Chocolate Peppermint Easy Fudge

Miss V loves anything that is chocolate and mint flavored.  I saw this on Pinterest a while back and wanted to make it before Christmas.  I don't know about you, but I found the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas went so FAST this year.   I felt bad that we didn't get to make cut out cookies with cousins, spritz cookies, and so many other things.

I figured since we are still on Christmas break that we could still make some new Christmas recipes.  The original recipe for this came from A Spicy Perspective.

1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound dark chocolate chips/chunks (I used dark chocolate chips)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Andes Peppermint Chunks
Cooking Spray (I used Coconut Oil spray)

Spray a 8 X 8 baking dish with cooking spray. Sprinkle half the peppermint chunks in the bottom of the dish and set aside.

Place a medium sauce pot over medium heat with 2 inches of water. Place a glass bowl over the top--making sure the glass doesn't touch the water and add the butter and condensed milk. Allow the butter to melt and the milk is very warm.  Add the chocolate chips and salt in the bowl. Stir the chocolate and allow to melt slowly.  Stir with a silicone spatula.

The mixture is very thick.  Remove the bowl from the heat and add both extracts and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the dish. Tap the dish on the counter a few times so any air bubbles to rise to the surface and to smooth the surface.

Sprinkle the remaining peppermint chips over the top and press them in gently.  Refrigerate for a few hours.

To cut, take the dish out of the refrigerator for a few minutes.  Then dip a sharp knife in hot water, wipe it off on a dry towel and cut quickly into small squares.  Repeat the process until the fudge is cut into squares.  Store in gladware containers or ziplock baggies.

This is very rich and tasty.  Definitely will make this again next year.

Valentine's White Chocolate Hearts

Ok, I know I am not the only one who saw this and Pinned it.  The original recipe can be found at Number 2 Pencil.  I mean, how cute are they????

Anyways, while working on them, I kept thinking there is no way these are going to come out like the picture and just kept working away.  When I turned them out, my suspicions were correct.  This morning, I went back and looked closely at the picture on the blog and there were a few that well, just seems a little perfect like they were made in a different order.  I may be incorrect in my thinking, I know everyone wants their food to look perfect.  Mine certainly aren't but I am sure it won't matter to much, Miss V thought they were awesome!

Close ups

Hershey Hug Pretzels

So I figured that I would make another sweet treat for Alpha and found this on Pinterest.  You can find the original recipe at Barefoot and Baking.

Waffle Square Pretzels
Hershey Hugs, unwrapped
Candy Corn

Preheat oven to 350.

Lay out a few handfuls of pretzels on a cookie sheet.

Place a Hershey Hug on each pretzel and bake for 2 1/2 minutes.

Remove from oven and quickly place a candy corn on each Hershey Hug and press lightly.

Place cookie sheet in the fridge to let the Hershey Hug harden about 20 minutes.

Place on a festive platter and enjoy!

Again sorry for the picture, I didn't take any with my camera.  I completely spaced.  So this was snapped after dessert and there were only a handful left.  The definitely were a hit!

Pawprint Lollipops take 1

So the other day a mom from Miss V's school had asked if anyone would like to bring treats to the next basketball game.  Me being the over achiever said sure and then at Hobby Lobby I spotted the cutest pawprint lollipop mold so I bought the two on the rack and some white candy melts.  They only had Orchid at the store and I knew that I had purple at home.

Well the purple I have is lavender and it just doesn't look right.  So I went to work melting and painting in the molds then filled with the white candy melts.  I was using a spoon to fill and it was working out ok, but I ended up over filling some of the molds so the lollipops wouldn't lay flat.

Then I googled around for a bit and found that if you mix food gel with shortening first then you can add it into the melted candy melts.

The color that I came up with looks much better, but then I had problems with the white chocolate.  I had switched from paintbrush and spoons to squeeze bottles.  The Purple worked well, but the white not so well.  ARGH.....

I just don't like working with chocolate down here.....

Maybe I should just stick with festive cookies...when I got the idea of marshmallow fondant cookies.  I found conflicting info, so I asked a professional on a certain website.  She told me that I could NOT use marshmallow fondant on cookies and that I HAD to purchase rolled fondant.  Well of course she would say that since she is employed by a food company that sells fondant.  But.....that stuff tastes ICKY!!!

Oh so here are some pics of the lollipops...I am not thrilled with them...If I can't get them to look the way I want them, I won't bring them as a surprise.

This is the "lavender" color

On the left is the purple that I came up with and on the right is the lavender.

Someone suggested mixing pink and blue to make purple.  I might have to try that.  I think mixing to much gel and shortening made the purple to soft.

Chocolate Sea Shells and Sea Creatures

Oh just had a little fun with candy melts and my new sea shells and sea creature molds.  These are just a test run for Miss V's birthday.  You know in the world of a soon to be 9 year old...sea creatures are colorful and well star fish aren't just pink.