EASY
AND FUN-TO-MAKE CANDY RECIPES
Our Fall Festival’s Friendly Café is on a roll (no pun intended).
Last year, we had record sales of delicious baked goods. We added
chocolate fudge to the mix a couple of years ago with great success.
This year, we’d like you to try your hand at an assortment of candies
and candy snacks. The Fall Festival Committee has gathered the following
recipes to help you out. Included is a new, easy, and delicious fudge
recipe. They’re strictly optional. As always, we appreciate your fine
baked goods and don’t want them to stop coming. But for those of you
with kids who want to add some fun to the mix, try some of these. Please
package them beforehand or bring them in as is, and we’ll package them
to sell.
Coconut Honey Bars
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/3 cups coconut
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate
Chips
Heat oven to 400º. Grease square pan,8x8x2 inches. In medium
saucepan melt butter. Add brown sugar. honey, vanilla, oats, coconut,
raisins and chips; stir until blended. Press into prepared pan. Bake 15
to 20 minutes or just until golden brown. Cool completely; cut into
bars. About 2 dozen bars.
Chocolate Marshmallow Slices
2 cups (12-ounce package) HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup butter or margarine
6 cups (10 ½-ounce package) miniature marshmallows
1 cup finely chopped nuts
Additional chopped nuts
In medium saucepan over low heat melt chocolate chips and butter,
stir-ring constantly until blended. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes.
Stir in marshmallows and 1 cup chopped nuts; do not melt marshmallows.
On wax paper shape mixture into 2 rolls, 2 inches in diameter. Wrap in
foil; chill 15 minutes. Roll in additional chopped nuts; wrap and chill
over-night. Slice rolls into ¼-inch slices. Store in airtight container
in cool, dry place. About 3 dozen slices.
Chocolate Dipped Snacks
½ cup HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
½ cup HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Chips
1 tablespoon shortening
Potato chips, cookies, dried apricots, or miniature or stick pretzels
In small micro-proof bowl melt semi-sweet chocolate chips, milk
chocolate chips and shortening on high (full power) 1 to 1½ minutes or
just until chips are melted and, smooth when stirred. Cool slightly. Dip
2/3 of each snack or fruit into chocolate mixture. Shake gently to
remove excess chocolate. Place on wax paper-covered tray. Refrigerate,
uncovered, until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes. Store in airtight
container in cool, dry place. About % cup coating.
Chocolate Peanut Clusters
½ cup HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Chips
½ cup HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 tablespoon shortening
1 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
In small micro-proof bowl melt milk chocolate chips, semi-sweet
chocolate chips and shortening on high (full power) 1 to 11/2minutes or
just until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred. Stir in
peanuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls into 1-inch diameter candy or petit four
papers. Allow to set until firm. Store in airtight container in cool,
dry place. About 2 dozen clusters.
Variation on above: Substitute ½ cup of Reese’s Peanut Butter
chips for Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips.
Cocoa Fruit Balls
2½ cups (about 12 ounces) mixed dried fruits—prunes, pears,
apricots and apples
11/4 cups (8 ounces) Mission figs
1 cup flaked coconut
2 tablespoons orange juice 2 tablespoons honey
½ cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or Chopped nuts or confectioners' sugar
Remove pits from prunes and stems from figs, if necessary. Using
metal blade of food processor, chop dried fruits, figs and coconut (or
put through fine blade of food grinder). In large mixing bowl combine
orange juice, honey and cocoa with fruit-coconut mixture; mix well.
Cover; chill thoroughly. Shape mixture into 11/4-inch balls. Roll in
chopped nuts or confectioners' sugar. Store in air-tight container at
room temperature. About 3 dozen balls.
Chocolate Almond Logs
1 can (8 ounces) almond paste
2 cups vanilla wafer cookie crumbs (about 60 cookies, crushed)
1½ cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1 cup whipping cream
1½ cups finely chopped almonds Candied cherries, cut in half
In large mixing bowl crumble almond paste with pastry blender.
Combine vanilla wafer crumbs, confectioners' sugar and cocoa; add to
almond paste. Stir in cream; mix until well blended. Knead and shape
mixture into smooth ball. Form into 2 rolls, 2 inches in diameter. Roll
in chopped almonds; wrap and chill until firm. Slice into '/4-inch
slices; garnish with candied cherry halves. Store in airtight container
in cool, dry place. About 6 dozen slices.
Note: Can be made entirely in food processor. First chop cookies
and nuts separately, then combine and add ingredients as directed.
Buckeye Balls
1 1/2 c. creamy peanut butter 1 (16 oz.) pkg. confectioners sugar
1/2 c. margarine 1 (6 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate
1 tsp. vanilla 1 Tbsp. shortening
Line baking sheet with waxed paper. Mix first 4 ingredients with
hands to form a smooth dough. Shape into balls. Refrigerate. Melt
chocolate and shortening together in double boiler. Dip top of ball into
chocolate, holding them on toothpicks. Return to tray and refrigerate
until firm. Place between layers of wax paper in container. Makes 5
dozen.
Cheerios Nuggets
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. margarine or butter, softened
6 c. Cheerios cereal
1/4 c. light corn syrup
1 c. Spanish peanuts (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. raisins
Heat oven to 250º. Grease 2 rectangular pans, 13 x 9 x 2 inches, or
1 jelly roll pan, 15% x 101/2x 1 inch. Heat brown sugar, margarine, corn
syrup, and salt in 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring
constantly, until bubbly around edges. Cook, un-covered, stirring
occasionally, 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda
until foamy and light colored. Pour over cereal, peanuts and raisins in
greased 4 quart bowl. Stir; let stand just until cool, about 10 minutes.
Loosen mixture with metal spatula. Let stand until firm, about 30
minutes. Break into bite-size pieces. Makes about 10 cups snack.
Pecan Tassies
Dough for Mini-Tart Shells:
1/2 c. margarine
1 c. flour
1 (3 oz.) cream cheese
Soften margarine and cheese to room temperature. Mix together; add
flour to form a soft dough. Chill at least 1 hour or overnight. Form
dough into 30 walnut-sized balls. Place each ball of dough in a mini
muffin tin. Dip a tart shaper into flour, then press into dough to form
mini-tart.
Pecan Filling:
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 1/2 c. chopped pecans (or desired amount)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg 1 tsp. vanilla
Mix all ingredients. Fill each unbaked tart shell. Bake at 350º for
10 to 12 minutes.
FAMOUS FESTIVAL FUDGE
Makes about 2 ½ pounds
Notes: "The quality of the chocolate used will affect the flavor
and texture of the fudge. We prefer Ghirardelli Semisweet and
unsweetened chocolate in this recipe. Don’t be tempted to make this
fudge without the walnuts; they are crucial to the texture. If you
prefer, you can use toasted nuts in this recipe. Make sure to remove the
fudge from the double boiler before the chocolate is fully melted. If it
stays in the double boiler too long, there is the possibility of the
chocolate separating and producing a greasy fudge."
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1. Cut 12 inch length aluminum foil; fold back edges to form 7 ½
inch width. With folded sides down, fit foil into bottom and up sides of
8 inch square baking pan, allowing excess to hang over sides. Spray foil
with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Toss chocolates, baking soda and salt in medium heatproof bowl
until baking soda is evenly distributed. Stir in sweetened condensed
milk and vanilla. Set bowl over 4-quart saucepan containing 2 cups
simmering water. Stir with rubber spatula until chocolate is almost
fully melted and few small pieces remain, 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Remove bowl from heat and continue to stir until chocolate is
fully melted and mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Stir in walnuts.
Transfer fudge to prepared pan and spread in even layer. Refrigerate
until set, about 2 hours. Remove from pan using foil and cut into
squares.
Substitute peanut butter chips for some or all of chocolate and omit
walnuts to make Peanut Butter fudge.
Substitute 1 cup miniature marshmallows, 1 cup chopped peanuts and ½
cup semisweet chocolate chips for walnuts to make Rocky Road Fudge.
May double by using double amounts of all ingredients and using 13 x
9 pan.
Store fudge, tightly wrapped in plastic, in a cool place for up to 2
weeks or in freezer for 3 months.