Tag Archives: christmas

Heavenly Hash Candy

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I must be feeling a little nostalgic. Yesterday, I made those cute and delicious,  strawberries in winter candy and today I am making another childhood favorite, heavenly hash candy.

I think it has something to do with marshmallows. I love anything to do with marshmallows. Marshmallow cream, marshmallows on top of sweet potatoes, on top of a steaming mug of cocoa and of course grabbing a handful right out of the bag for a snack. This candy is full of marshmallows.

I think I need an intervention!

Anywho, when I happen to run across a picture of this candy, it brought back memories of family gatherings and tables full of great food, I knew I had to add heavenly hash to the trays of goodies. They are full of marshmallows and nuts (I used almonds) and all coated in creamy chocolate goodness.

I will have to admit it took me a couple of tries to get it right. I am not sure if I mis-measured the sugar or I did not boil the milk and sugar for the full two minutes. The first batch just would not set up. I was not just going to give up, and I thought I would try it again. This time I took extra time to make sure I measured everything correctly and boiled the milk and sugar the full two minutes. This does not mean simmer either, make sure you boil it for two minutes to insure the candy will set up. I just finished my fourth third batch and the candy set up like a dream.

I know it will for you too.

Here is everything you will need to make Heavenly Hash Candy.

                   

First thing you need to do is measure out one cup of evaporated milk. Put the milk in a medium size sauce pan and add one cup of sugar. Do not worry about using a candy thermometer. I was just curious to see what temperature the milk would get when I boiled it.

                   

Now, add three tablespoons of corn syrup. Stir the milk, sugar and corn syrup until the sugar dissolves. Bring the milk mixture to a rolling boil and boil for two minutes. The mixture will look really foamy when it boils.

                   

Let the hot milk mixture cool for two minutes. Then, add in the chocolate chips (two cups) and one teaspoon of vanilla.

With a whisk, whisk the chocolate chips and vanilla with the hot milk mixture until the chocolate chips are melted. Let the chocolate mixture cool for 20 minutes.

             

After the chocolate has cooled for twenty minutes, stir in two cups of miniature marshmallows and 2 cups of chopped nuts. I used almonds. I left some whole and some  I just did a rough chop on.

With a large spoon, stir all everything together until the marshmallows are well coated in chocolate.

Using a spoon, scoop out the candy onto parchment paper to set up. This candy will set up faster in the fridge, but I just mine set up on the counter.  If you want, you can spread the candy in a parchment lined pan and cut into bars. I store the candy in the fridge until I am ready to fill my trays.

Bring a little bit heaven to your holiday candy making with these heavenly hash chocolate candies. I am sure your little angles will love them.

Here is the recipe:

Heavenly Hash Candy

Ingredients:

1 cup of evaporated milk

1 cup of sugar

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups chopped nuts (I used almonds, leaving some whole and some I did a rough chopped)

2 cups miniature marshmallows.

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan, heat the evaporated milk, sugar and corn syrup, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Bring the milk to a full boil and boil for a full two minutes (no short cuts here). Let the milk cool down for 2 minutes and add the chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir, until all the chocolate chips melts. Let the chocolate mixture cool for 20 minutes. When the chocolate mixture has cooled, stir in the marshmallows and the nuts. Stir until all the marshmallows are coated in chocolate. With a spoon, scoop out the candy and place on parchment paper to set up. Store in the refrigerator.

I hope your goodie making is going faster than mine!

Happy Candy Making,

Becky

 

Other post you might enjoy reading.

Caramel Toffee Pretzels

 

 

Strawberries in Winter Candy

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WooHoo…..holiday break is finally here! I have postponed my holiday baking until the last minute (as usual) and spent the better part of the day in the kitchen making home made goodies for my Christmas Trays I give out as gifts on Christmas Day.

Last week, I happen to run across this recipe for, strawberries in winter candy,  from an old cookbook one of my students brought to school. She was making no bake cookies and was using the recipe for them from the  old cookbook. I asked to borrow the book for the day to look through it on my spare time. She informed me the book belonged to her mom and she needed it back. (I guess her mom made it clear that she was not to lose the cookbook at school.) After I spent, more time than I could spare, looking through the cookbook and making copies of interesting recipes, this recipe caught my eye.  I remembered eating these strawberry candies at a church fellowship dinner way back when I was in college. I don’t know about you, but some recipes just put a smile on  your face when you see find it. I knew I just had to add these to my Christmas trays.

I mean…who does not like Strawberries in Winter? The name alone sounds yummy!

This recipe does not require any baking or boiling. All you have to do is stir the ingredients together, chill, form into a strawberry shape and chill again.

They look so pretty when they are made. The bright red color of the sanding sugar will add a splash of color to your holiday table.

On these cold and icy days here in mid Missouri, some strawberries in winter sure sound good!

Here is all you need to make these delightful candy strawberries.

The candy is made from sweetened condensed milk, coconuts, chopped walnuts, vanilla and jello. The outside is rolled in red sanding sugar and the stem is made from greed dyed almonds.

The first thing you need to do is chop the walnuts. I chopped them in pretty small pieces.

Place the chopped walnuts in a medium size bowl.

Next, pour in one can of sweetened condensed milk.

         

You will need 3–3 ounce packages of strawberry jello. I just used a 6 ounce size and a 3 ounce box. Pour the jello to the bowl with the sweetened condensed milk and chopped walnuts.

         

Add the vanilla to the bowl and measure out the coconut.

Add the coconut to the strawberry jello mixture.

Stir everything together until all the ingredients are coated and you cannot see the white of the coconut. Now it is time to refrigerate the candy mixture for one hour to firm it up.

While the candy mixture is firming up in the refrigerator, you can dye some slivered almonds green for the strawberry stems. To do this just squeeze some food coloring into a bowl, add a bit of water, and then just stir you almonds around until they are coated in green food coloring.

After, I got the almonds all dyed, I just scooped them up and put them on a paper towel to dry.

         

Here is the first one I made. I took the jello mixture and formed it into a strawberry shape. I then took it and rolled it in red sanding sugar. After that I put it on wax paper and inserted the dyed almond in the end for the stem.

I was really surprised that forming the strawberries did not turn my hands red.

You can have these made in no time.

After you get done, just put them in the refrigerator to firm up. The sugar coated hardens up slightly to add a nice coating. Keep them in the fridge until you are ready to bring them out to your guest. They will be amazed that you were able to make them strawberries in winter.

Just in case you were wondering, I did return the old cookbook to my student, but not before I copied a few more recipes “gems.” All of which I will share of course. : )

Here is the recipe:

Adapted from Old Silver Dollar City Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

1 1/2 cup flaked coconut

3 (3 ounce) packages of strawberry flavored gelatin

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup red colored sanding sugar (I think I used a little more than that)

1 small package of slivered almonds

Green food coloring

Directions:

In a medium mixing bowl, combined the nuts, sweetened condensed milk, gelatin, coconut and vanilla. Combined until all the ingredients are well blended. Set in refrigerator for one hour.

Meanwhile, dye your slivered almonds in a small bowl with green food coloring and a little bit of water. Place the almonds a paper towel to dry.

When the strawberry mixture is chilled, shape the mixture into strawberry shapes and roll in the red colored sugar.

Place a green dyed almond in the end for a stem.

Place in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

These strawberries makes winter a little less cold.

Here are a couple recipes links, I thought you might like also.

                    

Cracker Toffee                           Buttermilk Chocolate Cookies   

Happy Holiday Baking,

Becky

Meringue Fudge Drop Cookies

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Every year about this time, I try to make a few unusual cookies to take to a local business that is our departments partner in education. So, today while I had a break from teaching I thought I would try my  hand at making these pretty holiday cookies.

During Thanksgiving break from school, I was able to go to some flea markets, Salvation Army and Goodwill stores to see if I could find any treasures that I could use. Among some sweaters and cool dishes, I found some old recipe magazines. I figured at a quarter a piece, if I could find two or three recipes I would like to try, I would buy a few (ended up buying 7). This recipe was in one of the magazines. I thought it was a fun and different take on regular meringue cookies and putting the pistachios on top, added a finishing holiday color to them.

I was able to make these in about a hour and half, and that includes cooking and cooling time. There were much easier than I thought they would be to make. After sampling one of them (ok a few of them) I was impressed by the crunch and slight chew to the cookie and when you add that to the creamy fudge topping, it sent these cookies to holiday heaven. One thing I would have suggest that I did not do, is waiting to fill the cookie until you are ready to plate them up. You can make the cookies and the fudge filling a head of time  and when you are ready to eat them, pass them around or take them to a party, fill the cookies real quick, top them with some nuts and you are good to go. Do not store the cookies in the refrigerator (I learned the hard way) as the cookies absorbed some moisture. But, if  you are making the filling ahead of time, put the filling in the fridge because it has two eggs cooked in the filling. Now, the recipe did not say to do this, but just cause I like to do things on the safe side.

If you are searching for a gorgeous cookie to add to your cookie recipe arsenal, then give this one a try. It is even gluten free!

Here is all you need to make these cookies.

For the cookie you will need two egg whites, salt, almond flavoring and cream of tartar. For the fudge you will need two egg yolks, some butter, chocolate chips and powdered sugar, You garnish the cookies with chopped pistachios.

    

Separate the eggs whites from the yolks. Put the whites into a mixing bowl and save the yolks for the fudge filling.

    

With you whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they are foamy.

    

Add the sugar one tablespoon at a time to the foamy eggs. Whisk on high until you add all the sugar and the eggs whites form a stiff peak.

With a teaspoon, spoon out the meringue onto a parchment covered cookie sheet. After you get the meringue scooped out on the cookie sheet, take a small spoon and form a little hole in the center of each cookie. After the cookie are baked this little hole is where you will put the fudge filling. Bake the cookies for 30 to 40 minutes in a 250 degree oven. Make sure the cookies sound hollow and are dry. I rotated my pan half way through the cooking process to make sure all the cookies got an equal amount of heat to dry them out.

While the cookies are baking, you can start on the filling.

      

In a small sauce pan, melt the chocolate chips and the butter together.

    

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks till creamy and stir in the powdered sugar. Add the egg mixture to the melted chocolate.

Whisk the eggs and melted chocolate mixture on the range on low heat until it thickens making sure it reaches a temperature of 160 degrees. Take the fudge filling off of the heat and let it cool.

    

As the filling cools, chop up some pistachios.  You only need a couple of tablespoons but I always like to add more nuts.

With the cooled cookies and the cooled fudge filling. You can fill each cookie with the fudge. I used a small spoon. After you fill them, top them with some pistachios and press them into the filling to secure. If you do no plan to serve the cookies right away, just store the meringue cookies in a air tight container in a dry spot. Put the filling in a sealed container in the refrigerator. When you are ready to serve, then fill and decorate with nuts.

These cookies are so pretty on a plate!

Here are your directions:

Meringue Fudge Drops

Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients for the cookie:

2 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup sugar

Ingredients for the filling:

1/c cup semisweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons butter

2 egg yolks (slightly beaten)

2 tablespoon confectionery sugar

2 tablespoons chopped pistachios

Directions for the cookie.

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites, almond extract, cream of tartar and salt on medium speed until it forms soft peaks. Keep beating, and add the sugar one tablespoon at a time until the egg whites form stiff peaks. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon out meringue, forming little circles. Take a small spoon and make an indentation in each of the cookies. Bake in a 250 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the all the cookies are dry to the touch. Let cool.

Directions for the filling: 

In a small sauce pan, on medium heat, melt the butter and the chocolate chips together. With a whisk, add in the beaten egg and powdered sugar and mix together completely. Turn the heat to low and continue to cook and stir the filling until it becomes thick and the filling reaches 160 degrees. Cool to room temperature.

To finish the cookie, spoon the filling into the indentation in the cookies and top with the chopped pistachios.

Happy Baking!

Becky

If you like this post, you might like to check out these other cookie recipes.

              

   Molasses Cookies                      PIC”s Creamy Peanut Clusters

 

 

Thanksgiving Dressing, done right…finally!

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Are you a dressing or stuffing eater? Well, to be honest, I am not. But, it does not mean I do not want to make a great tasting dressing for Thanksgiving! I have tried the cornbread with sausage and other doodads in it and it tasted fine (the little bit I tried). I just still was not satisfied with what I made. My sister in law, PIC, always told me how much she loved the dressing her mom made each year.  PIC’s mom is a great cook, so I knew her dressing would taste fabulous, I just had to re-create it, somehow.

So….for the last several years…yep years folks, I have been perfecting on this simple, yet totally terrific dressing. It has a crispy buttery top crust and a moist and flavorful inside. For several years I tried adding extra sage, or poultry seasoning or garlic and it was too over powering. Last year I just trusted the Pepperidge Farm folks with the seasonings they put on their bread crumbs and just add just a touch of sage and you know what happened, it was the best one I made…after years of trying to get it just right.

The best part in all of this, is that I finally wrote the recipe down so I do not have to worry about trying to remember what I did or adding any unnecessary seasoning. If you are looking for a simple, uncomplicated and the perfect compliment to your turkey and gravy, give this dressing recipe a try.

Here is what you need to make this special dressing for Thanksgiving, or Christmas or any other time you want to make dressing.

The first thing  you need to do is chop up the celery and onion into small pieces.

Here is the onions all chopped up.

In a bowl, put the seasoned bread crumbs and the chopped celery and onion.

Melt the butter.

Pour the melted butter into the bowl with breadcrumbs, celery and onions.

Make the chicken soup base. I add the base to water and then heat it in the microwave to help dissolve it. The reason I use half chicken base and half chicken stock is that the soup base has a real rich taste and it adds a little salt to the dressing too.

Measure out the chicken broth.

Pour in the chicken soup base and the chicken broth.

Add a small amount of sage. If you add too much, it can over power your dressing pretty fast.

Stir every thing together.

Put the dressing in a casserole dish and level smooth. Put small pats of butter on top. I usually make my dressing the day before I bake it. I think it taste better if it made the day before because the flavors really come out. This Thanksgiving, I had to make it and bake it in the morning and it was still gobbled up. So you choose what works best for you.

Bake at 375 degrees for around 46 minutes or until the top gets a little crispy and it is heated all the way through. If you make your dressing the day before and you take it right out of the refrigerator to bake it may take a little bit more time to bake.

Now it is time to scoop it out and watch it disappear.

One thing I figured out about making dressing, it is that people are passionate about their dressing. This recipe can be tweak it you need too. If you like more onions, celery or sage, just add a little more and if you don’t add a little less.

Me…I am leaving it as it is cause PIC thought it was great and my Daddy told me it was the best I have made so far. Who wants to argue with a 95 year old…not me : )

Here is the recipe:

Perfect Thanksgiving Dressing

Ingredients:

1 – 14 ounce package of Pepperidge Farms Herb Seasoned Stuffing Bread Crumbs

1/2 cup melted butter

2/3 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon sage

2 cups of chicken broth made from chicken soup base

2 to 2 and  1/2 cup chicken broth (canned broth such as Swanson)

Extra butter (around 1/4 cup) to put pats of butter on top

Directions:

In a large bowl, add the herb seasoned bread crumbs, celery, onions and sage. Stir to combine. Pour in the chicken soup base and the chicken stock, along with the melted butter. With a large spoon, mix everything together. Spoon the dressing into a greased casserole dish and level off with the back of a spoon. Arrange small pats of butter on top of the dressing. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until the butter on top is melted and the top gets slightly crispy and the insides are heated through.

I know that Thanksgiving is over this year, but Christmas is right around the corner and you made need a perfect, uncomplicated dressing recipe.

Enjoy!

Becky

 

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