I hpe you don't mind if I just share all of the ones I talked about. They're all worth trying. Here are the recipes that I use:
Alton Brown's White Trash - Oh yum!
3-1/2 cups Cheerios
3 cups Rice Chex
3 cups Corn Chex
16 oz. plain M & M's
2-1/2 cups salted mixed nuts
2 cups small pretzels
2 (11-oz.) pkg. white chocolate chips (Ghiradelli brand preferred)
Dump the cereals, M & Ms, nuts and pretzels in a large bowl.
Melt the white chips in a microwave or double boiler, being careful not to burn.
Dump the melted chocolate over the cereal mixture and fold over and over until you have well-coated hunks and chunks.
Spread the whole mess out on parchment paper and set in a cool place until it sets up. Break into pieces and put into ziploc bags or air-tight containers. (While it's cooling, every time you walk into your kitchen, grab a chunk or two!!)
Makes 18 cups.
Note: I dump everything into a huge roaster. A large bowl (unless you have one that's truly gigantic!) will not allow you to mix the melted chocolate into the cereal mixture without making a mess....unless you're a lot neater than I am.
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Dark Chocolate Buttercrunch - from my GF who found it on King Arthur's website
This recipe requires few ingredients and little effort, but the result is superb, making it appear you slaved over a hot stove all afternoon. What’s more, this candy is so rich that a few pieces go a long way, making it ideal for holiday gift bags. Add it to an assortment of other candies, cookies, or bars, and it’s probably good for 8-10 gifts.
For those of you unfamiliar with buttercrunch, it’s a lot like a Heath Bar. And, like a Heath Bar, it’s delicious crunched up and stirred into ice cream, or mixed into whipped cream and spread between layers of a chocolate cake. Than again, you can just eat it au naturel. "I’m only going to have one piece today. Really! I mean it. Well, maybe just one piece this morning, and one this afternoon, and one after supper…"
1 cup (2 sticks, 1/2 pound) butter*
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 cups (8 ounces) diced pecans or slivered almonds, toasted
1 pound semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (chocolate chips are an easy solution here; you’ll need about 2-2/3 cups)
*If you use unsalted butter, add 1/2 teaspoon salt.
In a large, deep saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the sugar, water and corn syrup, and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil gently, over medium heat, until the mixture reaches hard-crack stage (300°F on an instant-read or candy thermometer), about 20 minutes. The syrup will seem to take a long time to come to the hard-crack stage, but be patient; all of a sudden it will darken, and at that point you need to take its temperature and see if it’s ready. (If you don’t have a thermometer, test a dollop in ice water; it should immediately harden to a brittleness sufficient that you’ll be able to snap it in two, without any bending or softness). Pay attention; too long on the heat, and the syrup will burn. And what a waste of good butter and sugar that would be!
While the sugar mixture is gently bubbling, spread half of the nuts, in a fairly closely packed, even single layer, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Top with half the chocolate. When the syrup is ready, pour it quickly and evenly over the nuts and chocolate. Immediately top with the remaining chocolate, then the remaining nuts. Wait several minutes, then gently, using the back of a spatula, press down on the chocolate-nut layer to spread the chocolate around evenly.
While the candy is still slightly warm, use a spatula to loosen it from the baking sheet. When cool, break it into uneven chunks.
Yield: about 24 big bite-sized pieces, if you want to be scientific about it.
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Homemade Marshmallows - from The Barefoot Contessa
3 packages unflavored gelatin
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
confectioner's sugar -- for dusting
Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.
Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.
With a sieve, generously dust an 8 x 12-inch nonmetal baking dish with confectinoer's sugar. Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan, smooth the top, and dust with more confectioner's sugar. Allow to stand uncovered overnight until it dries out.
Turn the marshmallows onto a board and cut them in squares. Dust them with more confectioner's sugar. Makes 20 to 40 marshmallows.
Note: I use parchment paper, sugared heavily, to line the pan, then dumped the mixture onto the paper. You do need a pan with sides!! Let them stand, uncovered, overnight. Dump them out of the pan and peel off the parchment....you may have some trouble peeling off the paper, but it will come off.
Use your pizza cutter to cut the mixture into squares. Roll them in confectioners' sugar (or just dust the cut surfaces with the sugar). I also dusted them with some Dutch cocoa. The cocoa serves to cut some of the sweetness. You can also toast coconut and roll the marshmallows in the toasted coconut.
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Best-Ever Nut Brittle
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 ounces roasted salted peanuts, cashews, pistachios and/or pecans
Fleur de sel or crushed Maldon sea salt
1. In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, water, butter and corn syrup and bring to a boil. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is light brown and registers 300 degrees on a candy thermometer, 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the baking soda. The mixture will bubble. Stir in the nuts, then immediately scrape the brittle onto a large rimmed, nonstick baking sheet. Using the back of a large spoon (oil it lightly if it sticks), spread the brittle into a thin, even layer. Sprinkle with salt. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Break the brittle into large shards.
Make Ahead and Storage: The brittle can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.
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This recipe is from Best of Country Cooking 1999 and we love these nuts! I use all pecans and double the recipe when I make them. They don't really taste like much when you first take them out of the oven, but after they've cooled down and stored for a couple of hours? Good stuff!! I've made other spiced nuts and they're all good, but for some reason, this is our favorite. I lost the recipe a couple years ago and found it again recently. And promptly made a double batch!
Spiced Nuts
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. chili powder
1 cup whole unblanched almonds
1 cup pecan halves
1 cup pistachios or macadamia nuts
In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients, mix well. Add nuts and stir well until coated. Spead evenly in an ungreased 15 x 10 x 1-inch baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes, stirring two or three times. Spread on a waxed-paper lined baking sheet. Cool. Store in an airtight container. Makes 3 cups.
Note: Since we like more of the "spiciness", I'll add more spices and about 1-1/2 tsp brown sugar in addition to the tablespoon of brown sugar called for in the recipe. You may have to roast them longer than 15-20 minutes. I do mine for abou 30 minutes. Watch carefully; you don't want them to burn.
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From Taste of Home's Treasury of Christmas Recipes
Cranberry Gumdrops
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
1 (16 oz.) can jellied cranberry sauce
2 cups sugar, divided
3 (3 oz.) pkg. raspberry gelatin
Additional sugar, optional
In a saucepan, sprinkle unflavored gelatin over water; let stand for 2 minutes to soften. Add cranberry and 1 cup sugar; cook over low heat until sauce is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 10 minutes. Whisk until smooth,
Remove from the heat and add raspberry gelatin; stir until completely dissolved, about 3 minutes. Pour into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with nonstick spray. Cover and let stand overnight at room temperature. Do not refrigerate.
Cut into 1-inch squares; roll in remaining sugar. Place on baking sheets; let stand at room temperature for 3 hours. Turn pieces over and let stand 3 hours longer. Roll in additional sugar, if desired. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Makes about 5 dozen gumdrops.
Note: It took me longer than 10 minutes to melt the cranberry sauce completely and get the mixture completely smooth. After removing from the pan, I cut my squares a little larger than one inch....it's hard to see exactly where your slices are! I rolled the squares in sugar twice...it was optional to do so, but I found that after standing, the sugar started to melt off the gumdrops. These are really good.
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Once you've eaten a homemade marshmallow you will NEVER go back to those store-bought air things. A cup of hot, rich cocoa with a large marshmallow floating on top and every thing is right in my world.
I'm not 100% sure what all I'll be making just yet, but I have a few ideas to go along with my regular standbys - white chocolate Christmas suckers (reds, greens,etc), peppermint bark,etc. I plan to wrap everything and make cute little gift baskets. I'm also thinking about throwing some chex mix in there somewhere as well.
