Caramel Puff Corn

This stuff is seriously addictive, and you'll either love me or hate me for sharing the recipe. Many batches were made over the holidays, and they disappeared so quickly there was barely time to take a photo. It's sweet, salty, buttery, crunchy, ridiculously easy to whip up and even easier to eat. And eat. And eat.

Did you notice that there are no popcorn hulls? No hard kernels or bits to get stuck in your teeth either. That's because it starts with a bag of butter flavored Puffcorn,  a ready made snack food you can buy in the potato chip aisle. I used Chester's Puffcorn, but there are are other brands available that come in different sized bags. Thank you Vicki Bensinger, for introducing me to this irresistible confection!

The caramel corn may be good, but it doesn't hold a candle to this sweet little bundle! I braved the cold of Chicago last week to snuggle with my brand new granddaughter. Isn't she precious? I hope one day she'll love to bake with me as much as my sweet grandson does. I miss them both!

Caramel Puff Corn
Recipe from here, here, and here!

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter (no substitutes!)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup light Karo syrup
1 tsp. baking soda
approx. 8 oz. BUTTER flavored Puff Corn (I could only find Puff Corn in 3.5 oz. bags. I used two bags of Chester's Puff Corn. You could use three bags to get a bigger batch with a lighter caramel coating.)
***If you have a hard time finding Butter flavored Puff Corn, you can use the Snack Finder here to find Chester's Puff Corn in your area. 


Directions
Empty puff corn from bags into large buttered roasting pan. Set aside.
In a 2 qt. saucepan stir together butter, sugar and syrup.
Using medium heat, bring to boil. Boil 2 minutes stirring constantly.
Add baking soda. Mixture will bubble up. Stir and remove from heat.
Pour caramel mixture over puff corn in roaster. Stir until puff corn is coated.
Bake in 250F oven for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to distribute caramel evenly over puff corn.
Working quickly, turn out onto parchment and separate puffs while they cool. Store in an airtight container. Try not to eat it all before it gets into the container! :)

Maple Walnut Fudge

 

     Everybody needs a little sweetness in their life at times. With a crazy work week looking me in the face, my sweetness has been this creamy, dreamy fudge. Fall flavors are featured (maple and walnuts- seriously, those two should get married) and it's  dangerously simple to make. Each dreamy bite of fudge, smooth and toothsome as a maple-y flavored caramel and full of the crunch of walnuts, begs for another. I know it won't make my week any easier, but it will definitely be tastier!

Maple Walnut Fudge  (Printable Recipe Here)
recipe slightly adapted from All You magazine, Sept.'12 

Ingredients
1 cup light brown sugar
1(7.5 oz). jar Marshmallow Fluff
1 small can (5 oz.) evaporated milk
6 Tblsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 (11 oz.) pkg. White Chocolate Chips (I used Ghirardelli)
1 1/2 tsp. Maple flavoring
2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped (don't skimp on these!)

Directions
Line an 8in. square pan with nonstick foil. (Or line with regular foil, lightly greased.) Have the foil extend over the edges of the pan, so that it's easy to lift out when the fudge is ready.
In a heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar, evaporated milk, marshmallow fluff, butter and salt. Bring to boil over medium heat, whisking frequently. (Don't just let it heat on the stove while you chop your walnuts. It will scorch. Don't ask me how I know this.) Boil for five minutes, whisking constantly, then remove from heat. Add the bag of white chocolate chips and stir until melted.
Stir in maple flavor and walnuts. Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top.
Refrigerate uncovered until set, about two hours.
Lift block of fudge out by the foil edges, and cut into chunks. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container between layers of waxed paper. Will keep a week in the refrigerator. (If it doesn't get eaten first!)

Cake Batter Krispie Treats

     

      Ever since I saw these cute little squares on How Sweet It Is, they've been on my mind. They may look like your run of the mill crispy rice treats, but these have a little extra "oomph" from the addition of sprinkles and your favorite cake mix. They're easy to put together, a great project to make with kids, and perfect for those times when you find out that somebody needs a treat for a class party or a bake sale and you have exactly thirty minutes (give or take a few) to get it out of the door.

      And what's more, they're just plain fun. Don't sprinkles put a smile on your face? They do mine. (So do cute little chirping chicks wearing bunny ears for that matter.) Cut these little treats into cute shapes if you want to watch the smiles appear!

     And speaking of smiles, here's something else that has put a smile on my face.  My sister thinks they look like Shrek feet.

     These are what came from my quest to find shoes that don't hurt my feet when I'm working out at the gym. They mimic barefoot walking (or running) and are supposed to:

• strengthen muscles in the feet and lower legs
• improve range of motion in ankles, feet and toes
• stimulate neural function important to balance and agility
• eliminate heel lift to align the spine and improve posture and
• allow the body to move naturally.

     We've only gotten a few strange looks so far, and they're great conversation starters. Hubby and I love them so much we've each gotten a second pair.  Because when my feet are happy, the world is a happier place!


Cake Batter Krispie Treats
recipe from Jessica at How Sweet It Is

You'll need:
1 (10 oz.) bag of miniature marshmallows
3 Tblsp. butter
6 cups Crispy Rice cereal
1/4 cup dry cake mix (I used yellow)
1 (1.75 oz) jar of sprinkles

Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until they began to melt. Add in cake mix one spoonful at a time, stirring until combined. Stir in cereal until it is completely coated with the marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and gently mix. Press into a lightly greased baking dish (I used 9x13) and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting. Jessica recommends cutting them with a knife sprayed with nonstick spray.

This post is linked to Full Plate Thursday at Miz Helen's Country Cottage.

Candy Corn Cookie Crunch

 Need a festive snack for Halloween? This sweet and salty one is cute, quick and easy. Just mix together some pretzels, chopped up Oreos, peanuts and candy. Bind the mixture together with some melted white chocolate, break into chunks and enjoy!

  This yummy treat would be cute in little bags for your goblin visitors later this month. I found the original recipe on Your Home Based Mom- she has a version for every holiday, I think! Could this snack be the reason for the jack-o-lantern's toothless grin?

Candy Corn Cookie Crunch

adapted slightly from Your Home Based Mom. She has detailed instructions here.

Ingredients

1 lb. almond bark candy coating or white chocolate

14 Oreos, broken into pieces- I used the Halloween ones with orange filling

1 and 1/2 cups pretzels, broken- I used the thin straight ones

1 cup candy corn

1/2 cup peanuts

1/4 cup Reeses Pieces

1/2 cup Peanut M&Ms (fall colors)

Halloween sprinkles

Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper or foil. Spread the broken pretzels, broken cookies, peanuts, and about 3/4 of the candy corn on the prepared cookie sheet. Melt the white chocolate or candy coating until smooth, according to package directions. 

Drizzle the melted white chocolate over the pretzel mixture, spreading with a spatula if needed. Before it sets, sprinkle on the remaining candy corn, M&Ms, Reeses Pieces, and sprinkles. Place the tray into the refrigerator until set. Break into pieces and enjoy! 

This post is linked to Foodie Friday @ Designs by Gollum.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bars

Chocolate-peanut butter-graham cracker-caramel goodness sittin' on a Ritz cracker. Yep, a Ritz cracker. Who would have believed it? This crispy gooey delight is reminiscent of a Twix candy bar. Crispy layers sandwiched with a caramel filling and covered with chocolate. And easy? You don't even need your oven.  You'll need your stovetop and about 20 minutes to have these chilling inside your refrigerator, with you chilling outside of it peeking every 5 minutes to see if your bars are set and ready to eat.

I found this recipe on Buns in My Oven and they looked so deliciously tempting I had to try them. Another recipe in Taste of Home used Waverly Crackers, which I think would also be awesome, but you know that everything's better when it sits on a Ritz! (Andy Griffith said so.) You should try these. Really, you should. But don't hate me if you sit down with a cold glass of milk and eat way too many of them. Not that I'd know anything about that.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bars (Printable Recipe here)

adapted from Buns in my Oven

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup butter (1 and 1/2 sticks)- melted

1/3 cup half and half or milk

Ritz Crackers- Enough to make 3 layers in your 9x13 pan. My pan used about 2 1/2 sleeves.

1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup creamy peanut butter

Directions:

• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine melted butter, sugars, milk and graham cracker crumbs. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook about 5 more minutes. Make sure to stir constantly- the sugar will burn. Don't even ask me how I know that.
• Grease a 9x13 pan. (To make the bars easier to lift out, you could line your pan with greased-or nonstick-foil or greased parchment.) Cover the bottom of your prepared pan with a layer of Ritz crackers.
• Spread half of the graham cracker-sugar mixture evenly over the layer of Ritz crackers. Repeat with another layer of Ritz crackers and the rest of your graham cracker-sugar mixture.
• Top with a third layer of Ritz crackers.
• In your microwave on low power, melt together the chocolate chips and peanut butter. (Don't overcook...Melt the chips part-way and stir to finish melting.)
• Spread the chocolate mixture over the top layer of Ritz crackers. Put in the refrigerator to set completely. Cut into bars and hide some away for yourself, because they'll disappear fast!

Easter Peanut Pretzel Bites

Easter Peanut Pretzel Bites

These sweet and salty treats are cute and curiously addictive. Quick and easy, a batch of these can be made in two shakes of a bunny's tail! Put them in a cute bag tied up with a pretty ribbon for a last minute Easter basket treat, or just enjoy them from the bowl. Go ahead...make somebunny happy!

Peanut Pretzel Bites

Ingredients:

1 bag of square "waffle shaped" pretzels

1 bag of peanut M & Ms

1/2 lb. package white chocolate "bark" or white chocolate chips

Directions: 

On a piece of waxed paper, lay out as many pretzel pieces as desired.

Melt white chocolate according to the instructions on the package.

Drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon of melted chocolate on top of each pretzel. (I just used a spoon.)

Before the chocolate sets, place a peanut M & M on top. (I used the pastel Easter M & Ms for these.)

Let set until chocolate hardens. (You can put them in the refrigerator to speed this up if you need them fast!)

Store in an airtight bag or container.

Bacon and Eggs...Sunny Side Up!

There's something about a salty and sweet combination that's hard to resist, and when you add chocolate, it's even better! These treats are quick and easy to make, and the cute factor is seriously high. A friend told me about them (Thanks Phyllis!) and the ingredients just happened to jump into my grocery cart. I wish I'd known about them last week...I could have made them for Dr. Seuss's birthday. Wouldn't they be cute in green? (Note to self: Remember these next year.)

Eggs and bacon...they're not just for breakfast anymore. 

Bacon and Eggs Candy Pretzels

Ingredients:

thin pretzel rods

yellow M&Ms 

white chocolate (candy melts, white chocolate chips, white chocolate bark)

Directions:

• On a piece of waxed paper or parchment, arrange pretzel rods in pairs for the bacon. (Break them into desired lengths if they're too long.)
• Melt the white chocolate according to the directions on the package.
• Drizzle (either with a spoon or a piping bag) a small amount of melted white chocolate onto the center of the two pretzels.
• Before the chocolate hardens, place an M&M on top to look like the egg yolk.
• Let harden before carefully peeling the candy off of the paper. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Triple Coconut Macaroons

I truly believe that coconut and chocolate were made for each other, and these macaroons are proof. Dipped in dark chocolate, the chewy sweet bundles of coconut goodness put Mounds bars to shame. Each one is a perfect "two-bite" treat just waiting to be enjoyed with a cup of tea or coffee. I only made half of a recipe, leaving me with a half can of Coco Lopez. Piña Coladas anyone?

Triple Coconut Macaroons  (printable recipe)
slightly adapted from Cooks Illustrated magazine
(Makes about 4 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:
1 can (15 oz.) can cream of coconut (I used Coco Lopez)
2 tblsp. light corn syrup
4 egg whites (from 4 large eggs from happy hens, of course)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups unsweetened shredded desiccated coconut- you can find this in the natural or organic foods section of most larger grocery stores
3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
10 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (optional) for dipping
Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
• Whisk together cream of coconut, corn syrup, egg whites, extracts and salt in a small bowl; set aside.
•  Combine both types of coconut in a large bowl; mix together, breaking up clumps.
• Pour set aside ingredients into coconut and gently mix together. Chill for about 20 minutes.
• Roll coconut mixture into small (about an inch) balls and place about 1 inch apart on parchment covered baking sheets.  If you have more patience than I did, shape the balls into pyramids with moistened fingers. :)
• Bake until light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets until slightly set, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Melt chocolate (if desired) in a double boiler or in microwave on 50% power. Dip the bottom of each macaroon into the chocolate and then place on parchment paper to set. Let cool until chocolate hardens.

Reindeer Bark

This stuff is "sweet"- literally as well as figuratively! I saw this treat here (on Your Home Based Mom) and felt the overwhelming need to make it myself. It's festive and full of sweet, salty, crunchy, chewy goodness. It's truly yummy, and it makes me hope that Santa has a good dental plan for his reindeer! It's basically Oreos, pretzels and Reindeer corn (who knew?) coated with melted white chocolate or candy bark. I added some chopped almonds and a few M&Ms to mine just because I had them and thought they'd go well with the other ingredients.

Reindeer Corn Cookie Bark
Very slightly adapted from Your Home Based Mom-she has very detailed instructions on her website here.

1 lb. White chocolate, candy melts, or almond bark
14 Oreos, broken into pieces-I used the holiday ones with red filling
1 and 1/2 cups pretzels, broken
1 cup reindeer corn (red and green candy corn)
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1/2 cup holiday M&Ms
red and green sprinkles

Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper or foil. Spread the broken cookies, broken pretzels, almonds, and about 3/4 of the candy corn onto the prepared cookie sheet. Melt white chocolate until smooth- follow the directions for melting on the package.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the pretzel/cookie mixture, spreading with a spatula if needed. Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle on the rest of the candy corn, the M&Ms and red and green sprinkles. Place tray in the refrigerator until set, and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container and enjoy!