Marshmallow Caramel Crispies

I'm not sure what to call these things, as evidenced by the oh-so-creative name, but they are tasty. They remind me of Halloween. When I was little, I made these with my grandma a lot. I think one year I even took them into school as a treat during the Halloween party.

There are two ways to make this. One is a bit time consuming all the way through and the other is time consuming followed by quick and easy. The first method requires the larger marshmallows and the second needs the tiny marshmallows. Both produce something yummy. Either way, feel free to make this for any occasion during any time of the year!

Marshmallow Caramel Crispies (Printer-friendly PDF Version)
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
8 oz of caramels
1/2 C butter
bag of marshmallows (big or small)
box of crispy rice cereal

Place the condensed milk, caramels, and butter in a medium sauce pan. Heat over medium-low heat (this is the time consuming part). Once the butter is fully melted, the stirring will have to be constant so the mixture doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan. A double boiler would be useful for the melting phase, if you have one.

Once the caramel mixture is fully melted, remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. The mixture coats better when it is thicker.

Option 1: Stab the marshmallows with a toothpick like so. Place a decent amount of crispies in a bowl as well. The toothpick part is optional.

Dip the marshmallow into the caramel mixture and then roll it in the crispies. You can toss the marshmallows in the caramel and fish them out with a spoon to transfer them to the crispies bowl.

Place on a cookie sheet to dry. Repeat until all marshmallows are coated.

Option 2: Once the caramel cools a bit, pour the marshmallows into the caramel mixture. Stir. Add some crispies and stir. Continue to add the crispies until the mixture is to your liking.

Pour the marshmallow caramel crispie mixture into a greased cake pan to cool.

Peanut Brittle

Another holiday staple around here is peanut brittle. This requires boiling sugar to a high temperature and then cooking peanuts in the boiling sugar. The process isn't very time consuming unless you decide to make 5 batches of it. After the 3rd batch you begin to wonder what you were thinking.

Peanut brittle isn't difficult to make. If you haven't worked with boiling a sugar mixture, I recommend getting a candy thermometer before attempting this recipe. The peanuts also have to be raw to get the right flavor. Raw peanuts can be bought pre-shelled and skinless.

Peanut Brittle (Printer-friendly PDF Version)

1 C white karo syrup

2 C sugar

1/2 C water

1 T butter

1 t vanilla

2 t baking soda

2 1/2 raw peanuts (approx. 1 pound)

Prepare your ingredients before starting. Place the nuts in their own bowl (we used a bit less than 2 1/2 cups). Place the butter & vanilla in a bowl together. Put the baking soda in a separate bowl.

Prepare cookie sheets by coating them with a thick layer of butter. We use old cookie sheets for this.

Place the karo syrup, sugar, and water in a medium or large pot. Heat over medium-high heat while stirring constantly until the sugar boils. Continue to boil and stir until the sugar mixture reaches the hard crack stage (this will take around 12 minutes). The hard crack stage is at 300degrees. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can test by pouring a bit into a glass of cold water. At the hard crack stage you will hear a cracking noise as the sugar cools in the water. The sugar will also be hard (and pointy!) when you try to remove it from the glass of water. Under-heating the sugar will cause the peanut brittle to be soft and gooey when cooled.

Once the sugar reaches the hard crack stage, add the peanuts. Cook the peanuts in the boiling sugar for about 4 minutes. The peanuts will be done when you can see them "talking". The sugar mixture will also start to bubble.

Add butter and vanilla. Stir until the butter is completely melted.

Add the baking soda and stir. Remove from heat and immediately pour onto a buttered cookie sheet.

Let cool completely. Remove from the cookie sheet and break into small pieces. Enjoy!

The Compromise Cookies

There are times when you must choose between eating cookies and eating a candy bar. (I'm not sure when this would happen, but I'm sure it does.) This is a difficult decision to make. Fortunately, with the help of these cookies, you no longer have to make that decision. You see, these aren't just cookies. They are cookies with a piece of candy bar inside! These cookies are even sneaky in their disguise and look like plain cookies. So you can easily eat them and people will think you are just eating a cookie. Everyone wins!

The version of this cookie presented below is made with Pilsbury pre-cut, ready to bake sugar cookie dough and mini Snickers. These can be made with any type of mini candy bar and probably any sort of pre-made dough.

(Printer-friendly PDF Version)

Needed:

• ready to bake cookie dough (store bought or homemade)
• mini candy bars

Zeroth step, preheat oven to the temperature the cookie dough desires.

First step, unwrap all the candy pieces. Place them on a plate or in a bowl.

Second step, place the unwrapped candy pieces next to the cookie dough. The dough is easier to work with when softened, so leave the ingredients alone on the counter to get acquainted if needed.

Third step, place a piece of cookie dough on your palm and smash it with your other palm. Don't worry, the cookie dough cannot feel pain.

Fourth step, place an unwrapped piece of candy in the middle of the smashed dough. Wrap the candy piece with the dough.

Fifth step, repeat the third and fourth steps until a pan is full of dough balls.

Sixth step, place the filled pan in the oven for the designated bake time (the cookies will tell you how long this is).

Seventh step, remove the cookies from the oven. Let cool a minute or so on the pan before removing to the cooling rack.

Oh, Fudge: Peanut Butter Fudge

This marks fudge recipe #1 of 15 or so. I will be making at least one new fudge recipe per month.

I am highly amused by the plethora of fudge recipes that are in the cookbooks which I now own. The one cookbook alone has 13 different fudge recipes! I, personally, am not a huge fan of fudge. Before this post, I never once attempted to make it. Fortunately (or not) for everyone around me, I am going to be overdosing the world on fudge. By the end of this sugary adventure, I shall be a master at making this creamy candy.

The choice of peanut butter fudge for the first recipe to make was not made by me. I took a vote. A vote of one person. He chose peanut butter fudge. You are now at his mercy.

This fudge is very soft and creamy. The peanut butter flavor is not overwhelming. It is mostly perfect. I think I may have under-heated the sugar during the boiling process because the fudge is rather soft. However, it is possible that the fudge is supposed to be this way. We can assume that and pretend I did everything to 100% perfection.

Peanut Butter Fudge (Printer-friendly PDF Version)
2 C sugar
2/3 C milk
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow cream
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
1 t vanilla

The first thing to do is heat the milk and sugar over medium heat to boiling while stirring constantly. To ensure an even heating, you can use a heavy bottomed pot. I don't have one of those that aren't overly large for a single batch, so I just used a normal metal pot.

Once the milky sugar reaches a boil, cover it with a lid. Let it boil on its own for 2 minutes (no stirring!) and then uncover it. It will now look like a bubbly mess. It requires no more stirring.

Continue to boil the milk sugar until it reaches the soft ball stage; that is, 240 degrees F. There are two ways to determine if it has reached this stage. The first, obviously, is to use a candy thermometer. Alternatively, you can drop a small amount of the liquidy sugar into a glass of cold water. At the soft ball stage, the sugar will form a soft ball in the water. When removed from the water, the ball will flatten to a pancake shape.

When the boiling milky sugar has reached the soft ball stage, remove it from the heat. Add the marshmallow cream, peanut butter, and vanilla. Gently stir this mixture together until just combined. It is fine if it remains a bit marbled.

Pour the blended mixture into a buttered 8 inch square pan. Place in a refrigerator until well chilled. Cut into pieces and serve. Be sure to serve the fudge to people with a sly grin on your face, because, clearly, you will be making each of these fudge recipes. They have no idea you intend to put them into a sugar coma. You are such a nice friend.