Cooking Quick & Easy Christmas treats - *UPDATED* - compiled recipes - Page 53

[KLAIT]

With the chocolate popcorn, I folded it in gently with a spatula...not much break apart at all.

I brought a batch into work today and you would have thought I slaved over a hot oven all night by the reaction of these people. Gone in about 10 minutes at 8 in the am!

 

[barbeml]

Oh my! I just made the toffee bars with the saltine crackers yesterday. SOOOOOO delicious! And incredibly EASY to make. I agree with whoever said these are addictive! YIKES!! Trying to find someone to give them to because I don't want my family (meaning me!) eating an entire cup of butter and cup of sugar in such a short time! We ate about half the pan yesterday until I covered them and hid them away! LOL!

LOL!! It is a dangerous time of year!

 

[d4est]

For those who have made the pretzel wreaths...how long did they take to set? I made all I could from a bag of hugs. Then I moved on to the choc covered popcorn (2 batches). The choc wreaths are still soft. Just curious.

I tried a little of both. VERY YUMMY!

 

[bengalbelle]

For those who have made the pretzel wreaths...how long did they take to set? I made all I could from a bag of hugs. Then I moved on to the choc covered popcorn (2 batches). The choc wreaths are still soft. Just curious.

I tried a little of both. VERY YUMMY!

My first batch was still a little soft after being in the refrigerator about 15-20 minutes, but they did set overnight.

My second batch was set when I took them out of the fridge.

 

[Minnie116]

These are my families favorites and have become my signiture at parties. ....I just made15 dz. last night for a Christmas Shop at DD's school..
To make it even easier, I bake the PB Cup with the cookie. They taste exactly the same...Also, another hint. If you don't have a cookie press to make the indentation, the cap from a water bottle works great, just the right size. And to avoid the cookie dough sticking to whatever your pressing with dip it in flour after every couple of uses.
Thank you to everyone for all these great ideas. My Girl Scout troop is going to have a field day next week making treats for their families.

We don't even make an indentation, we use mini muffin cups lined with candy papers, then as soon as they come out of the oven, we just push the peanut butter cup right into the hot cookie.

 

[jennafo3]

Question regarding the chocolate popcorn - what kind of microwave popcorn has everyone used? I just got home from the store with the almond bark and realized that I only have movie theatre butter popcorn and kettle corn... would these work???? REALLY don't want to have to go out again!!

Thanks!

 

[Donnaksmj]

where do you find almond bark....I have never heard of it....I tried stop and shop and walmart today and no luck.

 

[jennafo3]

What I found at walmart, was called "almond bark" - was next to the choc chips - but it seems to me to be just a big "hunk" of chocolate... you have to add the almonds to it yourself. I got 12 oz for about $1.50 - they had choc and vanilla

 

[dragonfly18]

These are so good, I have actually had people offer to pay me to make them for them. They are so easy though, I couldn't accept.

Spread peanut butter on a Townhous Cracker and put another one on top to make a sandwich. Dip and coat in melted White Almond Bark (can be melted in microwave). Set on wax paper to harden.

These will become some of your favorite cookies!!!

 

[Imzadi]

These are so good, I have actually had people offer to pay me to make them for them. They are so easy though, I couldn't accept.

Are you kidding? If people are willing to pay you to do it, it could be the start of a little mini side business for you. One that wouldn't take much time at all to do. Just get some celophane bags or the colored Reynolds Plastic Wrap & a ribbon to tie the goodies up with. Between that recipe and a few of the other simple ones off this thread, you can have a "Simple Treats" business or something.

Remember, not everyone wants or has the time to do it themselves. I remember someone at a crafts fair hung up a sign that read: "Sure you could make it yourself. But WILL you?" Sold quite a bit of items when people actually realized, No, they wouldn't do it themselves.

Smaller businesses have started out with simpler ideas, like the "Chip Clip."

 

[Imzadi]

Dump bag of popcorn into bowl of melted almond bark and stir until the popcorn is covered. Pour over wax paper to harden and then break apart and put into clear gift bags with beautiful ribbon and your teachers will think you've gone gourmet on them!!!

Okay, I can't picture this done. Maybe I just have to do it. How much do you spread out the chocolate popcorn & how much do you break it up? Do you flatten it out into a sheet, like the original bark or like chunky peanut brittle & break it up into smaller sheets? Or do you leave it kind of fluffy & break it up so it come out looking like caramel corn?

Also what's considered 1/2 of pkg almond bark? I thought the bark came in various size chunks. Can you have too much chocolate?

 

[cstraub]

Subscribing for later. Baking tom.

 

[d4est]

Okay, I can't picture this done. Maybe I just have to do it. How much do you spread out the chocolate popcorn & how much do you break it up? Do you flatten it out into a sheet, like the original bark or like chunky peanut brittle & break it up into smaller sheets? Or do you leave it kind of fluffy & break it up so it come out looking like caramel corn?

Also what's considered 1/2 of pkg almond bark? I thought the bark came in various size chunks. Can you have too much chocolate?

I didn't spread it out "all the way." I left it kinda thick. It broke up easily, into nice sized "chunks."

The almond bark I used (from walmart) was like a giant chocolate bar, like how a hershey bar has places (lines?) to break it. I just broke it directly in half. I made two batches.

I used butter flavor microwave popcorn...boy scouts brand. (DS is a Wolf scout, we have plenty)

 

[gemjoy]

I made the white chocolate popcorn last night...... and I melted a huge symphony bar with the toffee in it and drizzled it on top of the popcorn once it was spread out on wax paper ~ OMG!!! It is to die for and looks totally beautiful! I put it in clear cellophane bags and tied them with a cranberry colored organza ribbon with gold trim ~ I would actually pay good money for these if I saw them in the store!!! And soooo easy and inexpensive too! I also used the trails end (boy scouts) butter flavored popcorn and got the huge symphony bars at big lots for .99!!!! Yeah! Thanks for the great recipes everyone!!! Happy Holidays!!

 

[Queen of 3 princess]

I tryed several of these easy recipes. My families favorite was the pretzel wreaths. My kids couldn't get enough of them. They were the easy thing I have ever made. I used parchment paper instead of foil because thats what I had on hand. I also let the pan cool but noticed that they weren't hardening so I put the whole pan in the freezer for a couple of minutes and they hardened right up. Thank you all the for great recipes.

 

[bengalbelle]

I wish all of you who still have Boy Scout popcorn would stop talking about it. You're killing me!!! I just tried it for the first time this year and it's the best popcorn I've ever had. I wish I could get more now.

I'm going to try the popcorn recipe today.

 

[luvmy2sams]

For those of you suffering from fireplace withdrawal....

large marshmallows
chocolate almond bark
crushed graham crackers

Melt almond bark and dip marshmallow (using a toothpick) until completely coated. Roll in graham crackers and let harden on wax paper. They're yummy!

Subscribing to this great thread finally...

 

[Goofy Mom]

Wow, First time here and there are SO many great things that I want to try.
They all sound so Yummy!!!
Just a quick tip I found last night when dipping pretzel rods until 11:30 PM so I could bag them up and put them in pretty tins for school gifts.
Anyways, I tried for the first time using paper dipping containers that you can microwave the chips in. Think I paid $1.69 for them at AC Moore for a pack of four. They were wonderful as they made cleanup so easy. Believe me, I did not want to wash out dishes so late last evening. Just tought I'd add my two cents in should it help anyone at such a busy time of year.

 

[Tinkerbell_Girl]

Thanks for all the great and yummy recipes! Me, MIL AND SIL'S are going to have a baking day on Sat. and I want to try the white chocolate popcorn! But I have a question- How much of the white choc. do you need? How many ounces?

 

[Imzadi]

I made the white chocolate popcorn last night...... and I melted a huge symphony bar with the toffee in it and drizzled it on top of the popcorn once it was spread out on wax paper ~ OMG!!! It is to die for and looks totally beautiful! I put it in clear cellophane bags and tied them with a cranberry colored organza ribbon with gold trim ~ I would actually pay good money for these if I saw them in the store!!! And soooo easy and inexpensive too!

Just improvised a batch of my version of the white chocolate popcorn, it's AMAZING! I mixed the popcorn with rice chex, nuts and chocolate chips. I poured the white chocolate over it and mixed it and spread it on the wax paper and cooled it. Then I drizzled dark chocolate over the top of one batch and caramel over another.

You guys are killing me with these descriptions!

I think I'll try these, the "smores marshmallows" luvmy2sams posted above & another simple treat for variety.


Also, if you coupon, ACT II popcorn often has coupons out. Walgreen's has sales for it every few months, making the popcorn nearly free!