Microwave Peanut Brittle

I have tried makiing peanut brittle a long time ago and successfully burned it.  I gave up on the idea of me ever making it.  I found this receipe at Mel's Kitchen Cafe blog and decided to give it another try since it wasn't going to take a long time.  It was a success and I just might add it to my collection of Christmas goodies.  Every microwave is different so be warned to pay attention and watch carefully the first time and then make adjustments for your microwave.  Enjoy!

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups dry roasted peanuts (I just used roasted unsalted peanuts and they were great)
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda

Butter a large baking sheet and set aside.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the sugar and corn syrup and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Stir. Microwave for another 2 minutes. The mixture should be starting to turn a light yellow/amber color. Stir in the peanuts. Microwave an additional 3-5 minutes, watching carefully, until the mixture turns golden brown (the color of peanut brittle).(I did mine for 4 minutes)
Stir in the butter and vanilla until the butter is completely melted. Microwave for 1 more minute. Stir in the baking soda. The mixture will become very foamy and thick as you stir.
Carefully spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Cool completely. Break into pieces. The brittle can be made ahead and stored covered, at room temperature, for three days.

Cereal Candy

I have begun baking and making candy for the season.  Here is one of my favorites.  It comes from my childhood.  My mother always fed us very healthy food and never too much of it.  We had treats but not very often.  I can't believe that she made this for Christmas.  It is very addicting and totally bad for you.  I have continued the tradition.  My children love it and the people I give it too ask for the recipe.  So here it is.  Enjoy the season.

2 cups Trix
2 cups Honeycomb
2 cups Rice Chex
2 cups small colored marshmallows, not white
2 cups slivered almonds (the healthy part)
2 lbs. white almond bark or white chocolate chips

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Melt the almond bark in the microwave very carefully and pour over your dry ingredients.  Combine and then spoon out onto parchment paper.  Be fast because it does set up fast.

Microwave Carmels

I saw this on Pinterest and just had to try them. They were simple and only took a few minutes to make. I am sure that they don't taste as good as the real ones when you stir at the stove all day but they were a pretty good substitution if you are in a hurry and need some caramel.

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup corn syrup

Combine all the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 6 minutes stirring after every two minutes. If you want you can add vanilla but they are also good without or you could add nuts or after you pour it into your buttered pan you could sprinkle with a little sea salt. I used a pan that was 8 inches by 6 inches. Also, this made a soft Carmel that needed to be refrigerated. I tried it again and did it 7 minutes and they are a little firmer and don't need to be refrigerated. You could dip these caramels in chocolate or make your own turtles. Have fun making your own Carmel.

Homemade Marshmallows

These aren't the best pictures but I wanted you to see how to make the molds for the egg shaped marshmallows. The ones on the right I have frosted with melted chocolate chips so there isn't too much chocolate on them. The ones on the left I flavored with cherry and the chocolate ones are just vanilla. They were super easy to make and taste yummy!

Prepare molds for marshmallow eggs: Fill 3 or more 9x13 pans with about 3 cups of flour each (smooth and level). Make mold depressions in the flour with plastic eggs that you have stashed somewhere. Leave a depression as deep and smooth as possible.
Marshmallow filling: In a mixing bowl, dissolve 2 T of Knox unflavored gelatin in 6 T. cold water. I just let this sit while I was doing the molds and making the syrup. In a saucepan mix 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup water. Stir and dissolve the mixture over heat while bringing to a boil. Remove from heat once it barely starts to boil and pour over the softened gelatin. With a wire whisk stir until dissolved and mixed. Whip the mixture with an electric mixer (I used my kitchen aid) for about 5 minutes. Just before completely whipped add a dash of salt and your flavoring. Spoon mixture into molds until they are completely full. Work fast because this mixture sets up fast (about 10-15 minutes).
When it is set gently turn the eggs over so they are completely coated with flour. Then you can just eat them or dip them in chocolate.

Caramel

Every year at this time I begin a candy making marathon. It’s tradition and I love it! Without a doubt the best thing I make is homemade caramels! I have to make two batches around here one for us, and one for everyone else---seriously this stuff is incredible!!

Caramel

4 c. sugar
1 c. whipping cream
1 1/2 c. milk (I used 2%)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (I used fat free, not that these are healthy or anything!)
2 c. corn syrup
1 c. butter
2 tsp. vanilla

Combine sugar, cream, milk, condensed milk, corn syrup and butter in a 6 quart or larger pan. Stir over medium heat until mixture reaches a boil.

From here you really need to stir constantly to prevent burning. When the mixture turns light brown, clip a candy thermometer on the side of your pan and continue stirring until candy reaches 240 degrees, or soft ball. (make sure to adjust temperature if you are above sea level: –2 degrees for every 1,000 feet above)

I have to be honest with you, this takes a LONG time. I think I stood there stirring for well over an hour, but it’s worth it!!

Once you have reached soft ball, remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla.  Then pour into a buttered 9x13 pan. Let the caramel sit for 24 hours (it really only lasts overnight around here) and the cut into pieces.

Pretzel Turtles

Easy Pretzel Turtles (Recipe from Our Best Bites Blog)

small pretzels
Rolo candies - one bag has about 55 candies
Pecan halves - or optionally peanuts, cashews, almonds and m&m's
Optional: almond bark or white chocolate for drizzling

This is easy as can be! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place pretzels on a parchment lined baking sheet. I like to use parchment paper for easy handling, but you can also put them on foil, a silpat, or directly onto the cookie sheet.

Unwrap your Rolo candies and place one on top of each pretzel like a cute little hat.

Place pan in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Remove pan from oven and take a pecan (or other nut or M&M) and gently press it right into the center of the chocolate candy.

Drizzle with almond bark or white chocolate. Just melt some in a plastic baggie and nip the corner off to drizzle. A little goes a long way; I used a half a square of almond bark for half a batch and had plenty left over.

Peppermint Bark

After reading LOTS of peppermint bark recipes I finally combined a couple and made some. Much to my surprise it worked and it tastes good! So if you like chocolate and peppermint - you need to try this Christmas candy!

1 12 ounce package chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk) I used milk chocolate
1 pound white chocolate or almond bark - I used almond bark
1/2 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candy - I used a bit more

You can buy flavored bark or real chocolate. If you want your layers to stick to each other,
atleast one of the layers needs to be real chocolate. However, bark is a bit easier to melt and
not ruin...so I went with one of each. The bottom layer is the easiest so I used the bottom layer
as the real chocolate. You can do it however you want.

Line a 9x11 pan with aluminum foil. Spray. Spread your chocolate chips evenly on the bottom of
the pan. Slightly melt in the oven until you can spread them. Maybe 5 minutes on low heat. Using a spatula spread the chocolate evenly over the pan. Put in the refrigerator. It needs about 20 minutes to set up. Take it out of the refrigerator and let it warm up for 1-2 minutes
before you spread the next layer on so the layers bond together better.

Crush your candy canes. I recommend using a freezer bag (a sandwich bag is not durable enough) and crush them with a hammer, meat tenderizer, whatever you have that is heavy.

Melt the white layer. If you use real white chocolate you need a double boiler or use a metal bowl on top of a pan of water (don't let the bowl touch the water). If you use almond bark you can do it in the microwave or on the stove, follow the directions on the package it came in.

Mix some of the crushed candy cane (I used the real fine powder) into the melted white layer.
Spread on top of the chocolate layer. Then spread the rest of the crushed candy cane on top of
the white chocolate. Let it set in the refrigerator until completely hard. Then take the foil out
and break the candy into pieces.

Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. I think it's easier to eat and tastes better if
it has set out on the counter for just a couple of minutes and warmed up just a bit - so I 'warm up' a couple of pieces every day!

The almond bark comes in a 1.2 pound package (or something like that). I bought a candy mold at Michaels for $2. I melted the left over almond bark and some extra crushed candy canes to make peppermint candy for the kids. They love them. They were so easy and set up really fast (5-10 minutes) in the fridge and popped out so easy. The kids like the shapes. It was easy and fun.

Enjoy!