I’ve been seeing a lot of pretzel creations on the Internet lately and this is one of them, thought I’d jump on the bandwagon myself. I went to three different stores looking for the round pretzels and no luck so I opted for the Christmas pretzels. The round ones actually work better because the hugs settle in there so nicely. All you do is place a hershey kiss on top of the pretzel and melt them in the oven for 4 to 6 minutes at 200 degrees, and once they come out you place an M & M on top of them. Super easy and it doesn’t require mixing anything in a bowl. What other pretzel creations will they come up with next?

Recipe adapted from Cooking Classy

Pretzel M&M Hugs

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Ingredients

• Hershey chocolate kisses
• M&M candies
• Round or square pretzels

Directions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Step 2

Place pretzels down on a cookie sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Put a Hershey kiss in the middle of each pretzel. Let the hershey kisses melt in the oven for 4 to 6 minutes. Immediately after the pretzel and hershey kisses come out of the oven place an M&M on top.

This last weekend, I made caramels. I was mad because I couldn’t blog about it right away, but now I FINALLY can. Caramels were always difficult for me to make. The pot would end up getting burnt on the bottom or the caramel wouldn’t get to it’s soft stage. I think it had something to do with the thermometer. The one thermometer I had tried previously wasn’t digital, and the sauce would take forever to get to a certain temperature. The digital thermometer worked, and the caramel turned out perfectly.

You will definitely like these caramels. They are addicting. I plan on making some more for Christmas gifts this year. I went to Costco for the first time ever and they had a container of these exact same things there. Luckily we don’t have a membership there yet, cause I would have bought 5 containers of them.

Recipe from DoughMesstic

Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels

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Ingredients

• 14 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cups light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons bourban (I used vanilla extract)
• 2 cups dark chocolate (melted)
• 1 tablespoon seal salt

Directions

Step 1

In a heavy bottomed pot, such as enameled cast iron, combine all caramel topping ingredients save for the bourbon. Bring to a boil and stir until sugars are dissolved and the mixture is well combined. Using a candy thermometer, watch for the goal of about 230 degrees. Without a thermometer, watch for a rich caramel color – about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the bourbon. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then pour into an 8×8 silicone pan or a regular pan lined with parchment. Refrigerate for several hours. Once chilled, cut into small squares.

Step 2

To make chocolate coating, melt the chips in the microwave in 30 second increments. After the first 30 seconds, add in the shortening, and reheat another 30 seconds. Be sure to stir after each heating. Coating is ready when the chocolate is smooth and liquid.

Step 3

Dip the cold caramel squares in the chocolate, and shake a bit with a fork, removing extra chocolate. Place on parchment paper to dry, after a light sprinkle of sea salt.

It’s the Holidays and that means it’s time to start baking. I will sometimes get together with my mom and her friend and bake cookies all day and they will sit there and drink their wine at the same time. Other times, I like to try new things on my own. Last year, I baked a ton of cookies and would like to try more candy making this year.My grandma will give us a big box of baked goods on Christmas day that will have cookies, nuts, and lefse in it.

These almond joy bars would be the perfect hostess gift to give someone if you’re going to a Christmas party this year. This is another candy recipe where you don’t have to turn on the oven. I love that. Also, I have found that using almond bark to dip your candy or whatever it is that you’re dipping, coats things better than chocolate chips do. It just looks nicer and so do those candy melts. I always have to remember to clean my chocolate bowl right away or else the bowl will just sit there and get hard for a couple of days.

The only problem, I had with this recipe was getting the almonds to stick to the coconut mixture. The almonds kept on trying to fall off while dipping them in the chocolate. Otherwise they taste even better than the store bought candy bars.

Ingredients from Oh Nuts Blog (step by step pictures can be found here)

7 ounces sweetened condensed milk (half a standard 14-oz can)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups powdered sugar
14 ounces (about 2-1/2 cups) shredded coconut
3/4 cup whole roasted almonds (I prefer roasted salted almonds)
1 lb chopped dark chocolate, or chocolate candy coating

Directions

Prepare your fancy candy bar receptacle by lining a 9×13-inch pan with aluminum foil and spraying the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, the vanilla, and the salt. Stir them together until they’re well-mixed. If your room is fairly cold and the condensed milk is thick and hard to stir, microwave it for 10-15 seconds, just so that it loosens up and is easier to work with.

Next add the powdered sugar to the bowl with condensed milk, and stir it in.

After the powdered sugar gets incorporated, stir in the coconut.

Lay out the coconut mixture in a 9X13 tin foil papered lined pan and place in a fridge for up to an hour. After an hour, take it out of the pan and use a pizza cutter to cut the candy bars. Dip them in whatever chocolate you prefer.

Look at the caramel layer, that’s my most favorite part about these!

I don’t know why, but boiling sugar and milk in a pot scares me. I’m afraid of what the bottom of the pot will look like after the caramel/candy/cheese is at it’s proper temperature. Sure enough, right when the the caramel mixture was starting to reach 275 degreesish, the bottom started burning. Not so much that it ruined the caramel though. If you put water in the pot right away the caramel mixture will come out faster.

I have tried even making that recipe for Millionaire’s short bread and it called for boiling just a can of sweetened condensed milk. This recipe seemed to work the best. The caramel is so rich and delicious and I didn’t even use heavy cream. Just some 2 % milk I had sitting in the fridge. That’s a good thing to know, in case I ever I want to make caramel again.Twix bars are my second favorite candy bar. First comes Reese’s and then AlmondJoys. I have a recipe for that, I want to try too. Can’t wait! I’m a candy making machine.

First you make the crust which is a basic shortbread recipe.Shortbread isn’t the greatest to photograph since it’s such a light color.

Then, you sit and wait for the sugar mixture to get to 300 degrees F.

Once the caramel reaches 300 degrees, it should be a golden/brown color. Like this:

Once you add in the cream and condensed milk, the caramel mixture needs to reach 240 degrees again. I know… what a pain waiting for that, but in the end it’s all worth it. Trust me.

Pour the caramel mixture over the shortbread. Now you have to wait 2 hours for it to cool so that you can pour the chocolate over the top of the caramel. Too die for!

Homemade Twix Bars

Ingredients form Not without Salt who adapted from Sherry Yard’s, “Desserts By The Yard”

Shortbread

5 1/2 ounces (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups cake flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons ground rice (rice processed in a spice grinder until it is able to pass through a fine sieve to remove chunks)*

Make the Shortbread:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-X-13-inch baking pan with pan spray and line with parchment paper. Spray the parchment.

In a large bowl  cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Gradually add the flour, ground rice and salt and allow the dough to come together. The dough will be crumbly but should hold together when you squeeze it.

Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the baking pan. Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the pan from front to back and bake for another 10 minutes, until the shortbread is a deep golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack to room temperature.

*Several people have asked about the rice. I just used what I had in the house – brown rice, and the results were great. It’s not the same as rice flour because you want to have a little bit of texture. The purpose of the rice is to give the base of this cookie a unique crunch that remarkably resembles the store-bought Twix. This can be omitted without drastically changing the finished product. But I encourage you to try it. I really love the texture it gives.

Meanwhile, prepare the ….

Caramel

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup (Regular corn syrup is fine)

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/4 teaspoon salt plus more for sprinkling over the caramel layer

Make the Caramel:

Combine the sugar, golden syrup, water, and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Remove any sugar crystals from the sides of the pan by wiping down the sides with water. You can use your hand or a pastry brush. Place the pot on medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Wipe down any stray sugar crystals that appear using a very clean and wet pastry brush. Do not stir from this point on. Keep an eye on the pan. The mixture will be very bubbly.

When the sugar syrup starts to turn golden brown insert a candy thermometer to check the temperature. When it reaches 300°F, remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for 1minute, or until the bubbles subside. Carefully whisk in the heavy cream. Stir until smooth, then whisk in the condensed milk. Add the salt (vanilla salt is very nice here if you have it) Whisk until smooth.

Return the pan to the heat and stir constantly over medium heat until the caramel reaches 240°F. Remove from the heat and pour over the shortbread. While the caramel is warm sprinkle the surface with the best quality salt you have. Kosher is fine, Fleur de Sel is better, Maldon would be my preferred choice.

Allow to set. This will take about 2 hours.

Once the caramel layer has cooled prepare your …

Chocolate Glaze

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (Bittersweet chocolate chips also work)

2 tablespoons butter

Melt the chocolate and butter over a bain marie or in the microwave. If using the microwave melt it slowly – in 30 second intervals. Stir well after each interval.

Once completely melted pour over the caramel.  Using an offset spatula, smooth the chocolate in a nice even layer.

Place in the refrigerator to set. They cut best when chilled.

Cut into desired shape and size. Serve.

Ingredients

2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk, divided
2 tsps. vanilla extract
6 oz. white confectioners’ coating* or 1 cup (6 oz.) premium white chocolate chips
1 tbsp. peppermint extract
Green or red food coloring (optional)

Directions

* Line 8- or 9-inch square pan with wax paper.
* Melt chocolate chips with 1 cup sweetened condensed milk in heavy saucepan over low heat; add vanilla. Spread half the mixture into prepared pan; chill 10 minutes or until firm. Hold remaining chocolate mixture at room temperature.
* Melt white confectioners’ coating with remaining sweetened condensed milk in heavy saucepan over low heat (mixture will be thick). Add peppermint extract and food coloring, if desired. Spread on chilled chocolate layer; chill an additional 10 minutes or until firm.
* Spread reserved chocolate mixture on mint layer. Chill 2 hours or until firm. Remove from pan by lifting edges of wax paper; peel off paper. Cut into squares. Yield: About 1 3/4 pounds.

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I decided to try out fudge again and it worked this time. I was looking at recipes online and some called for whatever kind of chocolate you want and sweetened condensed milk. The one recipe I first tried out called for sugar, pumpkin, vanilla, and well… you can read it for yourself below here…. Maybe I will stick to the recipe with chocolate and sweetened condensed milk because I would like to make fudge for people as gifts this year. Like for instance this cookies and cream fudge. Can you say yum?????