No PB Puppy Chow AND Santa Hats

I wanted a no peanut butter puppy chow, so I came up with this idea. I think it worked well! Also, I made Santa Hats to go with the Christmas treat. I will detail how to make the Santa Hats in another post.

Ingredients for Puppy Chow
3/4 C chocolate chips--semi-sweet
3/4 C butterscotch chips
9 C corn Chex
1 C powdered sugar (or more)

Melt chips in microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then at 10 second intervals until smooth. Meanwhile, add Chex to a large bowl (I used a gallon baggie). Then, pour the chocolate/butterscotch mixture over the Chex, stirring well, until all Chex are covered. In another baggie add the powdered sugar. Add the chocolate covered Chex to the powdered sugar and shake until well coated. Place in a large bowl to dry.

VERDICT: Tastes great!

Rolo Turtles

I learned how to make these at my first teaching job back in 2002, because a co-worker brought them to a faculty party. I haven't made them for a few years, but decided this year would be a good year to make them, because they're fast and easy! 

Ingredients
2 packages Rolo candies
1 bag pretzels, the holiday circle ones
whole pecans AND/OR M&Ms

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and then place pretzel circle on the sheet, leaving at least 1/4 inch of room between them. Place one Rolo candy in each circle, then place in oven for about 4 minutes, or until the candies are soft. Take the candies out of the oven and place a pecan or M&M in the center, pushing down so the chocolate encompasses the entire area of the candy. If you want to have fun, you may make a turtle out of the pecans and an M&M, as seen in the top picture.

VERDICT: Very good! While not as good as a real chocolate turtle, this is a fabulous substitute.

Candy Bars

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Originally uploaded by IowaSunshine

This picture was taken at Mom and Dad's house back in Iowa. It was her birthday, so I made some candy bars to take! I think they turned out pretty well!

Ingredients

2-3 sleeves club crackers (I used reduced fat)
1 cup butter
2 sleeves low-fat graham crackers, crushed (about 2-2 1/2 cups)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup butterscotch morsels

Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an extension of foil on both sides--DO NOT GREASE the pan. Place 1 layer of club crackers on the bottom of the pan. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat, then add in the crushed graham crackers, brown sugar, milk and sugar. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 miutes, stirring constantly. Be careful that it doesn't get too hot too fast, as it will separate (mine did separate, but it was still spreadable). Remove mixture from heat and spread half of caramel mixture evenly over crackers. Place another single layer of crackers evenly over butter mixture. Spread remaining butter mixture evenly over crackers, then add another layer of crackers on top.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine peanut butter, chocolate morsels, and butterscotch morsels. Carefully melt in the microwave in 30-15 second intervals. Spread over top of crackers. Cover, and chill for at least 1 hour. Lift foil overhang and cut bars--I used the Wilton cutters I have. Store in a cool place--preferably in the refrigerator.


VERDICT: LOVE LOVE LOVE! I tried to follow the original recipe from My Kitchen Cafe, but you know me, I always have to be a little different. I crushed too many graham crackers, so I added some extra milk. :) Also, my caramel sauce separated, however, I'm pretty sure that was due to the fact that my stove got too warm to fast. I hate this stove, but it's still usable, and only 2-years-old (it came with the house), so we don't want to get a new one. But, the bars still taste great!

Almond Joy Fudge

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Originally uploaded by IowaSunshine

When I am stressed I cook and bake. When I cook and bake, I eat the food...which is not always a good thing. :)

I eat a lot of almonds as mid-morn and afternoon snacks at school, and since school is out, I have some extras to use up. This fudge is really good, and tastes somewhat like an Almond Joy. However, I must make the disclaimer that it is not as good as my mom's Christmas fudge. I found this on About.com and the recipe is from Elizabeth LaBau.

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (I used fat free)
4 TBSP butter, cut up
1 cup almonds, chopped (I only chopped about 1/4 c., the rest I left whole)
1 1/3 c. shredded coconut--divided

Grease a 9x9 pan and set aside. Place the chips, milk and butter into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for one minute increments until melted (mine took two minutes). Stir the mixture until smooth, then add the almonds and 1 c. coconut until they are evenly distributed. Pour into greased pan and smooth to even the layers. Then, take the 1/3 c. of coconut and sprinkle on the top of the fudge and press down into the fudge to set. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

We both really liked this--even though I still like my Christmas fudge. This is a great variation and may make the rounds for some holidays. Right now, though, we're enjoying it as an after dinner treat.

Mom's Easter Crosses

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Originally uploaded by IowaSunshine

My mom always made these for our Easter baskets when my brothers and I were younger, because her mother did it for her. Since Mom was super busy this year, she asked me to make the crosses. They're super simple, yet fun!

To make just ONE cross you need the following:
1 regular sized Snickers candy bar
2 fun size Snickers candy bars
1 wooden toothpick
1-2 cups of butter cream frosting (I colored mine with yellow and green paste, but you an do any color)

Take wrappers off of candy bars and lay the regular size Snickers vertically in front of you. Approximately 3/4 of an inch from the top of the Snickers bar insert the toothpick so that the toothpick goes all the way through the bar and is horizontal to you. At this point there should be about 1/2 inch of toothpick on each side. Then, carefully attach one fun sized Snickers bar on each end of the tooth pick.

Frost with your name/names, flowers, leaves, etc. The design changes each year. Since I have been teaching myself how to frost cakes I decided to practice leaves on the crosses this year.

Both of my brothers love these and Jeff loves anything that involves Snickers, so since I'm a betting woman, I would bet that this is one tradition that's going to keep on going.

Note: I forgot to take a picture until we got home tonight. I ate the part that said my name, Toni, on the cross above, so I just added another fun sized bar that I had on hand.