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. 

Happy Halloween!

Just in case you're looking for a sweet treat to bring to a halloween party this weekend, I made this last year: 

 Halloween candy bark

It looks like a hot mess but it's unbelievably good.  Salty and sweet and great for kids.  :)  Here's the link to Annie's Eats to get a better idea. 

Ingredients:
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 Reese cups, cut into wedges
¼ cup honey roasted peanuts
3 oz. yellow and orange peanut M&Ms, coarsely chopped
3 oz. good quality white chocolate, finely chopped

Directions:
Line a baking sheet with foil.  Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Heat, stirring occasionally until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Pour the chocolate over the foil and smooth into a thin layer with a spatula.  Evenly sprinkle the chopped candy bars, Reese cups, honey roasted peanuts, and peanut M&Ms over the melted chocolate.  Press gently to adhere the candy to the melted chocolate.  Transfer to the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.

Melt the white chocolate, again using the double boiler method, until smooth.  Drizzle over the chilled candy bark.  Return to the refrigerator and let chill again until the white chocolate is set, 3o minutes more.

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

Not a big fan of all the candy?  That's ok.  Here's another recipe I plan on baking for Kylie's class and my co-workers:

 photo courtesy of Bridget

 Chocolate Candy Corn Cookies
{adapted from Everyday Food}

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
  
• 1/4 c dutch-process cocoa (or regular unsweetened cocoa)
  
• About 36 candy corns

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment.

Beat/stir the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in the egg yolk, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Add flour & cocoa, and mix until a dough forms.

Scoop out level teaspoons (a measuring teaspoon, not a cereal teaspoon) of dough, and place balls on baking sheets, 2 inches apart. (It looks like too little dough for each cookie, but it works.) Roll into balls.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are firm and cookies are dry to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes.

{While these are baking, start going through the bag of candy corn to find 36 good ones. You'll want to work quickly when they come out of the oven and it is very frustrating to keep grabbing broken candy corns. Trust me on this.}

Remove from oven; gently press a candy corn into center of each cookie (surface of cookies may crack slightly). The candy corns will stick once the cookies heat them up..they seem like they will fall off at first, don't worry.

Cool on sheets 1 minute; transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Make 32-36 cookies.

**Just a note:  The cookies are a bit thick and not as chewy as I would have liked.  I may alter the cookie recipe a bit and add more butter the next time around.  If any of you have any cookie recipes, let me know. 

And just another cookie recipe I plan on making (I'm a bit ambitious when it comes to baking..lol) - Cookie Spiderwebs.  I figured I might as well make 'em...I have a bunch of royal icing and colors laying around that I haven't touched in months.

photo courtesy of Bridget

I made mine using a chocolate sugar cookie recipe which I found on Bridget's blog also.  Such a yummy recipe.  I used the Via ready brew from Starbucks and fleur de sel.  Adds much more flavor.  Here's a pic from my phone:  

Kylie helped me marble the colors.  :)

Sweet words from my co-workers:  
"Damn, that was good." - Head boss of the Research Institute 
"Those were the tastiest cookies EVER!  Thank you!!!"

Candy Making

My bff recently blogged about a dark chocolate nutella twix bar recipe she came across recently.  I have yet to make it but I actually found this recipe that I'd like to share with you.  Its quite similar but instead of nutella, its a twix brownie bar! 

My cousin, Nicole posted this blog on her FB this morning, and as I was scrolling through the blogger's recipes, I found this Twix alternative.  Sometimes I just want to stay home on a busy work week like these and just bake, Bake, BAKE!  lol.  

This week has been absolutely insane at my work (I do research in liver transplant in SF) and I'm really looking forward to this weekend.  I'm doing a test batch of white cake with strawberries and whipped cream for an order that's coming up in a few weeks and I think I'll make this for the couple and their kids who are coming over on Sunday.  It's also not a bad gift idea for Father's Day.  Wrap it in a cute box with a ribbon and you have a wonderful homemade gift your father/man in your life will enjoy.  I hope you enjoy this recipe and please share your candy making experience with me and I promise I'll do the same.  Happy candy making!  

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 sticks salted butter, cut into pieces
14 oz bag of caramels
3 Tablespoons heavy cream
Box of your favorite brownie mix + ingredients to make (I used Ghiradellhi Ultimate Fudge--whatever brand you use, you want fudgy, not cakey brownies) 
Chocolate candy melts or almond bark

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil and spray with nonstick spray.

In a food processor, combine flour, sugar and butter. Process until it comes together to form a dough (you can also use your hands if you don't have a food processor).

Pat the dough in the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, 25 minutes or so.

Place the pan in the refrigerator to cool for about 30 minutes and prepare your brownie batter according to instructions. Remove shortbread from refrigerator and spread brownie batter over it evenly. Bake until brownies are set, but still fudgy.

Place pan in the refrigerator to cool again. Once brownies are firm, place unwrapped caramels and heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high, stirring every 15 seconds until completely melted and smooth. Pour melted caramel over brownies and spread evenly. Refrigerate again until firm.

Grab the ends of the foil and remove from pan. Peel the foil off the sides and bottom and place the brownies on a cutting board and cut into thin bars. Melt candy melts/almond bark according to package directions and dip bars, placing on a wax paper lined baking sheet until chocolate is fully set.