Category Archives: candy

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Cinnalmond Bites and a Giveaway!!

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Hey, guys!

I’m super excited to share this recipe today because it comes with a giveaway for the cookbook No Bake Makery, for you! Though it doesn’t happen as often as I’d like, I love an opportunity to give you stuff. I’m a gifter and I love it. BUT! let’s talk these little cookie, truffle bites.

These little bites are dead-easy to make. Everything gets whirled in the food processor all at once–chocolate cookies, cinnamon toast cereal, almonds, salt, a teensy bit of milk, and some honey.  The dough is then scooped, rolled, and chilled before getting dressed with some candy coating (or tempered chocolate). These bites are sweet-sweet-and-salty. I could see kids going crazy-nuts for these (and they could totally help!), but they make the perfect two-bite indulgence–which is sometimes all I want, just a few bites of sweetness.

No Bake Makery is a cookbook of sweet little treats by Cristina Suarez Krumsick (Tweet or Like), in the book you can find the recipe for these Cinnalmond Bites, along with dozens of other little, two-bite, no-bake treats…Now, for the giveaway details!

To enter, simply leave a comment sharing what your favorite no-bake treats are, as well as a good contact email address. I will choose one winner at random Wednesday, May 15th. Unfortunately this giveaway is only open to US residents with non-PO Box addresses.  (Don’t fret, I have another giveaway schemed up that will be open to all :)

*A copy of No Bake Makery was provided to me by the publisher, as well as the giveaway copy. As per usual, all opinions are my own. 

Cinnalmond Bites

From No Bake Makery

The recipe calls for almond milk, but I’m sure you could use whatever milk you’d like. These are also great from the freezer. 

12 chocolate sandwich cookies (Like JoesJoes or Oreos)

1 cup cinnamon toast cereal

5 tablespoons sliced almonds

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 cup almond milk

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 cups candy melts or candy bark (or temper some chocolate, if you dare)

Line a cookie sheet with wax (or parchment) paper and set aside.

In a food processor, process the cookies and cereal until fine crumbs form, about 1 minute. Add 3 tablespoons of the almonds and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon and process for another 30 seconds. Add the honey and almonds milk and process another 30 seconds. Transfer to a clean bowl.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls (I chilled the dough for 30 minutes before beginning this step). Place on the prepared cookie sheet and chill another 45 minutes.

Roughly chop the remaining almonds and mix with the remaining cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

Melt the candy coating according to package instructions. Dip balls into the chocolate and place back on the sheet, sprinkle with almond mixture, and chill until coating is set, about 1 hour.

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Hot Cocoa Mix and Vanilla Marshmallows

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Guys! The world totes didn’t end, so if you’ve maybe put off your holiday gifts I have this super easy Hot Cocoa Mix with Vanilla Marshmallows for ya.

I always try to put together gifts that I would like to receive–since I’m kind of picky, I’m my own holiday litmus test. One of my favorite wintertime gifts is a new mug. Just a mug though seems a little wan to me, so I like to add a little something homemade to make it personal and sweet. This hot cocoa mix comes together in about 2 minutes, while the marshmallows take a little longer, but if you have a mixer it will do a bulk of the work for you. To make the marshmallows extra special and glitzy, I like to add about 1/4 teaspoon luster dust (found with cake decorating supplies) into the dusting mixture  It makes the ‘mallows shimmer a bit and takes them into gifting territory. Certain people in my life are receiving this exact gift. I’m hoping they love it as much as I love them.

Speaking of love, Happy Holidays! You are amazing and thank you for reading my crazy ramblings, peeping at my pictures, and being generally awesome.

Love and Peace to you all! XO!

Hot Cocoa Mix and Vanilla Marshmallows

Since this cocoa mix relies mainly on 2 ingredients, use a cocoa powder you really love. I used Valrhona–which is my favorite of favorites. I think a little espresso powder would be a nice addition as well. The marshmallows can be flavored however you’d like–peppermint would be super fun and appropriate, I think.

Cocoa Mix:

Adapted from Martha Stewart

3 cups sugar

1 vanilla bean (optional)

2 cups cocoa powder

Whole Milk to serve.

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and in a bowl, rub the vanilla seeds into the sugar until fragrant and well dispersed. Add the cocoa powder and whisk to combine.

For Cocoa: Stir 1-2 Tablespoons cocoa mix with 8 ounces of hot milk. Top with marshmallows.

Vanilla Marshmallows:

Adapted from this recipe. 

2/3 cup cold water

4 teaspoons powdered gelatin

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 vanilla bean

1/2 cup water

scant teaspoon vanilla

2 Tablespoons each powdered sugar and cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon luster dust–optional

In a small bowl sprinkle the gelatin over the 2/3 cup water and set aside to soften.

Spray a 9X13inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a gallon bag, shake together the powdered sugar, cornstarch, and luster dust. Set aside.

Scrape the seeds from a vanilla bean and in a bowl rub seeds into the sugar until fragrant and well dispersed. In a medium saucepan combine sugar with water and stir gently to moisten. Heat the sugar and water over medium heat without stirring, until sugar dissolves and comes to a boil, cook 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin and vanilla to combine.

Using a hand or stand mixer, beat the syrup until it becomes light in color, voluminous, and holds a medium-stiff peak. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and dust the top with powdered sugar. Allow to set up several hours before cutting and shaking the pieces in the powdered sugar mix to coat well. Can be kept in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks.

 

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Walnut Caramels w/ Hawaiian Black Salt

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Hey! I have yet another salty-sweet combo for you today. This time in the form of nutty, chewy, caramels.

I pretty much make a batch of these caramels every year–with or without nuts–for certain friends and family members around the holidays. These caramels ship well AND can be made several days in advance AND you won’t even have to rush the shipping…plus, they won’t get damaged by rough handling. I love a treat that doesn’t cause me stress when it comes to shipping and sharing.

These walnut caramels start out by cooking sugar with a bit of water and some syrup (golden, corn, and honey all work nicely). The syrup helps the sugar from re-crystalizing and keeps the caramel smooth and free of gritty granules. Once the sugar becomes deeply golden–as dark as you dare, I shoot for a rich bourbon/whisky color–warm cream, butter, vanilla, and sea salt are added. There’s a lot of hissing and steaming and fuss at this point, but everything mellows out and comes together. The caramel is then cooked a little longer until it comes to temperature–key for a set caramel–it’s then mixed with plenty of toasty walnuts, scraped into a pan, and liberally sprinkled with black salt. The caramels are chewy, nutty, crunchy, and salty-sweet. I think they are really pretty wrapped in gold candy foils–like little gold nuggets–but parchment or wax paper is nice, too.

Walnut Caramels with Hawaiian Black Salt

adapted from this recipe

I love the black salt on these because it’s super -dark color makes for a dramatic piece of candy, but don’t feel like you have to go out and hunt for fancy salts. I have a variety of salts on hand, mainly because whenever I travel (or friends/fam travel) my favorite souvenirs are edibles–specifically specialty/locally harvested salts and honeys. Every time I use one of my fancy salts, I remember the trip or the people or the place–it’s a nice, edible reminder. This black salt–also called Hawaiian Black Lava Salt–was a gift from one of my brothers-in-law. It’s dramatically black, a bit mineral-y, and super crunchy–which is a great contrast with the sweet and chewy caramel. 

1 1/4 cups granualated sugar

1/4 cup golden or corn syrup, or honey (honey will impart a distinct flavor)

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (a touch less if using table or kosher) plus more for sprinkling

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 generous cup toasted walnut pieces (I like halves and large pieces)

Prepare a standard loaf pan by lining with parchment, leaving an overhang on the two long sides, securing parchment with binder clips, and spraying the parchment and pan lightly with canola oil.

In a small sauce pan, gently heat the heavy cream, butter, salt, and vanilla. Bring to a bare simmer and remove from heat, set aside.

In a heavy bottomed, medium saucepan gently mix sugar, syrup, and water until everything is well moistened. Heat the sugar mixture over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and a clear syrup forms. At this point, it is important to not stir the sugar syrup–or it will re-crystalize and you will have to start over…if you must, you can swirl the pan, but mostly leave it alone. Continue to cook the sugar syrup, without stirring, until it becomes deep golden brown–it will start off a light honey color, but try to take it to a whiskey colored golden-brown. Remove the sugar syrup from the heat and add the cream/butter mixture and stir to combine well. The caramel will hiss and steam violently–I recommend using a long wooden spoon and covering your stirring hand with an oven mitt.

Clip on your candy thermometer and continue to cook the caramel over medium heat, without stirring, until the thermometer reads 260*F (I found that at higher elevations, above 4,000 ft, the caramel becomes too hard–when I lived in Nevada, I always cooked to about 250-255*F). Remove the caramel from the heat, quickly stir in the nuts, and scrape into the prepared pan. Allow to cool about 5 minutes before sprinkling with salt–this keeps the salt from sinking into the caramel, but still allows it to stick nicely to the top. Allow caramels to cool before cutting into squares and wrapping. Can be stored in an airtight container for 2 weeks.

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Recipe: Chocolate Mendiants

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Tempering chocolate is one of those things that freaks me out.

Not the kind of freak-me-out that spiders induce–you know, the screaming, running, jumping kind–but rather, the kind that looms large on the horizon. The kind that chips aways at my brain, promising disaster, wasted pounds of ingredients, time, and mountains of frustration. The kind that I have always wanted to attempt, but always approached with such trepidation and nerves, that I have avoided it for years now.

The other day, I decided to go for it. It’s one of my goals of the year that I can now check off my list. Not that my list is long and/or difficult, but it feels like an accomplishment nonetheless. Tempering the chocolate gives the finished candies stability, an even, satiny appearance, and delightful snap when broken. I found an approachable technique on Martha Stewart’s website that worked really well for me. Instead of using the microwave–mine is in  an awkward area of my kitchen–I used the double boiler method. The heating pad trick is genius and instantly set my mind at ease, knowing there would be some insurance for keeping my painstaking efforts at temperature. Majorly big sigh.

These little gems are simplistic in composition. A disk of chocolate studded with fruits and nuts. Mendiants are a French confection, generally found around Christmas, but with Easter around the corner, I thought these would make a wonderful, adult-like treat in lieu of (or addition to!) chocolate eggs and bunnies.

Chocolate Mendiants

Technique found on Martha Stewart

Since the ingredient list here is simple, I would encourage using your favorite chocolate for these, as well as quality ingredients for nestling. You could certainly make these without tempering the chocolate, though you may find that you need to refrigerate to keep the candies hard. 

1 pound good quality chocolate–I used Callebaut

assorted nuts, fruits, salt for topping–I used blanched/toasted almonds, toasted hazelnuts, toasted coconut, candied orange peel (recipe here), and smoked sea salt

Cover a heating pad in a clean dish towel and set pad to lowest setting. Using a sharp knife, shave the chocolate. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.

In a heatproof glass bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt 2/3 of the chocolate while stirring, until the chocolate registers 120F on an instant read thermometer.

Remove from heat and stir in remaining chocolate–I did this gradually–stirring, moving the mixture up the sides of the bowl and back down into the mixture until the temperature reads between 86-89F. To test the chocolate, drizzle a small amount onto a stainless steal surface–the chocolate should harden into a matte finish in about 5 minutes. Place the bowl on the heating pad and working quickly spoon level tablespoons full of chocolate onto lined baking sheets. Allow the chocolate to begin to set before studding with desired fruits, nuts, etc. Once completely set, chocolates can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

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Recipe: Candy Cane Truffles

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Do you like candy canes? I never seem to get through a whole one, even when I was a kid. I would just suck on it until the end became sharp and spikey…then I would prod and torment my little brother with it.

Candy Canes…so sweet, so dangerous.

I do, however, like them crushed up so they become minty, crunchy, candy-cane-y sprinkles. That’s the best way to eat a candy cane in my opinion, sprinkled over some other sweet treat. Can you even believe I had to go to 2 different stores to find plain, old, peppermint canes?! The first store only sold those fruity, sour ones–they told me they weren’t even going to sell the traditional kind this year! I was baffled and told anyone that would listen all about it. They did sell pre-crushed candy canes in the baking section, but they cost way more than broken pieces of candy should. Like double the cost for half the amount of canes in a regular box. What the heck?! So, I went to a different store, got my canes, and smashed them with a mallet. Cost effective and stress relieving.

I’ve been planning on making these truffles for weeks now so I could stir them into a glass of hot milk for instant hot chocolate, but I’ve been waiting for our first snow and now that it’s here, it’s truffle hot chocolate time. I cut them into little cubes instead of rolling them into balls, it’s a quicker, easier process this way…plus, I think the little cubes are just so dang pretty.

And, I like pretty.

Candy Cane Truffle Hot Chocolate

I originally saw the idea to make truffles for hot chocolate here on Pinterest. These can be stirred into a cup of hot milk for a festive, warm beverage, or simply eaten as is. This recipe can be easily doubled, tripled, etc…just remember 2 parts chocolate to 1 part heavy cream. Viola! Truffle ganache! 

4 ounces heavy cream

8 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (chopped or chips)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

3 candy canes, crushed

hot milk (6-8 ounces per serving)

Line a small loaf pan with parchement, set aside.

Place the chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside. Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium-low heat to scald (just before it boils, there will be little bubbles around the edges of the pan). Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and cover (I just used a plate to cover my bowl) and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. Remove cover and stir vigouroulsy until smooth. Stir in vanilla and peppermint extracts until combined. If not all of the chocolate pieces are smooth and melted, fashion a double boiler out of a saucepan of simmering water and a heatproof bowl, gently heat chocolate mixture until smooth.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the loaf pan and smooth top. Sprinkle with candy cane pieces and allow to cool to room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 30-60 minutes. Remove truffle from the pan and cut into cubes.

To make hot chocolate: Heat some milk in a pan or in the microwave. Place truffles into mugs (1-2 pieces per cup) and pour milk over the top. Stir. Top with whipped cream and more candy cane sprinkles as desired.