Easy Valentine Caramels

So... It's no secret that I love chocolate. I mean I looooove chocolate. Hubby and I have been dieting, err, "Eating better" lately and have only had a couple of cheat days so far. On those cheat days do you know what I eat? Chocolate.  I can't live without it's sweet, delicious chocolatey goodness...

I spent my morning trying to think of something cute I could make for Valentine's Day that hadn't already been done 1,000 times. I kept looking at my bag of See's Chocolate Chips and thinking that I just wanted to dig in and that, really, if I were to simply throw them in my mouth, that would be good enough. But, after I noticed some leftover caramels sitting up in my pantry and I saw my adorable heart-shaped sprinkles, I knew what had to be done...

Chocolate + Caramel = Amazing. Every. Time.

Look how pretty it is now that it's covered in chocolate. Chocolate makes everything pretty! It's almost Too easy!

The end result is an adorable pile of Valentine Caramels that will make anyone smile! They're cute, they're tasty and they're perfect for your Valentine!

Valentine Caramels Instructions:

Ingredients:

24 caramels, unwrapped

1 cup See's Candy Chocolate Chips

1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

Large heart-shaped sprinkles

Instructions:

In a microwave-safe bowl, place chocolate chips and oil. Microwave at 30-second intervals, stiring frequenty, until chocolate is melted.

Using a fork, dip caramels in chocolate, remove and set on wax paper. Before they dry, place large heart sprinkles on all sides (except the bottom...)

Admire their cuteness. Wrap up in cute Valentine's Day packaging and give to a loved one, friend, neighbor, or anyone you want to get in good with ;)

Cherry & Chocolate Oreos

Is it just me, or is anyone else completely blown away by how quickly this year has gone by? It's going to be December soon. people... DECEMBER! It seems like we just packed away our Christmas decorations and it's already almost time to pull them out again! Don't get me wrong -- I'm THRILLED! I love Christmas... I love the whole month of December, really; parades, hot chocolate, Christmas tree hunting, buying & wrapping gifts and just the overall happy, cheerful feeling that's in the air. This year is going to be especially special for us, because of our little baby boy! It's going to be his first Christmas! I can't wait to see both of my kids under the tree this year, with their presents. Even though he'll only be 7-1/2 months old and will probably just attempt to eat all of the wrapping paper, I'm sure it will still be exciting!

Since i'm so thrilled for the holidays, I decided to make a tasty treat using some extra special Christmas candy that's often overlooked, in my opinion... the Cherry Candy Cane! It seems like the poor Cherry Candy Cane doesn't get as much attention as it's pepperminty counterpart. I'm here to change that! I'm here to show you how cute and colorful the cherry candy cane can make your Christmas candy! Plus, the combination of the white chocolate and semi sweet chocolate and cherry flavors almost taste like cordial cherries! Woo! Plus, plus, doesn't it just make an adorable presentation? Can't you imagine handing out these cute little chocolate covered oreos to your kids' friends? Or teachers? Or even your friends?

So, this year, i ask you, my amazing readers... please, give cherry a chance. You might even find that cherry is your new best friend! ;)

Cherry Chocolate Oreos Recipe: {Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

8 Christmas (red creme) filled oreos

1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1-1/2 cups white chcolate chips

3 cherry flavored candy canes, crushed

8 cupcake liners

Instructions:

Place semi-sweet chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and white chocolate chips in another. Heat, one at a time, in 30-second intervals, stirring often, until melted. Place about 1 - 1-1/2 tablespoons melted semi-sweet chocolate in the bottom of a cupcake liner. Place oreo on top of the chocolate and spoon 1 - 1-1/2 tablespoons of white chocolate over the top, or as much needed to make a smooth, even top. Before chocolate hardens, sprinkle crushed cherry candy cane over the top. Allow to sit until chocolate has hardened.

Makes 8 chocolate covered oreos.

Rocky Mountain Candy

Ahhh peanut butter. There is really nothing quite like it, is there? March 1st was actually National Peanut Butter Lover's Day and this year, I decided to go big! To celebrate this delicious little holiday I decided I would invent my very own, oh-so-delicious, peanut buttery treat. This yummy candy is full of peanut butter, marshmallows and coconut, all nicely packaged in a delicious white chocolate shell. The name of this candy seemed obvious as when I looked at the mounds of white chocolatey goodness that lined my baking sheet, I couldn't help but picture the beautiful snow-covered Rocky Mountains!

Rocky Mountain Candy Recipe: 

{Print Recipe}

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut 
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter (melted)
• 3/4 cup mini marshmallows
• 1-1/2 cups white chocolate melting disks (melted)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine marshmallows, coconut, peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar. 

Roll into 12 ping pong sized "balls" and place on a baking sheet. 

Place the baking sheet in the freezer for about 20 minutes, or until the mixture begins to firm up.

Remove from freezer and using a spoon, roll mixture in white chocolate, remove and place directly on parchment paper or in cupcake liners to harden.

Makes 12 candies.

Linked To:

 
Love Veggies & Yoga
Celebrations At Home
Addicted To Recipes
Fantastical Sharing of Recipes

Marshmallow Pops

Yesterday was my daughter's ballet class, so we decided to make an easter treat for all her classmates. I've been seeing these Marshmallow Pops around the blogosphere for a while now and thought they were super adorable! Plus, I still had tons of easter sprinkles left from previous treats. We got up early wednesday morning and melted the chocolate, dipped the marshmallows, put on the sprinkles, let them dry, packaged them up, tied the cute little ribbons on them all, put plastic easter grass in a little easter basket, put the pops in the easter basket and then we were all ready to go! We were running a little late and all I could think of was my sweet little daughter freaking out because "we'll miss the marching and that's my FAVORITE part!!" We finally got there, she grabbed her basket, got her ballet bag and... there's a huge sign on the door that says "Studio is closed for Spring Break!" I love when stuff like this happens, it reminds me of what a horribly unorganized human being I truly am.

We ended up taking the pops to my sister in law's house and handing them out to her family and her in-laws who are visiting from Scotland. On top of that, some of her music students happened to be there for lessons, so it all worked out in the end! My lesson has been learned. Never, EVER throw away or misplace any important documents that may or may not list very important dates.

Marshmallow Pops Recipe:
20 Marshmallows
20 lollipop sticks
1/2 bag white chocolate or milk chocolate chips
1 tablespoon shortening
Assorted sprinkles

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler along with shortening.

Put the lollipop sticks into the marshmallows.

Dip the top 1/3 of the marshmallow into the chocolate and allow the excess chocolate to drip off.

Now, just personalize to your liking with the sprinkles!

Probably the easiest treat to make!

Linked up with:
Sun Scholars, Alli-n-Son, Dee Dee's Delights

Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

I have been sick for the past few days and have basically just sat around watching Martha Stewart and Chopped. There is nothing better than watching cooking shows when you're feeling under the weather! The problem is I had so many plans to make wonderful treats this weekend and I was only able to make one. But, it was a good one. It's my favorite homemade Easter candy and if there is any treat that has magical sick healing abilities, peanut butter eggs would be it!

Peanut Butter Eggs: 

{Print Recipe}

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup peanut butter
3 cups confectioners sugar
4 sheets of graham crackers (crushed)
4 tablespoons butter (melted)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
1 package semisweet chocolate (or white chocolate is really really yummy too!)
1 tablespoon shortening

DIRECTIONS:

Combine peanut butter, confectioners sugar, graham crackers, butter, salt and milk. Mix it together and make sure everything is well combined. It may seem a little dry but it will help to keep the shape of the eggs!

Form into balls about the size of a golf ball and shape it until it starts to look like an egg. You can also make smaller eggs (about the size of a cherry tomato) to put on sticks, if you'd like! If the mixture is cracking while you form it, you can definitely add another tablespoon of milk.

Put them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and place it in the freezer for 45 minutes.

While the eggs are in the freezer, melt your chocolate in a double boiler along with the shortening.

Dip the eggs into the chocolate using either a fork or toothpicks and place on parchment paper.

Before the chocolate sets you can put sprinkles on or you can wait until the chocolate hardens and use some colored chocolate to make pretty designs on the eggs. The designing part is really up to you! I had a little 4 year old begging to put sprinkles on the eggs, so that's the direction we ended up going for the big ones :)

Recipe yields about 14 eggs.

Linked To:
Baked by Joanna, House of Hepworths, Tidy Mom, CraftoManiac, Today's Creative Blog, Mom's Crazy Cooking, 30 Handmade Days, Sun Scholars