Peanut Brittle

[COOK TIME: Varies]

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1 cup roasted salted peanuts
1 tsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

Directions
In a 1.5 quart bowl stir together sugar and corn syrup til well blended.
Microwave on High for 3 minutes.
Stir in peanuts.
Micrwave on High 3-5 minutes until the mixture is light brown.
Add butter and vanilla, blend well.
Microwave on High for 1 minute [Peanuts will be lightly browned...syrup is extremely HOT]
Sprinkle baking soda over the top and stir until mixture is lightly foaming.
Pour onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.
Let cool 30 mintues.
Use a butter knife to seperate the brittle from the sheet and break into pieces.
Enjoy =]

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This is the EASIEST candy recipe I have ever used.

And the brittle is quite tasty.

Chocolate Truffles

[COOK TIME: Varies]

Ingredients
1/2 pound good bittersweet chocolate
1/2 pound good semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon prepared coffee
1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract

Directions
Chop the chocolates finely with a sharp knife. Place them in a heat-proof mixing bowl.
Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it just boils. Turn off the heat and allow the cream to sit for 20 seconds. Pour the cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the bowl with chocolate. With a wire whisk, slowly stir the cream and chocolates together until the chocolate is completely melted.

Whisk in coffee and vanilla. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.

With 2 teaspoons, spoon round balls of the chocolate mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm. Roll each dollop of chocolate in your hands to roughly make a round ball. Roll in confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, or both. These will keep refrigerated for weeks, but serve at room temperature.

OR

After whisking in the coffee and vanilla freeze overnight.

With 2 teaspoons, spoon round balls of the chocolate mixture and roll into finely chopped nuts, sugar, cocoa powder, crushed peppermint candy, etc and dip in warm melted chocolate. Place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm. Serve at room temperature.

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If you love truffles this is a quick and easy way to get them.

DO NOT substitute block chocolate for chocolate chips!

Peppermint Candy Canes

[COOK TIME: Varies]
Ingredients
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
A few drops of food coloring


Directions
1. Prepare two cookie sheets by spraying them with nonstick cooking spray or covering them with a light layer of oil. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.


2. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring continuously, until the sugar dissolves. Insert a candy thermometer and continue cooking without stirring until the candy reaches 285, do NOT let it pass 300.


3. Once the proper temperature is reached, remove the candy from the heat immediately and stir in the mint extract. Pour half of the mixture onto the prepared cookie sheet and place it in the preheated oven to stay warm.


4. Add red food coloring to the remaining candy. Pour the candy out onto a marble slab or heat-safe cutting board. Allow it to sit briefly until it forms a “skin.”


5. Spray a bench scraper or heat-safe spatula with nonstick cooking spray, and use the tool to begin spreading the candy out and pushing it back together, working it across the board and allowing it to cool.


6. As soon as the candy is cool enough to handle (but still quite hot), begin to pull it. If you have plastic gloves, put them on and spray the gloves with nonstick cooking spray—this will help prevent overheated or burned hands. Take the candy in both hands and pull the hands in opposite directions, stretching the candy into a long rope. Bring the ends of the strands together and twist the candy into a rope, then pull the rope out into a long strand. Continue to twist and pull the candy until it has a satin-like finish and is an opaque red color. Once the candy is still pliable but barely warm, pull it into a strand about 2” thick, and place it on the remaining prepared baking sheet. Put this sheet back into the oven, turn off the heat, and remove the baking sheet with the other half of the candy syrup. The pulled candy will remaining pliable in the warm oven while you work the second portion.


7. Repeat the pulling procedure with the second, clear portion of candy. At the end, the candy should be a pearly white color. Form it into a log 2” in diameter, just like the red candy.


8. Remove the red candy from the oven. Cut a 5-inch segment from the white and the red log, and place them next to each other. Begin to pull the candies together, twisting gradually to form the familiar candy stripes. Once the twisted candy is the thickness you want, use oiled kitchen shears to cut them to approximately 8” lengths. Immediately form the hook at the top of the cane, and place it on a baking sheet to set at room temperature.


9. Repeat the twisting with the remaining candy. If the candy gets too hard to pull, place it in the warm oven for a few minutes to soften, but don’t let it sit too long and melt. The candy canes will get very hard at room temperature, but if left out for long periods of time they will get soft and sticky, so be sure to wrap them in cellophane once they are set.

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This definitely takes a LOT of trial and error.
Out of the 4 times doing this, only 1 came out just right.
But its also incredibly fun.
Be sure to use gloves! Blisters are no fun =[