’t overdo the chocolates, pretzels are really a better choice than chips and dark chocolate is pretty healthy so they say.

OK, I’m a nut for white chocolate, and I think this tastes better with it. But that’s just my opinion so try both flavors!!

For this you will need REAL white chocolate if that’s what you choose to use. It must contain cocoa butter to melt and drizzle correctly. White baking morsels don’t, and I don’t think those disks that Wilton puts out do either, but I did read the package and it says that it melts and drizzles nicely, but there will be a caveat here with it and I do recommend using the real deal.

Baker’s® Premium White contains the cocoa butter and so does the Ghiardelli® *BAR*.

Microwaving the white chocolate at 30 second intervals is the way to go. It will not look like it’s melting, so you do have to stir. I didn’t make too much mix, and used 2 squares. It melted nicely to the right consistency in a total of 1 minute, 10 seconds.

As to the regular semi-sweet chocolate, use the same microwave times and remember, do not get a speck of water in either, or the chocolate will seize. You can correct that somewhat by adding vegetable shortening (Crisco, for example) by the teaspoon until it’s smooth again, but it just won’t be the “same” so best advice I can give is, be patient, and do it slowly!!!

I used butter-flavored “waffle” pretzels and mini unsalted twists here. A new-wave flavor combo recently has been salt and dark chocolate, so by all means, use a salted variety if you like that.

FYI the little nonpareils are a pain YOU-KNOW-WHERE rolling around all over the place, but they do look pretty. But since they add no flavor and are only a decoration, leave them out if you’re making this as a snack for a family movie nite or something.

I used 1/2 a bag of each variety pretzel here, and use any amount you wish and as much chocolate as you wish. My instructions are a guide from what I did.

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Black and White Pretzel Mix

A bag of mini pretzels, some white chocolate, some dark chocolate and a microwave. What can be easier?

Prep Time10

Total Time10

Course: candy

Cuisine: American

Keyword: dark chocolate, Pretzel Mix, white chocollate

Servings: 8

Calories: 194kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

4 cups mini pretzels shape your choice
2 squares white chocolate see above regarding white chocolate
2 squares semi-sweet chocolate
colored decors optional

Instructions

Line a work surface with either baking parchment or wax paper.
Lay pretzels on parchment/wax paper with a small space between each pretzel.
Melt chocolates in separate microwave-proof bowls, according to melting directions on each package, usually this is 30 seconds for each square plus 10 seconds for each additional square.
Drizzle chocolate(s) over pretzels either with a spoon or a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. You can also use a plastic sandwich bag in place of the pastry bag and just cut a teeny bit off one corner.
Sprinkle with decors if using. Let set. This will take about 2 hrs OR refrigerate for about 15 minutes.

Nutrition

Black and White Pretzel Mix

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Butterscotch Zebras

Judith Hannemann — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 04:12:00 +0000

Butterscotch Zebras

So, what do you do with an open package of graham crackers where you used part for something else?

You make Butterscotch “Zebras”, of course. And surprise–they’re diet friendly too.

I had a pack of graham crackers I’d opened to make “bits” for another dish, and I knew there was nothing I could really do with them. I had tons of graham cracker crumbs, so I couldn’t make those. Didn’t want to eat them. Didn’t want to use a big Lock and Lock container just to put 2/3 of this package in. I also had about a scant cup of butterscotch chips, so the idea came to me to make a candy/cookie concoction similar to what I put in the dessert I’d made with some of the crackers.

So I melted the butterscotch chips–and the same caveat goes for these as melting white chocolate chips–NO LIQUID/MILK/CREAM. I’d forgotten that but was able to salvage the molten mixture. OK, it’s texture was more like fondant than ganache, but it could be worked with and it tasted fine.

Speaking of fine taste, that’s these cookies…or candy…or whatever you want to call them. I gave them a final drizzle of melted chocolate ganache just for effect, but it tastes fine. Plus I discovered I need a finer round decorating tip! I’d have liked the chocolate thinner because it would have looked better, but I seem to think the chocoholics would disagree there.

Butterscotch Zebras

12 whole graham crackers
1 cup butterscotch morsels
1-2 tbs Crisco (NOT butter or margarine)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
2 tbs heavy cream

Prepare a large cookie sheet by laying a piece of waxed paper or parchment across the bottom. Lay out graham crackers–I left mine whole but you could break them in half or even into individual quarters.

Melt butterscotch chips and Crisco in a microwave-proof bowl for 1 minute at HIGH. Stir. Keep stirring until there are no lumps. You may have to microwave for an additonal 10-30 seconds.

When butterscotch sauce is smooth, pour over graham crackers, trying to pour as evenly as possible to cover most, if not all, of the cracker. It’s OK if you don’t though.

Place in refrigerator to set butterscotch sauce; about 5 minutes.

When set, prepare chocolate ganache as follows–place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the cream, starting with 1 tbs (that may be all you need). Microwave for 30 seconds and stir until no lumps are in chocolate. You may have to microwave for an additionsl 10-20 seconds.

Drizzle over graham crackers. Refrigerate to set; about 10 minutes.

Makes 24 servings (1/2 a whole graham is a serving)

Butterscotch Zebras

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