Peanut Brittle

 Peanut Brittle

- House of Nash Eats

2 c sugar
1 c corn syrup

1/2 c water

1/2 t salt

1/2 c salted butter, cubed

2 1/2 c salted roasted peanuts

1 T vanilla extract

1 t baking soda

• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (or butter).
• In a heavy-bottomed pan, combine sugar, corn syrup, water and salt.
• Cook, stirring frequently, until it reaches 280 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
• Add butter and peanuts, and continue to cook for approx 7-10 minutes, stirring constantly, until it reaches 300 degrees F.
• When it reaches 300 degrees F, remove from heat and add vanilla and baking soda, stirring vigorously to combine. 
• Immediately pour into the prepared baking sheet, spreading as thin as you can/ to the edges.
• Let it cool. Break into pieces. 

Can be frozen. Otherwise, keeps in an airtight container at room temperature about 1 week. 

I like to line a candy tin with parchment paper to store. 

Caramels

 Caramels

- All Recipes 

I make these every Christmas. They are a great addition to a cookie tray.

• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
  2 cups white sugar
  1 cup packed brown sugar
  1 cup butter
  1 cup corn syrup
  1 cup evaporated milk 
  1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
• Grease 12x15 inch pan. Attach a candy thermometer to a medium pot.
• Put the whipping cream, sugars, butter, corn syrup and evaporated milk into the pot. Over medium heat, stir until it reaches 250 degrees F. Remove pot from the heat. Stir in vanilla. Pour into greased pan. Let cool completely. Cut into small squares. Wrap in waxed paper.
• I usually put these in a ziplock bag into the deep freeze until it is time to package as gifts or put in a tin for enjoying.
• Yield 60 caramels.
• 
  

Almond Toffee

Heath candy bars are one of my favorites. Whenever we make the rare trip to Dairy Queen, my go-to is a Heath blizzard. 

This is essentially a Heath candy bar, only easier to make. Instead of individual pieces of toffee dipped in chocolate, you spread out a layer of toffee, top with a layer of chocolate, then break into pieces.  For this batch, I used sliced almonds instead of chopping them. It's not as pretty, but it's just as tasty. (You can chop, use slivered or sliced. Whatever you prefer or have on hand).

This is a re-post of this recipe. When I made it a few years ago for the first time, I didn't take any pictures. And I didn't know that it would become an annual tradition.  Because I now make it every year at Christmas-time, this recipe bears repeating. 

I have tried other toffee recipes that are a lot more finicky. This one has turned out every time. If you like to make Christmas candy, or if you'd like to start, try this one. I love it. It's a reliable recipe and it's definitely a keeper.

Almond Toffee

- Women of Great Taste

1 cup butter (no substitute)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds, toasted
1 bar (7 ounces) milk chocolate 
1/2 c & 1/4 c finely chopped almonds, toasted

Generously butter a half-sheet pan. In a heavy saucepan over medium high heat cook butter, sugar, salt, water and corn syrup to hard crack stage (290 degrees) stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Immediately remove from heat and stir in 1/2 c almonds. Pour into prepared pan and spread mixture to the edges. Break chocolate bar on top of toffee. Once it softens and starts to melt, spread over toffee and sprinkle with 1/4 c almonds. Chill until chocolate is firm, about an hour. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Makes 2 1/2 pounds

I found these free Christmas chalkboard printables for homemade treats from lilyandval.com. Click to link to the website.  

Caramel Corn

I've been making this caramel corn since college, thanks to my friend, Lisa. It's always a hit.

Tyler helped me make a batch today.  First, we popped our popcorn...

 

 Meanwhile, mix your caramel ingredients together, let them boil for 5 minutes, then add vanilla and baking soda. It'll foam up a bit when you add the baking soda.

 

Mix in a paper bag (so you can throw that away afterward instead of washing another dish), and spread on a couple of jelly roll pans sprayed with cooking oil.

 

Bake for an hour and voila!

Caramel Corn

Slightly adapted from Lisa Jaberg's recipe

 

1 1/4 cups uncooked popcorn (or around 7 quarts of popped popcorn)

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup butter (the original recipe calls for margarine, but butter is so much better)

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

 

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Spray 2 lined baking sheets with cooking spray.

 

Pop popcorn. Meanwhile, bring sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt to a boil over medium heat. Stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Boil for 5 minutes. (No need to stir at that point).

 

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda. Pour over popcorn (in a paper bag). Mix well and turn into baking sheets.

 

Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes, and rotating baking racks each time.

 

Let cool and separate kernels.

Enjoy!

 

Fudge

A couple of years ago, a coworker brought some fudge to share. It was delicious. I couldn't stay out of it. I didn't forget about it, and finally got the recipe and made it myself. I just love this recipe!

The fudge is pictured in the center.

On the left are Black Bottom Brownies and on the right are Samoa's. For the Samoa's, I used this caramel recipe in place of the packaged caramels the original recipe calls for. Next time, I'll look for a more sturdy shortbread as this crumbled off very easily. Anyway, onto the fudge!
Fudge

-Carol Abrahams

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 can evaporated milk
4 1/2 cups sugar
18 large marshmallows
8 oz Hershey Chocolate (I used a combination of Special Dark and Milk
  Chocolate)

12 oz Chocolate Chips (I used Nestle semisweet chips)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups chopped nuts (I don't like fudge with nuts, so I didn't use this)

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Stir in evaporated milk and sugar. Over low heat, bring to a low boil for 10 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, add sugar mixture to marshmallows.  Stir until dissolved. Add Hershey chocolate and chocolate chips  slowly, stirring well until the mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add nuts, if desired.

Pour into a pan lined with wax paper. (I used an 8"x11.5" casserole).

Cool until solid and turn out onto a cutting board. Remove wax paper and cut into pieces.

Chocolate Covered Turtles

Christmas is the time for candy making. I have a few recipes on my go-to list, but I have a lot more recipe testing to do. After making 3 different batches of Turtles before Christmas this year, I felt like I needed to wait to try this recipe. I'm glad I tried them. This is my new go-to Turtle recipe...I'm adding it to my list of candy-making musts for next Christmas. If I can hide them, they may last until Valentine's Day.

Chocolate Covered Turtles

-Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

4 tablespoons butter, cut up, plus more for pans

3/4 pound pecan halves (about 3 1/2 cups), toasted (Preheat oven to 350
   degrees. Spread pecans on a cookie sheet. Put in oven for 5-10 minutes,
   or until the pecans become aromatic. Be careful not to let them scorch).
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Directions

Generously butter 2 baking sheets.
On the baking sheets, arrange 2 pecan halves together, leaving 2 inches of space between each cluster.

In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the evaporated milk, the corn syrup, and sugar and bring to a boil. Add the remaining 1/2 cup evaporated milk and the 4 tablespoons butter, and cook, stirring constantly, until it reaches the soft ball stage, 240 degrees F. (Use a candy thermometer - you want to be precise). Remove from heat immediately, and stir in the vanilla.

Working quickly and carefully, use a tablespoon, (I used a cookie scoop), and spoon caramel on top of each nut cluster and let harden. (If the caramel becomes too stiff to pour, return to low heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until it returns to the proper consistency).

To make the chocolate coating, heat in the microwave for 1 minute. Remove and stir. Return for 15-30 seconds and stir, repeating until chocolate is melted, but is cool to the touch. Be careful not to overheat or scorch.

Drizzle about 1/2 tablespoon of tempered chocolate over each cluster. Chill to harden. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, with waxed paper separating the layers to prevent sticking. Or you may freeze the turtles if you will store them longer.


Makes approximately 70 turtles.

White Chocolate Cinnamon Pretzels

I have a recipe to add to your holiday baking list. I saw it on Pinterest and made it this weekend. It's super easy. So easy, in fact, it's almost embarrassing. And, it doesn't take many ingredients. It's sweet, salty and crunchy. Addictive and delicious.

White Chocolate Cinnamon Pretzels

Ingredients:
1 bag of pretzels (16-18 oz)
2/3 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup cinnamon sugar for sprinkling
1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, and cinnamon.
2. Pour pretzels into oil mixture. Stir until coated.
3. Microwave for 1 minute, remove and stir. Microwave 45 seconds more.
4. Spread pretzels evenly onto two cookie sheets.
5. While still warm, sprinkle cinnamon sugar generously.
6. Melt white chocolate (on low heat, be careful not to burn) and drizzle over cooled pretzels.
7. Store in an airtight container.

Almond Toffee

Now that we are on winter break, I have been in the mood for Christmas baking and treat making. I enjoyed trying all new recipes (to me) this year - peppermint meltaways, surprise crinkles, peanut brittle, chocolate caramel pecan bars, butter pecan fudge, and almond toffee (like a Heath bar). Probably the simplest and my favorite is the almond toffee. I didn't intend to make it originally, but found I had enough leftover ingredients to make it. It's probably a good thing that I didn't know before now how easy this is to make!

Almond Toffee - From Women of Great Taste
1 cup butter (no substitute)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds, toasted
1 bar (7 ounces) milk chocolate
1/2-3/4 cup finely chopped almonds, toasted

Generously spray or butter a half-sheet cake pan. In a heavy saucepan over medium high heat cook butter, sugar, salt, water and corn syrup to hard crack stage (290 degrees) stirring constantly (I stirred frequently, not constantly) with a wooden spoon. Immediately remove from heat and stir in almonds. Pour into prepared pan and spread mixture to the edges. Cool for at least a few minutes. Microwave chocolate until melted. Spread over toffee and sprinkle with remaining almonds. Chill for one hour. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Makes 2 1/2 pounds