Favorite Christmas Candy Recipes

[daughtersrus]

I have been making this peanut brittle for decades now. Fairly simple and very tasty. I use dry roasted peanuts. Keep an eye on it after adding the peanuts as the time required to get that first golden/golden color varies, and a minute too long will darken it and make it taste burned. It does not seem to suffer from a little undercooking though. I have also subbed other kinds of nuts and it worked out fine. The recipe was in a cookbook that came with the first microwave I purchased back in the late 1980's! Also, hot running water helps melt away the reside on bowls and utensils.


10 Minute Microwave Peanut Brittle

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-1½ cups roasted, salted peanuts
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda


Steps:

Combine the sugar, corn syrup and salt in a 2 quart bowl and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Stir in the peanuts and microwave 2 to 5 minutes, stirring after 2 and 4 minutes, until syrup and peanuts are lightly browned.

Stir in the butter, vanilla and baking soda until the mixture is light and foamy.

Spread to ¼ inch thickness on well-buttered cookie sheet.

To make thinner peanut brittle, let the mixture on the cookie sheet cool 3 to 5 minutes. Lift it from the sheet and pull and stretch the mixture to the desired thickness.

Mine is very similar. The only difference in ingredients is that men calls for 1 tsp of butter instead of a Tbl. Maybe that's why it sticks to the pan even if I butter it. Instead I butter wax paper and it comes off fine.

Cooking is a little differnt as well.

It's important to know that you need a glass bowl or 4 cup glass measuring cup. Plastic with melt.

Stir corn syrup, sugar and dash salt and micro on high 4 minutes. Add peanuts. Micro on high 3 1/2 mins. Add butter and vanilla. Micro on high 1 1/2 mins. Add backing soda and stir. Pour on to tray.


Do not make on humid days. It will turn out chewy instead of crunchy.

I made 2 batches yesterday for DH to take to work today and DD to share with her fellow teachers at school today..

This is another favorite of ours. You do need a candy thermometer to make sure it gets to the correct temp.

Toffee

1 cup sugar 1 cup BUTTER
6 oz semi-sweet chips 6 oz pecans
3 Tbls water 1 Tbls light Kayro Syrup

Line the bottoms of 2 pie plates with pecans. Set aside. In a saucepan, melt butter making sure it does not burn. Stir in sugar. Add syrup and water. Keep stirring until mixture reaches 300 (hard crack) on a candy thermometer. Pour ½ of mixture over pecans in each pie plate. Let set a few minutes. Pour ½ of chips over each pie plate. Let set for a few minutes. When chips begin to melt, take the back of a spoon and spread the chips (like frosting). Let harden in the refrigerator. Once hardened, pop them out of the pie plates and onto a cutting board. Take a sharp knife and poke firmly into toffee. This will help break them into bite-size pieces.

 

[kajs22]

Oreo truffles. 8 oz cream cheese, 1 package crushed Oreos. Mix together, roll in balls, dip in chocolate.

have been making this for years - this year I used candy cane oreos and nutter butters