Irish Potato Candy

After making my Irish soda bread, I had St. Patrick's Day fever and wanted to make something else. I knew I wanted something sweet, so I settled on this Irish Potato Candy. This was yummy. Really, really yummy. And easy to make. I read a lot of the reviews before getting started and followed the suggestions that kept appearing again and again (my changes are reflected in the below recipe). I halved the amount of powdered sugar, using only 2 cups rather than the 4 cups called for and the consistency was perfect. I chilled between steps - before rolling and before coating - and had no problem handling or molding the treats. Finally, I rolled the candies in a mixture of cinnamon and a hot cocoa packet - the coating was delicious and not at all over powering. After eating a few too many myself I sent the remainder to school with Joe where they were a big hit! I definitely plan to make these again - I'm already thinking about how I can use food coloring in the candy to make Easter eggs!

Irish Potato Candy

1/4 cup butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 packet hot cocoa mix

In a medium bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar; beat until smooth. Mix in coconut. Chill mixture in refrigerator 60 minutes or until firm. Shape into potato or ball shapes. Place on cookie sheet and chill 30 minutes. Mix together cinnamon and hot cocoa mix in a shallow dish. Roll candies in cinnamon mixture.

Hazelnut Fudge

I never really thought about making fudge. It always seemed like quite the effort, plus I don't own a candy thermometer. However a few weeks ago while I was watching Food Network on the elliptical at the gym (yes, I watch food while I exercise) I saw Nigella make this super easy fudge and decided to give it a go for my holiday treat bags. This could not be easier. It literally took about 3 minutes to make from start to finish. And it SO good! Creamy and chocolatey - yum! Nigella used pistachios in her fudge but I chose hazelnuts for mine - any nut would work fine. This is a wonderful simple treat and makes a great gift. I packaged mine with Oreo truffles - that says "Happy Holidays" to me!

Hazelnut Fudge

12 ounces 70 percent dark chocolate, chopped or 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 (14-ounce) can condensed milk
Pinch salt

1 cup chopped hazelnuts

Melt the chopped chocolate, condensed milk and salt in a heavy based pan on a low heat.
Add the nuts to the melted chocolate and condensed milk and stir well to mix.
Pour this mixture into a 9-inch square foil tray, smoothing the top.
Let the fudge cool and then refrigerate until set. You can then cut into small pieces approximately 3/4 by 1 3/4 inches or cutting 8 by 8 lines in the tin to give 64 pieces.
Once cut you can keep it in the freezer, no need to thaw just eat straight away. (I stored mine in the fridge.)

Oreo Truffles

So by now, almost everyone has either heard of, tasted or made Oreo truffles. Still, they seem to be a big favorite so I decided to make them this year for my holiday treat bags. I had it in my head that these were going to be messy and time consuming, so I was pleasantly surprised when they turned out to be neither! I made the filling on Friday afternoon, rolled it into balls and put them in the fridge on cookie trays to set. I left them in there for about 24 hours so they were nice and firm by the time I got to dipping them in the chocolate. Joe helped me with this part, and I'm glad I did. We made a good team and the whole process went more quickly with two people. Joe stuck toothpicks in each truffle and then we dipped them in the chocolate. Joe then went to work drizzling chocolate over the little toothpick holes to make sure they were completely enrobed in chocolate. Tucker helped too!

We finished them off with some red and green sprinkles then stuck them back in the fridge to harden. I was thrilled with how nice they looked, and of course they tasted fantastic! If you're one of the few people who have not tried these awesome treats, you better get in the kitchen! You don't know what you're missing!

Easy Oreo Truffles

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) Oreo Cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Mix the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.
Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

The best kind of eggs

are filled with peanut butter! Who doesn't love a nice big chocolate peanut butter egg? I decided to make up a batch to bring to Easter dinner - if ever there is a holiday that demands chocolate it's Easter. I used this recipe from Gale Gand of the Food Network and just shaped the peanut butter mixture into eggs instead of balls. I topped the finished eggs with some Easter sprinkles. They were delicious and tasted almost exactly like Reese's eggs. I did find the peanut butter mixture to be rather dry and added about 1/3 cup extra peanut butter to make it easier to work with. Aside from that, this recipe is a winner. Happy Easter!

Peanut Butter Eggs

1 jar (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar
1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 packages dark cocoa candy melts, melted

In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, confectioners' sugar, graham cracker crumbs, and butter. Mash together until combined. Form the mixture into balls. Transfer to the refrigerator until hardened, about 30 minutes. Dip the peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate and set inside mini paper cupcake forms. Decorate as desired. Let the chocolate set before serving.

Ode to Frito Candy

Oh delicious, indulgent Frito candy, where have you been all my life?!?! I spotted this recipe months ago on Anna's fantastic blog, Cookie Madness, and bookmarked it immediately. I wanted to try it desperately, but I was also slightly afraid of it - Fritos and chocoalte? Really? But this weekend I finally decided it was time to be adventurous and whip up a batch. Holy hell. This stuff is just amazing. Amazing. I couldn't stop eating it. It was like crack. Salty, chocolatey, gooey, delicious crack. I brought (what was left of) the batch to my friend Jamie's party on Saturday night (see below for more goodies from that) and then made another batch to give to some friends and family - I had to share the love! Don't wait - make this today! And Anna, you are my hero! :)

Sweet, Salty, Frito Candy

2 cups pretzels
1 cup Fritos
8 mini peanut butter cups (I used 4 regular-sized cups broken into pieces)
1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or however many you want)
Optional: Some peanuts for the top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 13×9 inch pan with parchment paper or no-stick (Release) foil.
Place pretzels in food processor and pulse to break - don’t pulverize. Add Fritos to processor and break them up with pretzels. Dump into pan. Unwrap peanut butter cups and throw them in the mix.

Place butter in a non-stick saucepan and melt over medium heat. When butter is melted, stir in brown sugar. Bring mixture to a full boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring once or twice. Pour over Frito mixture and bake for 8 minutes.
Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over hot candy. Return to oven for 1 minute to soften chips. Spread softened chocolate chips over bars.

Cool at room temperature until you feel the pan is cool enough to be transferred to your refrigerator, then transfer to refrigerator to set the chocolate. When chocolate is set, lift from pan and break the candy into pieces. The finished candy can be stored at room temperature, but I liked it best nice and cold from the fridge!