Homemade Chocolate Syrup

I used to make a more complicated recipe so when I found this one, it was a very good day.  Tastes just like the store bought Hershey's chocolate syrup but without the additives.

• 2 Cups            Sugar
• 1 Cup              Hershey's cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon    Salt
• 1 Cup              Cold water
• 1 Tablespoon   Vanilla extract

Combine cocoa and sugar, whisk until all lumps are gone.  Add cold water and salt.

Cook over medium heat, whisking until it comes to a boil.  Let it boil about 30 seconds, keep whisking so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.  Take off of heat.  Whisk in vanilla extract.  Let cool completely and pour into a jar.

This will keep a long time in the refrigerator but it usually gets used up before it could possibly go bad.  Great for pouring over ice cream, making chocolate milk, etc.

Makes approx. 1 1/2 pints.

Candied Cranberries

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Water
1 1/2 Cups Fresh or frozen cranberries

Combine sugar and water in saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved.

Bring to a boil.. no stirring... to soft ball stage (235 degrees).

Sir in cranberries, cook four (4) minutes until coated with syrup.  Drain well.

Discard syrup and arrange in single layer.  Cool.

(Will show picture soon.)

Favorite Christmas recipes

I brought this over from Coffee Tea Books and Me...

Pretzel Candy

My favorite time of year to be in the kitchen is December when I'm baking and making candy gifts for friends and family. This year I won't be making as much but I'll choose a few favorites to have available. I will be picking from some of these...

Pretzel Candy... I made these (pictured above) for the first time last year and loved the recipe. It is tasty and easy to make. One of those great recipes for kids in the kitchen as older kids can spoon the white chocolate into the pretzel and small children place an M&M on top.

Rachel Ray's Fudge... This recipe was from one of her earlier 30 Minute shows. As soon as I tried this fudge, it became my Christmas "go to" recipe. So easy and everyone loves it!

Beverly Nye's Candy... The following recipes are all from my favorite Beverly Nye cookbook from the 1970s. Love her recipes! They are all easy and yummy. None of them require a candy thermometer.

• Peanut Butter Easter Eggs -- just shape them into a ball instead of an egg. :)
• Chocolate covered mints -- delicious minty flavor. Also, you can make the "filling" without dipping into chocolate for what we usually call "wedding mints". Just mold them in a candy mold for a pretty display.
• Homemade Mounds candy -- This one basic recipe can be made into all kinds of yummy candies by adding dried fruit, nuts, etc.

Raspberry Truffle Brownies - This is one of those over-the-top brownie recipes that is perfect for the Holidays. They are rich but everyone I know loves them.


Homemade Cocoa Mix - There are lots of recipes online for cocoa and other drink mixes. I made these for my husband's siblings last year. Part of the gift was the glass container, which was very inexpensive. The marshmallows and Christmas M&Ms are in jelly jars that I wash and put back to use for such gifts after the jelly has been used. They made the gift even more festive. :)


Christmas Jam - This is a great December jam to make when cranberries are available and the strawberries called for are frozen.

Of course, there are lots of cookie and cake recipes on my recipe blog, too. :)

Fun pretzel "candy"

I LOVED this recipe. It is so easy that small children can help as long as there is an adult or older child melting the white chocolate (which can get a little hot). My husband dislikes pretzels but he said this is a winner.

You will need one bag of pretzel "twists, one bag of M&Ms, and one or two packages of white dipping chocolate (two if you plan to make the entire bag of pretzels into candy).

You don't need this many M&M's, they also went into another recipe, some were poured into my glass candy dish, and others were placed into a jar to be given as a gift!

Just place the small pretzel "twists" on a tray of some kind covered with either parchment paper or wax paper.

Melt the white dipping chocolate according to directions (see next paragraph). I only used half of it at a time to keep it from hardening too soon. Spoon the white chocolate into each pretzel (don't be stingy, you need enough for the M&M to sit in easily).

Added:  I now often use white chocolate chips for this most of the time, especially the Ghirardelli brand.

Then quickly place one M&M on top of each pretzel while the white chocolate is soft. Obviously the peanut M&M type won't work here.

Let sit until they harden which doesn't take too long but you can also put them in the frig to harden quickly.

This takes awhile if (like me) only one person was making it. But it would be great family fun for a group.

I made two "batches" that covered the cookie sheet with one bag of white dipping chocolate. I'll make the rest tomorrow. People will love receiving these as a gift.

Beverly Nye's Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

Also from the cookbook, A Family Raised on Sunshine. How much easier can homemade candy be to make?

Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

Mix well:

1 1-2 boxes powdered sugar*
1 1/2 cups peanut butter

2 sticks margarine (or butter), room temp
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

*3-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar = 1 pound

Form into egg shapes and dip in chocolate.

Beverly Nye's "Basic Mints"

In Beverly's cookbook called A Family Raised on Sunshine, she gives this recipe for Spring. While it is nice enough just rolled into patties, you can also mold it in a candy mold for pretty shapes.

Basic Mints

Knead together with hands*:

8 oz. package cream cheese, room temp
2 lb. package powdered sugar

Color and flavor as desired:

Lemon-Yellow
Mint-Pink
Wintergreen-Green

*I use my Kitchen Aid mixer to mix these ingredients.

Either shape into small patties or mold with candy molds. I've seen some candy makers roll these in white sugar immediately after shaping.

You can also just add mint flavoring, form into patties, and dip into dipping chocolate.

Rachel Ray's Fudge

This recipe is from Rachel Ray's "30 Minutes" program on The Food Channel. She made it into a wreath by putting the condensed milk can (washed) into the middle of a round cake pan and forming the fudge around the can, into a wreath. She added green and red candied fruits to the top of the "wreath". I have made it as a wreath, in an 8" square dish, in a small loaf pan and (by working quickly) into round balls and placed in the small paper cups. Except for making them into the round balls, the entire recipe takes about ten minutes!

Ingredients:
1 Pkg. Semi-sweet chocolate chips (12 oz.)
1 Pkg. Milk chocolate chips (12 oz.)*
1 Can Sweetened condensed milk
1 t. Vanilla
1/2 Cup Currents**
1/4 Cup Chopped nuts (optional)

Heat condensed milk in saucepan, add chocolate chips until melted. Add vanilla, then currents and nuts (if using). Pour into a dish as the options described above.

Chill. Work quickly as fudge sets faster than you would think!

*I always use the semi-sweet chocolate chips as a base. Sometimes, instead of milk chocolate chips I will use another type--mint chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, etc.

**I've tried variations and the smaller currents really do work better than raisins. However, you could also use chopped raisins, dried cherries, or dried cranberries.

Homemade Mounds (base for various candies)

This wondereful candy recipe is from one of Beverly Nye's cookbooks.

Knead Together:
8 oz. Package cream cheese (room temperature)
2 lb. Bag powdered sugar
Coconut (as much as you can knead in)
(You will also need two packages dipping chocolate later)

I mix these together with my stand mixer and get about half a large package of coconut mixed in.*

Add:
1/2 teaspoon almond extract -or-
1 teaspoon vanilla extract -or- (and this is what I often do)
Put in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract to the mixture, take about 1/2 of the mixture out of the bowl, add 1/2 or 1 teaspoon of mint extract to the mixture remaining in the bowl.

You can experiment with other extracts. I've used maple extract and kneaded in some chopped nuts. I've also used orange extract. (I wonder what cherry extract would taste like...yum.)

Roll mixture into balls and dip into dipping chocolate. I use a spoon and a fork for this (or you can use professional candy equipment). I bring up the ball from the chocolate and "roll" it onto a fork where the excess can drip through a bit. Then I place it on parchment paper (foil will do just fine, too, you just need something easy to peel off the candy). The dipping chocolate hardens quickly so I find it best to melt just half a package in a small bowl at a time.

*If Beverly was just making mint candy, she would leave out the coconut. Since this recipe makes a large amount, I like to make it all at once and just add the mint extract to the remaining "Mounds" ingredients and make them into patties instead of a round ball...works great, too.

You can really use your creativity with this recipe by changing the extracts around, mixing in finely chopped nuts, before dipping the ball in chocolate you can push a walnut or pecan half in the ball, you can knead in dried or candied fruit (chopped finely)...lots of great things to do with the Mounds recipe as a base.

The base recipe can be made one or two days in advance, just keep it in an airtight container or a bowl that has been tightly sealed with plastic wrap then form and dip into the chocolate when you have time. I made my base on Saturday and wasn't able to form them and dip them until yesterday (Thursday).

You can also make the candy into the balls or patties, place undipped candy on a plate (or cookie sheet if your freezer is big enough), set timer for thirty minutes. Take out the candy and pour into zip-lock bag and freeze. (Ask me why you have to set the timer???) This recipe makes a lot of candy so I dipped only part of them yesterday (using only one package of dipping chocolate) and froze the rest to use as gifts later. All you will have to do is dip them into the chocolate.

You can make these look like a fancy gift by placing individual candies in tiny paper cups and placing them in a tin. It looks uptown for a very small price. I have never had to refrigerate the candy, even with the cream cheese base. It's probably the two pounds of confectioners sugar that preserves it.