Almond Bark Pretzels

Almond Bark Pretzels have been a standard Christmas time treat in my family for as long as I can remember.  My mom made these every year at Christmastime and I continue to make every year as well, but they do take a little time and patience (well, at least for me).  You can use a double boiler method to melt the almond bark, but I really like using my electric fondue pot on a low setting so I don't have to keep an I on the double boiler.  What's also fun about these little guys is that you can sprinkle on some holiday sprinkles before the bark hardens up to add that little something special to them.

Ingredients:

1 block of almond bark squares
1 large bag of mini pretzels
slivers of parafin wax






















Break apart almond bark bar and put in top part of a double boiler or an electric fondue pot on low heat.  Let it melt.  Add in slivers of parafin wax and mix until it is incorporated.






















Drop in pretzels (about 10 at a time) and stir them around until they are coated.





















Pick out the pretzels with a tweezers and shake off excess almond bark.















Set coated pretzels on waxed paper and let cool until bark is hardened.  Store in airtight container.

Homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries

Chocolate covered cherries are one of my dad's favorite sweets and for Christmas I wanted to make up a batch of them from scratch.  I was afraid at first of making them but they ended up being super easy and didn't take much time.  The key is to make them several weeks in advance to when you will want to eat them as they are better as they "age" to make them more gooey inside.

Ingredients:

60 maraschino cherries with or without stems

3 Tbsp butter, softened

3 Tbsp corn syrup

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 pound chocolate confectioners' coating

Method:

Drain cherries and set on paper towels to dry.

(I moved them to a second paper towel to pat them dry.)

In a medium bowl, combine butter and corn syrup until smooth. 

Stir in confectioners' sugar and knead to form a dough. Chill to stiffen if necessary. 

Scoop up about 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of dough.

After scooping the teaspoon ball, I flatten it out a bit.

Then place the cherry in the middle and wrap the dough around to enclose the cherry.

Lightly roll the ball around between your hands to make it round and smooth.

 Chill on a cookie sheet in the fridge until firm.

Melt confectioners' coating chocolate in a heavy saucepan over low heat or on low heat in a fondue pot.

Drop the balls one at a time in the melted chocolate and scoop up with a fork.  Tap edge of pan to let excess chocolate drip off.  Use a spoon to help place the coated cherry on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.  Or if you have stems on your cherries, dip each cherry in by its stem, and place on waxed paper lined sheets. 

Chill until completely set. Store in an airtight container in a cool place. They are best if we wait 1 or 2 weeks before eating them so the insides can get gooey.

Puppy Chow

I don't know how this sweet creation ever got the name "Puppy Chow" but it is so good. Filled with peanut butter, chocolate, powdered sugar and crunchy cereal, you just can't stop eating it, so of course you always have to double the recipe if you are like me.  I've found that you can use either Chrispix or rice or corn chex-type cereal.  I think in the UK you could try to use Shreddies but it will be a bit different.


Ingredients:

8 cups Crispix or Chex cereal (rice or corn)

1/2 cup butter or margerine

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter (creamy)

2 cups powdered sugar (icing sugar)

Method:

Melt butter, chocolate chips and peanut butter.  

I like to put it all in a medium sized glass bowl and put it in the microwave.  Start with cooking on high for 1 minute.  Then stir and keep cooking on high for 30 seconds at a time and stirring until the mixture is smooth.  Otherwise you can heat it all up in a thick 2 quart pan on the stove on low-medium heat.

Put cereal in a large bowl and pour chocolate over the top of the cereal.

Gently fold the cereal with a spatula to coat it with chocolate.

Put powdered sugar in a brown paper sack or even larger bowl that has a cover and pour the cereal/chocolate mixture over the top.   Shake bag or bowl well.  Add more powdered sugar if needed to help coat the cereal.

Pour out on large cookie sheet, separate out any large clumps, and let cool.  Store in air tight container.

Butterfly Pretzels

I came up with a fun little candy butterfly for my daughter's butterfly birthday party.  The taste as good as they look and super easy to make for your favorite little butterflies.

Ingredients:

Thin stick pretzels
Mini twist pretzels
white baking chocolate
bar of baking milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
colorful sprinkles
M&M's

Method:

Melt white chocolate or almond bark until smooth.  Dip mini twist pretzels in chocolate and set on waxed or parchment paper.  

Sprinkle immediately with colored sprinkles or decorative sugars.  Let dry.

Melt milk or semi-sweet chocolate.  Dip stick pretzels in chocolate to coat about 2/3 of the stick.  Then place the coated pretzel sticks between two coated mini twist pretzels that are positioned like wings.

Layout the butterflies on waxed paper again until the milk/semi-sweet chocolate dries.

For the finishing touch, dab a little chocolate on the back of an M&M.

Place the M&M at the top of the stick pretzel to make the butterfly's head.

Let all of the chocolate completely dry before very carefully storing in an airtight container.  I've found that keeping the "butterflies" cool like in a fridge helps a little bit.

Check out more things from the Butterfly Birthday Party.

Chocolate Cookie Bark

This is a new recipe I tried for Christmas this year and it was a hit. I found the recipe in an old Kraft Food and Family magazine which are just fabulous. It's very simple to make and a nice goodie to add onto your holiday cookie platter or to wrap up for a holiday gift. For a different variation you could omit the peanut butter and sprinkle 1/4 cup dried cranberries over all the chocolate before refrigerating.

Ingredients:

1 package (8 oz) semi-sweet or dark baking chocolate (200g bar)

1 package (8 oz) white baking chocolate (200 g bar)

2 Tbsp peanut butter

10 Oreo or chocolate sandwich cookies

Method:

Place semi-sweet or dark chocolate and white chocolate in separate medium microwaveable bowls. Microwave until complete melted, following directions on the package.

Add peanut butter to the white chocolate; stir until well blended.

Crumble half the cookies over chocolate in each bowl.

Mix them both up well.

Drop spoonfuls of the chocolate mixtures onto waxed paper-covered baking sheet, alternating the colors of the chocolates.

Cut through chocolate mixtures several times with a butter knife for marble effect.

Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until firm.

Break into desired sized pieces. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

S'mores Tarts

S'mores are definitely an American favorite for summer time campfires and the 4th of July, but I found this fun little recipe to make s'mores in a different way for anytime of the year. I actually made it for England's Bonfire Night which is celebrated on the 5th of November. They create huge bonfires in the fall time to remember an assassination attempt on the king. It is the only time of the year I could find big roasting marshmallows so I thought these would be perfect to make to celebrate this interesting British holiday.

Ingredients:

7 whole graham crackers (digestive biscuits) (1 cup/250 mL finely crushed)
1/4 cup (50 mL) powdered sugar (icing sugar)
6 tbsp (90 mL) butter, melted
4 bars (1.55 oz or 43 g each) milk chocolate candy, divided
12 large marshmallows

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Place graham crackers into a large resealable plastic bag. Finely crush into crumbs using a rolling pin. Combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar and butter in bowl.

Using a small scoop, place scant scoop of crumb mixture in each cup of mini-muffin pan.

Press crumbs to form shallow cups with little wooden tart shaper. Bake 4-5 minutes or until edges are bubbling.

Meanwhile, break two of the candy bars into rectangles. Remove pan from oven; place one rectangle into each cup.

Cut marshmallows in half crosswise using kitchen shears dipped in cold water.

Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Return to oven 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows are just slightly softened.

Remove from oven to a cooling rack; cool 15 minutes. Carefully remove cups from pan. Cool completely.

Break remaining candy bars and place in glass bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute-11/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds.

Dip the top of each marshmallow in melted chocolate.

Turn top-side up and let stand 40 minutes-1 hour or until set.

For a little extra fun you could sprinkle colored candies on top while the chocolate is still soft.

Yield: 24 cups