Tag: candy

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Peanut Brittle

stretching brittle
stretching brittle
Peanut brittle is easy to make at home.

No one seems to make candy from scratch anymore. And, while we can understand that, well, just a bit, because candy is so ubiquitous, we happen to know that candy you make at home is about a million times better-tasting. Plus, some candies are remarkable easy — you can have a batch done in under an hour with very little effort on your part. But, we do have this caveat: use a candy thermometer, preferably a digital candy thermometer. It’ll set you back about $15, but, once you start using one, you’ll never know how you did without. So, if you have a thermometer, let’s scratch up a batch of brittle.

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Outrageously Nutty Candy Bars

outrageous nutty candy bars
outrageous nutty candy bars
Far better than the brand name.

When we buy candy to give out at Halloween, we know that there will be some left over, so we try to get the candy bars that we find least objectionable. From the title of this post, you can probably guess one of those candy bars. As with most Halloweens, we did have candy left over — we only had five or six trick-or-treaters; the number of goblins who show up at our door seems to drop every year.

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Apricot-Pistachio Brittle

apricot-pistachio brittle
apricot-pistachio brittle
Not your standard brittle!

Sometimes, good recipes can turn up pretty much anywhere, which is the case with today’s brittle recipe. We found this in One Soufflé at a Time, by Anne Willan with Amy Friedman. When we checked this book out of the library, we weren’t looking for recipes, but this one found us. It sounded delicious, so we just had to try it. Plus, near the holidays, it never hurts to have a little treat on hand. Just in case.

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Salted Vanilla Bean Caramels

caramel
caramel
Candy, candy, candy!

Just the other day, we put up a recipe for making Chocolate Caramels that are quite tasty. We thought in all fairness that, mainly for the one person out there who doesn’t like chocolate, we should include a vanilla caramel recipe. Fair’s fair, right?

Now, we had to keep in mind that we’ve already put up our best caramel recipe, the one that we use exclusively for making Bear Paws. We’ve never turned that one into simple caramel squares for eating plain. They would be great, but we just don’t do it. As with people, different caramels fulfill different jobs.

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Chocolate Caramels

cutting and wrapping caramel
cutting and wrapping caramel
Scratched chocolate caramels!

As we’re headed into the holiday season, we thought that we’d put up one of our favorite recipes for this time of year. We like this one because it’s fairly easy, it makes a good caramel (sorry, not quite as good as the Cream Caramel recipe that we posted last year), with a nice chocolate flavor. And, as far as we can tell, most people don’t even consider making candy anymore, even though many recipes, like this one, are really easy.

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Macadamia Nut Toffee

macadamia nut toffee

We’re visiting relatives, and one of the things we really like to do is to bring something as a little treat. We think it really helps if it is something that is home-scratched, and something they wouldn’t necessarily make themselves. Oh, and it also has to travel well, be a little snacky, and, if that’s not enough, it doesn’t hurt if it’s a little sweet. So what fills the bill? We’re thinking toffee. Continue reading “Macadamia Nut Toffee”

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Bear Paws

Okay, even though we posted this the next day, it is probably easiest to make the caramel the same day. Sorry, but with the Internet on computers these days, you kind of get what you pay for.

This is such a great holiday treat, and we often make them during the holidays to give away. While we could get a something crappy at Dul-Mart, we find that making these takes about the same time, and most people just love ’em. Besides they pay homage to bears, the coolest animals on the planet, so you got to make them at least once in your life, right?

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