Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

I took a bit of a break from the world of blogging. I was feeling a bit lazy, to be honest, and uninspired. But there's nothing like putting up your Christmas tree and decorating your house to get you in the mood for baking. I saw these cookies over at Lauren's Latest and knew that I had to try them. In her version, the dough is rolled in icing sugar before baking, but I omitted that step. I figured with my addition of a white chocolate glaze and a sprinkling of candy canes after baking, they wouldn't miss the extra sweetness. These cookies taste just like a sugar cookie, the centers are nice and chewy - and the candy cane adds a hint of mint - nothing overwhelming. Festive, pretty and delicious -enough said.

Recipe for Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

Source: adapted from: Lauren's Latest
4 regular sized candy canes, crushed with rolling pin, divided
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
2 ounces white chocolate, chopped (for drizzling)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, and set aside. Place unwrapped candy canes in a small zip loc bag and crush with a rolling pine. Set aside. In bowl of stand mixer, using paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg, scraping sides bowl as needed. With mixer on lowest setting, add your dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add about three-quarters of the crushed candy canes and gently combine. Roll the dough into balls using a scant table-spoon for each and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges just begin to turn a light golden brown. Allow to cool for a couple minutes before moving onto wire rack to cool completely. Melt the white chocolate in your microwave at 50% power, watching closely. I always do 1 minute - then stir until completely smooth. Drizzle white chocolate over cooled cookies and sprinkle remaining crushed candy canes over the chocolate before it sets. Allow to set for about 30 minutes.

Chewy Chocolate Caramel Popcorn

When I was tidying my spice cabinet, I came across 3 Mars Bar chocolate bars. Apparently I had done an excellent job hiding them from myself. Many chocolate cravings have been had since those bars were stashed back there, had I remembered them, this chocolate caramel popcorn would have never been born.

I'm not sure what inspired this creation, or why it even occurred to me to melt the chocolate bars and pour them over popcorn. I've made Mars Bar Squares several times in the past, but not once had I thought to replace the rice krispies with popcorn. My bad.

I basically followed the recipe for the Mars Bar Squares, but since I only had three, (the recipe calls for four) I cut the butter back by 2 Tablespoons and held back some of the microwave popcorn. I think four would be perfect to use an entire bag of popcorn and so I've written the recipe accordingly.

For some reason, I decided to bake the popcorn after coating it with the chocolate, even though I really liked the chewiness of the unbaked popcorn. So you can go either way... if you like your caramel corn chewy, skip the baking step. However, if you prefer a little bit of crispiness along with the chew, then proceed to bake it for NO MORE than 5 minutes. The unbaked version is the perfect consistency for forming popcorn balls - should you be so inclined. 

Needless to say, this was deliciously decadent. Sweet, with a hint of salt from the the popcorn. Between me and my kids, it didn't stand a chance.

Chewy Chocolate Caramel Popcorn

(tease-spoonofsugar original)

4 Mars bars (regular sized), chopped

1/2 cup butter

1 bag of microwave popcorn (I used light)

Pop one bag of microwave pop corn and pour into a large mixing bowl. Make sure to remove any unpopped kernels. Melt the butter with the Mars bars over low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture comes together. (It will appear to separate at one point, keep stirring). Pour over the popcorn and mix until thoroughly coated. At this point, you can eat it, if you like your popcorn chewy. If you want it partly crispy, spread over a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F. for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool, break into pieces and enjoy.

Milk Chocolate Nutella Sea Salt Fudge

This fudge is super easy and really, really delicious. It's silky and creamy, and while it is definitely sweet, as all fudges are, I've definitely had much sweeter fudge than this. And it doesn't have that dry, grainy texture that a lot of fudges have. Think truffles...that's the best way to describe the texture. Plus, there's no need for a candy thermometer. You could totally whip up a batch of this in 10 minutes flat.

Recipe for Milk Chocolate Nutella Sea Salt Fudge
(Adapted from: Tasty Kitchen)

14 ounces of sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces, good quality milk chocolate, chopped
1 cup Nutella
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/4 teaspoon (approximately) sea salt

Prepare and 8x8 inch pan by spraying generously with non-stick cooking spray and then lining with parchment paper, leaving a 2 inch overhang on all sides. In a medium-large glass bowl combine all the ingredients except the salt. Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until the mixture is smooth and the chocolate has melted. Pour mixture into prepared pan and sprinkle with sea salt. Chill until set, at least 2 hours. Remove fudge from pan by pulling on the overhang, and cut into small squares.

White Chocolate Cornflake Crunch & Pretzel Clusters

Have you heard of the Momofuko Milk Bar cookies? They look crazy good. Crazy. Good. These are not them. These are something else entirely. Momofuko cookies are basically a very buttery chocolate chip cookie batter with marshmallows and 'cornflake crunch'. But this 'cornflake crunch' is a recipe unto itself. The cornflake crunch consists of crushed cornflakes, butter, milk powder, salt and a tiny bit of sugar. It's baked at a low temperature until it becomes golden. Then it's added to the cookie recipe. Totally decadent. Totally right up my alley.

I decided to make those cookies. HOWEVER. After I made the cornflake crunch, I went back to the recipe for the actual cookies, and it was then that I decided to read the reviews. Turns out very few people had success with the cookie itself. Too much butter, not holding its shape etc. Some of the commenters/reviewers were downright pissed off about the recipe, claiming that there was clearly an error on the website. So I found myself in a bit of a conundrum. Had I actually read those reviews earlier, I would not have gone out and purchased a box of Cornflakes and made this 'Cornflake Crunch'. But alas, I am not a planner. I was knee deep in the process and had no idea what the hell to do with all my cornflake crunch, which despite the article, is not something I would eat on its own. It's good, but it needs to be part of something bigger.

Perhaps the cookie recipe will be revisited in time, but for now, I'm in no mood to tinker around with something that may or may not turn out. I haven't the time nor the patience. So, instead of just tossing the Cornflake Crunch, I tucked it away until I could figure out what to do with it. Well. I may have stumbled onto something people! I ended up melting some white chocolate, which, as you know, is very sweet, and adding the Cornflake Crunch as well as a handful of broken pretzels and voila! "White Chocolate Cornflake Crunch & Pretzel Clusters" was born. It's delicious! Sweet and salty, and perfectly crunchy. Not to mention super easy too. I've seen chocolate covered cornflakes a few times, but this takes that concept to a whole new level. These cornflakes are buttery and toasted, so much better than just using regular cornflakes. So...if you're looking for an interesting and easy candy to make for your Christmas holiday baking, look no further. Some of the best dishes come from kitchen blunders and improvising. Case and point.

RECIPE FOR WHITE CHOCOLATE CORNFLAKE CRUNCH & PRETZEL CLUSTERS

10 ounces of good quality white chocolate
1/2 cup (approximately) broken pretzels
1 3/4 cups (approximately) Cornflake Crunch  *recipe follows

Melt chocolate in medium bowl. Once completely melted and smooth, add pretzels and Cornflake Crunch. Mix well. Drop by teaspoon onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Chill until chocolate is set.

Recipe for Cornflake Crunch:
Yields about four cups
5 c. cornflakes
½ c. milk powder
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
9 tbsp. butter, melted
Heat oven to 275 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, with your hands, crush cornflakes to ¼ of their original size. Add milk powder, sugar, and salt; toss to mix. Add butter; toss to coat. (As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the cereal, creating small clusters.) On a parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pan, spread clusters and bake for 20 minutes, at which point they should look toasted, smell buttery, and crunch gently when cooled slightly and chewed. Cool completely before storing or using in a recipe. Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the crunch will keep fresh for one week; in the fridge or freezer, it will keep with one month.

Almond Roca

This is my second attempt at Almond Roca this week. My first attempt was with a recipe that looked simple. There was no candy thermometer involved. It said to boil the sugar mixture for 12 minutes exactly. Skeptical, I decided to give it a go, I like easy recipes, and felt like taking the easy way out. BIG mistake. My sugar was burnt at 10 minutes and the whole batch was tossed. 

Undeterred, I searched for another recipe, resigned to the fact that a candy thermometer would be key in getting the sugar to the correct doneness. It's true what they say, the temperature of the sugar rises very slowly in the beginning, and then when it's close to being done, it goes up fast. It's critical to watch it diligently once you get to about 280 degrees F. Keep stirring, and don't take your eyes off that thermometer. Candy making tips...from me...now that's rich.

If I can do this, anyone can. Don't attempt this without a thermometer. Unless, of course, you've been doing this for a long time and are psychic and just know that precise magical time when the sugar is ready. But for the rest of regular folks, a candy thermometer is an excellent investment.

Recipe for Almond Roca

(adapted from All Recipes)

1 cup whole natural almonds
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons boiling water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups (or thereabouts) chopped milk chocolate

Toast your almonds on a baking sheet at 350 degrees F. for approximately 15 minutes. Check them at 10 minutes, by cutting an almond in half, it should be slightly golden inside. Remove from oven, let cool, and then coarsely chop. Grease a 9x13 baking pan. Sprinkle chopped almonds evenly in pan. In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add sugar and stir constantly until gently boiling. Add water and corn syrup. Allow to a boil over medium heat; stirring often, until a candy thermometer reads 300 degrees F (hard-crack stage). (I pulled mine off at 295 degrees). Quickly pour over almonds. Spread the sugar mixture as best you can to cover all the almonds. 

Don't worry if you can't get it into all the corners. It will start to harden immediately. Sprinkle chocolate on top; let stand for 1-2 minutes or until melted. 

Spread chocolate over candy.

 Cool completely; break into pieces.

Dessert Cheese Ball

It's not the most beautiful dessert to offer up at say a bridal shower where everything is expected to be pretty and girly. But I brought it anyway. I tried a version of this at a party once and was very pleasantly surprised. When my sister, girlfriend and I recreated it last summer while on holidays, we nailed it. Except we didn't have the right crackers to accompany this dessert. We pilfered the sparse pantry and settled for the only crackers we could find - vegetable thins or something along those lines. We were desperate. The onion and garlic flavor we were hoping to ignore completely over-powered the sweetness of the chocolate bar. In a nutshell, it was disgusting. Please don't do that. 

But when I saw Renee's pita chips flavored with sugar and cinnamon at the grocery store recently, I grabbed them knowing they were the perfect accompaniment. And it was high time to resurrect this cheese-ball. So I whipped it up, to go alongside a prettier more appropriate dessert that I also took to the bridal shower. More than anything, I was curious to see how people would react. Would they like it? Would it just sit there, untouched? Had I romanticized my memory of how delicious it was when I first encountered it a couple years ago?

It was a hit. So I guess I can rest assured that my sugar-loving-palette isn't completely warped. 

Recipe:

12 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

4 regular sized Crispy Crunch chocolate bars (Skor would be great too)

Chop candy bars into small pieces, set aside. Mix the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl with a spoon until smooth. Add approximately 1/4 of the crushed bars to the cream cheese mixture. Form into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until slightly firm. Just before serving, remove from fridge and roll into the remaining chopped chocolate bars. Serve with plain or cinnamon-sugar flavored pita chips. (Or some other plain cracker).

Pretzel and Pecan Caramels

It amazes me that, despite the amount of baking I do, I still manage to screw up a lot of stuff in the kitchen. Under-baked cakes, over-cooked candies, you name it, I've done it. And chances are I've done it recently, but I'm too proud to share. I did think, initially, that these caramels fell into the screw-ups category and was hiding them in my fridge until I could re-make them and redeem myself. Then my sister and girlfriend, Kim, tried them and assured me that they were not screw ups, they were delicious. So I tried them and was very pleasantly shocked surprised. (They were also tasted by a number of other people and met with rave reviews.)

I saw this recipe in a Taste of Homes magazine and I just knew right then and there that I'd be making them at my earliest opportunity. These caramels are chewy and decadent - and the crunch of the broken pretzels and toasted pecans put them over the top. I thought about adding a bit of salt on top but talked myself out of it because the pretzels have enough salt on them to flavor them. You could, however, forego the pretzels and sprinkle the tops with a coarse salt and they would be divine. Also, as much as I love pecans, roasted almonds would make an excellent substitute if you were so inclined. I'll be doing that next time.

You will require a thermometer but I promise that this recipe is not as finicky as most caramel recipes are. It takes a little while to get the temperature up to the hard ball stage (245 degrees), but even so, I strongly recommend having your add-ins (in this case broken pretzels and toasted chopped pecans) ready before you start boiling the caramel. Perhaps that last comment was a 'no-brainer' for some of you but I sure could have used a reminder when I tried my second batch. Enough said.

This is the perfect recipe for Christmas time, but it's too good to file away until then. The recipe makes a whole lot of caramels, as you want to cut them small because they are so rich. I cut them into 1 inch squares. It's better to have people go back for seconds or thirds then to have them put down a half-eaten caramel because it's just too much. 

They make a great gift and they store well in the fridge. But, based on my experience with them, they probably don't have a chance. 

Pretzel & Pecan Caramels

(adapted from Taste of Home | 100 Best Recipes | 2011)

1 cup butter

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 cup dark corn syrup

2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

1 lb chopped pecans (toasted)

2 cups of broken pretzel pieces

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Line a 13x9 inch pan with foil, generously spray with non-stick cooking spray (or use butter). In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugars, corn syrup, 1 cup of the cream and the butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil. Slowly stir in the remaining cream. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 245 degrees (firm ball stage).

Remove from heat; stir in pecans, pretzels and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Let stand until firm. Using foil, lift candy out of pan. Discard foil, cut candy into 1 inch squares.

Peanut Butter Balls (or Buckeyes)

I might just be the meanest mommy ever. After tucking my kiddos into bed, not only did I pillage their Easter chocolate stash and melt down about 75% of what remained to bake with it, but the thing I was making was something that my son can't even eat because of his peanut allergy. Who does that?!!

Luckily, they haven't asked for any Easter chocolate for a while now, so I'm thinking it's safe to say that they've forgotten about it. You can't miss it if you don't even remember it's there, right? Right??! Well, that's what I'm going with.

As for the peanut allergy, I have no defense. We gave up all nuts in our house when my son was diagnosed with a tree nut allergy 2 years ago. His allergy is not severe, but I didn't see the need to risk it. Until lately. I broke down and bought some peanut butter because I've been missing it something fierce. I eat it when he's not around. And now apparently I bake with it while he sleeps. After smashing up all his Easter eggs. Go me.

This recipe came from Baked Explorations. Peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate. They taste like Reese Peanut Butter Cups, except they're sweeter. Next time, I think I'll toy with the recipe a bit, decreasing the amount of sugar, and use more graham cracker crumbs. Don't get me wrong, they're great the way they are, but I'd like to get it even closer to a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. But that's just me. Also, the original recipe calls for semi-sweet chocolate, which might have been a better choice - as milk chocolate is much sweeter. Serves me right, huh?

Recipe for Peanut Butter Balls
(adapted from Baked Explorations)
1/4 cup cream cheese
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 17 graham crackers)
3 cups of confectioner's sugar
10 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
12 ounces good quality chocolate, coarsely chopped (either semi-sweet or milk)

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter until combined. Add the graham cracker crumbs and mix to combine. Add the sugar and butter and beat at low speed, then gradually increase the speed as the sugar is absorbed until completely combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat again. The mixture will seem slightly dry. Form balls and place on parchment lined baking sheet.

Chill the balls and melt the chopped chocolate in the microwave at 50% power until smooth. 

Dip the balls into the chocolate. The book says to pierce the balls (as above); but I found that you could also place the ball on top of the fork and dunk it into the chocolate, which prevents the ball from having holes from the fork. Set the dipped balls back onto the parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate until chocolate sets.