Christmas Candies

Two weeks ago my family had our Lynn Women First Annual Christmas Bake Off which we named "Lovin' From The Oven" :). It was soooo much fun! I made caramel popcorn (will post later!) and Christmas Candies. Unfortunately I forgot my camera for the event so my photos are a compilation of my family's phone photos and my iPhone photos.

I discovered these delicious little candies in Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Magazine. In the magazine is beautiful picture of the candy and a short (somewhat helpful) blurb on how to make them. But no worries friends, I have perfected the recipe just for you!

Tools Needed:
Baking Sheet
Parchment Paper (Don't use wax paper! It will burn in the oven!!!!)
The Usual
Heavy Plastic Baggie
Scissors

Ingredients:
Yogurt Covered Pretzels
Rolos
Pecans
White Chocolate*

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the yogurt covered pretzels (evenly spaced) on the baking sheet. As you can see from my picture I did not use parchment paper and I definitely wish I had. The candies came out just fine but parchment would have been a big help. Unwrap your Rolos and place one on each pretzel (in the middle of the pretzel) and place the baking sheet in the oven for 3 minuets.

Once you remove the baking sheet from the oven squish a pecan half into each Rolo like in the picture.

*Ok... so I had a few issues drizzling the icing over my creations. If you buy Ghirardelli white chocolate chips and melt them (How to melt chocolate) you cannot drizzle the chocolate. It is best to pour melted chocolate in to a heavy plastic bag and snip off a tiny piece of one corner so you can use it as a pastry bag. The chocolate will be hot so hold the plastic bag with a towel.
 If you buy melting chocolate you can drizzle the chocolate normally. Dip a spoon into the melted chocolate and let the first clumpy drip land in the pan. Drizzle chocolate over the edges and tops of candies.

I had so much fun making these pretty, delicious and surprisingly easy candies! Put your Christmas Candies into little goodies bags and give them away as gifts. As always ENJOY!

Caramel Apples

It is definitely the caramel apple time of the year! Sigh... Fall how I love everything about you! You bring cooler weather, the best TV shows, Halloween, changing of the leaves, Thanksgiving, warm comfort food and of course football (BOOMER SOONER!!). These caramel apples were delicious and I hope you enjoy them too!

Tools Needed:
Craft sticks or popsicle sticks ( You can find craft sticks in your grocery store and popsicle sticks at Hobby Lobby, Michael's or (probably) a specialty food store)
Bowls for candy coating
Towel
Ladle
Spatula
Muffin paper cups

Ingredients:
12 - 15 Small apples (I used Granny Smiths because they are my favorite)
2 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels
Toppings

Firsts things first... when you are buying apples no matter where they are from (orchard, organic or chain grocery) they will have wax on them. Apples naturally create their own wax to protect its high water content. You MUST remove this wax in order to get the caramel to stick to the apples.

To remove the wax from the apples dip them into boiling water using a ladle. Make sure to submerge the entire apple in the boiling water. Don't leave the apple in the water long (no more than 10 - 15 seconds).

Remove the apple from the boiling water and wipe off the wax immediately using a towel. You should be able to see the wax coming off. 

Remove the stem from each apple and press a craft stick into the top.

There are several ways to melt caramel. Check out this link and select the method you prefer. Roll each apple quickly in melted caramel sauce until well coated. A spatula might come in hand to spread out the caramel on the apple. Immediately dip and roll the apples in your toppings. I used peanuts and mini chocolate chips (Delicious!). Place the finished caramel apples in a muffin paper cup (because they look cute and keep your pans from getting sticky with caramel!).

There are so many topping choices: Nuts, Sprinkles, Toffee bits, Chocolate chips, Candy corn, Dried fruit, M&M's, chopped candy bars like Snickers, Butterfinger or Baby Ruth, Crushed Oreos or graham crackers, Granola, Trail mix and Kosher salt! What were the toppings on your favorite caramel apple?