Candy Corn Pretzel Kiss Treats

My apologies for the stupid name on this recipe, I didn't know what to call it.  This is another really easy Halloween treat recipe, just 3 ingredients and no real cooking involved!  I found these on Pinterest, along with pretty much every new recipe I’ve tried lately.  That website is brilliant!  ANYHOW…

These are so good, and so easy to make…and so easy to walk by and pop into your mouth about 873 times a day.

Ingredients

mini pretzels (you can the square ones, or regular twists)

Hershey’s Hugs (or regular Kisses if you aren’t into white chocolate)

candy corn

Instructions

Shiny Hugs being smooshed.

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2)  Line baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.  Arrange pretzels on foil in a single layer, not touching.

3)  Unwrap Kisses and place one on each pretzel.  Put baking sheet in oven for about 3 minutes, just until Kisses start to get shiny.

4)  Take baking sheet out of oven and smoosh down each Kiss very gently with a candy corn.  Let cool and then transfer to serving platter/bowl/your mouth.  (I put them in the fridge for about 20 minutes to speed up cooling.)

enjoy!

 ~ j

Halloween Candy Toffee Bark

I’ve made this overdose of candy treats twice now.  It really does sound like a ridiculous amount of chocolate, candy, and sugar -- but it's also ridiculously yummy.  The first time I basically followed this recipe:  Halloween Candy Bark.  Ryan took it on a backpacking trip for one of his classes, and of course college students loved it.  :)   The second time I did a combo with this recipe:  Chocolate Graham Toffee Bark.  I preferred my second method.  Ryan took it into school, and people (full-blown adults, not just students!) were asking for the recipe right away...so here it is:

Halloween Candy Toffee Bark

Ingredients:

½ box (approx.) graham crackers

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup white sugar

1 lb bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

3 Butterfinger candy bars (or 8 fun-size bars), roughly chopped

3 toffee candy bars (or 6 fun-size bars), roughly chopped

8 peanut butter cups (or 16 mini cups), cut into wedges

¼ cup honey roasted peanuts

3 oz. yellow & orange M&Ms, coarsely chopped

3 oz. good quality* white chocolate, finely chopped

Instructions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 10”x15” jelly-roll pan with non-stick foil**.  Arrange whole graham crackers to cover the bottom of the pan in a single layer, breaking up the last few to fit the entire space.

2)  Melt butter on stovetop over medium heat.  Add brown sugar and white sugar, stirring to combine.  Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and let mixture gently bubble for about 4 minutes.  Remove from heat.

3)  Carefully pour butter/sugar mixture over the graham crackers, spreading to cover evenly with a rubber spatula.

4)  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let rest until bubbling subsides.

5)  Melt chopped bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler, stirring frequently until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Pour the chocolate over the graham crackers, spreading evenly to cover with a rubber spatula.

6)  Evenly sprinkle the chopped candy and peanuts over the melted chocolate.  Press gently to adhere the candy to the melted chocolate.  Place in refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.

7)  Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler, until smooth.  Drizzle white chocolate over the chilled candy bark.  Return to the fridge and let chill again until the white chocolate is set, about 30 minutes more.

8)  Peel the sheet of chocolate away from the foil and break into irregular pieces.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve.

*Don’t cheap out on this.  The first time I made this with store brand white chocolate chips, and it did not drizzle well at all.  When I used good white chocolate the second time, it melted and drizzled perfectly.

**Don’t be dumb like me and decide to use waxed paper because you have a lot more of it than foil…the paper will stick to the bottom of the bark and be a pain the rear to peel off.

enjoy!

 ~ j

Soft Chocolatey Chocolate & Mint Chip Cookies

I finally did what I've been wanting to do for about 9 months now.  No, not finish gestating something, I made the super yummy Soft Chocolatey Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies with mint chips instead of peanut butter chips.  And here's what I have to say...do yourself a favor, find these somewhere, and buy them...you can thank me later:

Mint lovers, these cookies are fantabulous!  I replaced the 1 cup of peanut butter chips with 1 cup of these Andes baking chips, and I also added 1/2 teaspoon of mint extract.  BUT, next time I am going to replace ALL the chips with mint (so that would be no chocolate chips, no peanut butter chips, just 2 cups of mint chips).

enjoy!
 ~ j

Witch Hats!

Okay, so this isn't exactly cooking...but it's something cute I made in the kitchen and took pictures of, so it works for me.  I saw these around on the interwebs somewhere and had to make them because they looked so freakin' cute.  Well, they don't look quite as cute in my photos, but I think you get the idea.  I need to take a class on food photography.  Do you think there is such a thing?  I also need better lighting in my kitchen for food photos.  ANYWAYS...

I've been cooking up all sorts of stuff lately, and remembering to take pictures!  So hopefully I'll get my slack-ass in gear and actually start posting again.  I made these, and Ryan took them into work, and everyone thought I was cool.  So make them and get lots of props with hardly any work...it's fabulous.  And now, finally, what you've been waiting for...Witch Hats!!

Ingredients:
fudge stripe cookies
Hershey's kisses
orange Wilton decorator icing in a can (or tube, I guess)

Instructions:
1)  Turn cookies upside-down.
2)  Squeeze some icing onto the bottom of a kiss.
3)  Smoosh kiss onto the middle of upside-down cookie.
4)  Get mad kudos with minimal effort.

enjoy!
 ~ j