Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Post Halloween Candy Making

Now that the Halloween festivities are over, I've got more than half a bag of candy corn sitting on my kitchen counter.  There is nothing more annoying than having a big, bright orange bag just laying around...right next to Ruby, my Kitchen Aid standing mixer.  (Don't you just love her name?) I need to get rid of this bag STAT and found this homemade butterfinger recipe on Karly's blog.   
I'm going to make these into truffles using a tiny cookie cutter and possibly add fleur de sel on top as the chocolate sets.   I will post pics as soon as I make them tonite.  :)  But for all you visualists, here's the finished product:  

Photo courtesy of Karly

Pic from my blackberry

Ingredients
  • 3 cups candy corn
  • 1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
  • milk chocolate chips or candy melts, for dipping **I used dark chocolate candy melts of course
Instructions
  1. Place the candy corn in a large bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Stir and return to microwave. Continue heating for 30 seconds and then stirring until it is completely melted.
  2. Stir in the peanut butter. The heat from the candy corn should melt the peanut butter, but if not return to the microwave for 15 seconds. Stir to combine.
  3. Spread the mixture into an 8x8 baking dish lined with parchment paper. Smooth it out evenly in the pan. Let cool for one hour and then use a pizza cutter to slice into bars. **I let the candy mixture chill for about 10 minutes before using a larger piping tip as a cookie cutter.  I wanted to make sure the mixture was stiff enough to maintain its shape but soft enough to remove the tip.  Let me know if this makes sense. 
  4. Melt the chocolate chips or candy melts in the microwave. ** I used my handy dandy Wilton melting pot. 
  5. Carefully dip the candy bars into the melted chocolate and turn to coat.
  6. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and wait for the chocolate to set. ** I added a bit of fleur de sel for more flavor. 
  7. Store at room temperature for a chewy texture or in the fridge for a more crisp texture.
**End result:  The homemade butterfinger candies/truffles had a different texture than what I had expected.  The taste was there but the consistency was similar to that of nougat, kinda chewy and not as crunchy.