Candy | My Haunted Library

December 23, 2018
by Jennifer Leave a comment

Tempting Toffee

Need a last-minute stocking stuffer or a quick treat for Santa? Make this delicious toffee! Use the traditional semi-sweet chocolate and pecan topping, or use your imagination and your own favorite toppings.

However you make it, this toffee is supreme: buttery, chocolaty and ridiculously easy. It only takes 20 minutes of your time to stir up. You can have it ready in no time for Santa, or party favors, or a plate all for yourself to enjoy while you’re festively watching A Christmas Horror Story. Or Scrooged. Or Die Hard. Whatever your favorite holiday flick is, this toffee is a treat!

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter

¼ cup water

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips (or customize: use dark chocolate; drizzle with white chocolate…)

½ cup finely chopped toasted pecans (pecans are traditional, but again, make it your own! Try chopped candy canes! Flaky sea salt! Pistachios! Heck, even sprinkles!)

Special equipment: A candy thermometer would be VERY helpful

How to Make It:

Toast and chop your pecans, first. Then, in a heavy 2-quart saucepan, heat the sugar, butter, and water to boiling, stirring constantly; reduce the heat to medium. Cook for about 13 minutes, stirring constantly until you reach 300F on a candy thermometer or until a small bit of mixture dropped into some very cold water separates into hard, brittle threads (the hard crack stage). Watch REALLY carefully – if it the mixture gets too hot it will darken and go bad, and definitely not be a delectable holiday treat.

Yes. So this is right at the start of the process before anything happens. It is the only picture I have of the cooking procedure because I was busy trying to stir, and hold onto, and watch my candy thermometer, which decided not to hook onto the saucepan, today. Of course.

As soon as the temperature hits 300F, pour the toffee CAREFULLY (so you don’t burn yourself) onto a large, ungreased cookie sheet. Spread to ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle with chocolate chips; let stand about 1 minute or until the chips are completely softened. Spread the softened chocolate evenly over the toffee, then sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Let the toffee stand at room temperature about 1 hour, or refrigerate if you’d like to speed things up, until firm. Break into bite-size pieces. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 3 dozen candies.

Enjoy!

October 28, 2018
by Jennifer Leave a comment

Treat with a Trick: Jalapeno Peanut Brittle

This delicious and easy candy will spice up your Halloween. The jalapeños aren’t hot (unless you want them to be!) but instead give more of a warm, mellow flavor to this sweet brittle. If you do want to spike the heat—and go for more of a trick—add extra jalapeños right at the end.

Ingredients:

¼ cup jalapeño pepper, finely chopped. No seeds, no white part. Chop extra jalapeño to add at the end for more heat

1 cup peanuts. I use lightly-salted, dry roasted peanuts, because that’s what I usually have on hand, but raw nuts are classic

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided. Plus more for buttering the pan.

¼ cup light corn syrup

1 ¼ cups granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon almond extract

Green food coloring (optional) if you want things to look a little creepier for Halloween

½ teaspoon baking soda

How to Make It:

Butter a 15 x 10-inch jellyroll pan. I have a silpat, so I use that instead for zero stick/cleanup problems. They’re a bit expensive, but truly worth it. Here it is on Amazon if you’re interested: Silpat Premium Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat, Half Sheet Size, 11-5/8″ x 16-1/2″. Put the silpat on a cookie sheet.

In a skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the jalapeños and the nuts and cook over low heat until the peppers are soft.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and corn syrup. Bring it to a boil over medium heat. This looks bizarre. It will liquefy, don’t worry. Meanwhile, have all your other ingredients at hand and ready to go.

When the sugar mixture is boiling, add the jalapeños and the nuts. Stir well and cook until the mixture reaches 290 F on a candy thermometer. This is the soft crack stage. Trust me, it is good to have a candy thermometer.

Remove from heat.

Stir in the butter, almond, and vanilla extract, a few drops of green food coloring if you’re using it, and any extra jalapeño, if you’re adding any. Stir until everything is mixed in.

Sprinkle the baking soda over the top of your cooked mixture and stir until the mixture is foamy. Immediately pour it onto your buttered pan or onto your silpat. Use the back of a spoon to spread it out into a thin layer. Work fast, but be careful! The stuff is like napalm at this point!

Let it cool on the pan until it is brittle and cool enough to handle, then break it into pieces. Store in an airtight container.

Happy Halloween!

February 4, 2018
by Jennifer Leave a comment

Dark Chocolate Coconut Candies

Looking for a fast, insanely-easy Valentine’s dessert bite? Try these delectable chocolate coconut candies. If you are a fan of Mounds bars – or Almond Joys – you will adore these. They are moist, rich, and incredible and come together in minutes. Better than those old candy bars, any day! I love these: I think the original recipe came from a long-ago issue of Gourmet. Customize with your own decorations for Valentine’s day. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

¾ cup sweetened flaked coconut

¾ cup unsweetened dried coconut

1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Optional tasty/festive garnishes:

Almonds

Sea salt

Red hot cinnamon hearts or other little candies – or try a piece of candied fruit. Ginger, maybe?

How to Make Them:

Line the bottom and two opposite sides of an 8-inch square metal baking pan with wax paper. Leave an overhang on both sides. You’re only using the pan to shape your treats – the wax paper will allow you to pull the whole square out of the pan in one piece.

In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix together the sweetened coconut, the dried coconut and the sweetened condensed milk. Use a spoon to get everything evenly combined.

Press the coconut mixture into the pan in a nice, even layer using an offset spatula. A regular spatula works, too, but the offset is helpful. I recently got my first offset spatula and it turns out I didn’t know what I’d been missing. They’re not expensive, either – this one from Amazon was only $5. I put a link down at the bottom for you, if you want.

Put the coconut mixture, uncovered, into the refrigerator for 5 minutes to chill.

Meanwhile, melt your chocolate until it is smooth. Ideally, use a double-boiler. A microwave works too. Or a metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.

Pull your coconut mixture from the fridge and spread the chocolate mixture evenly over the coconut layer. Here’s where the offset spatula comes in handy again.*

* Want to fancy things up? After you spread the chocolate over the coconut, add a sprinkle of sea salt or stud some almonds across half of the chocolate. Half, because when you cut your candy, half of that chocolate is going to be on the bottom. Put your beautifully-decorated half on top when you sandwich the two pieces together.

Chill in the refrigerator until firm, 5-10 minutes.

Lift the whole square out of the pan and put it on a cutting board. Cut the square in half with a sharp knife. Now you have two rectangles.

Next, make a sandwich. Flip one half of the candy over so the chocolate is on the bottom and the coconut faces up. Place the other half of the candy with the coconut side down on top of it. Both coconut sides are in the middle, and chocolate layers are on the top and bottom. Press down lightly. Get rid of the waxed paper.

Cut into 1-inch squares. Make sure your knife is cold and clean between cuts. Chill, covered, until you are ready to serve.

These keep in the fridge for a week.

Enjoy! If you want to modify things further, consider melting more chocolate, cutting the plain coconut layer into little rectangles and using a fork to dip and coat them completely.

Oh! Here is the offset spatula on Amazon: Ateco 1305 Ultra Offset Spatula with 4.25 by .75-Inch Stainless Steel Blade, Plastic Handle, Dishwasher Safe