Lesson #67: Butterscotch Candies

I've been on a candy making kick this week! I recently saw a recipe for a cookie that contained pieces of butterscotch candy and was reminded of how much I LOVE butterscotch. Instead of picking up the store bought version, I decided to make my own candy.

Surprisingly, these taste EXACTLY like the store bought equivalent. The whole cooking process was pretty hands off - as long as you have a candy thermometer. One piece of advice while making these candies is to score the candy into the shapes you want to cut while the candy is slightly warm. After the candy completely cools, the candy is easier to cut along the lines to break the candy into similar size/shape pieces. I thought I would share this recipe even though I have big plans to incorporate the leftover candy into a cookie.

LESSON LEARNED: Score this candy while it's warm so it's easier to cut later.

Recipe for Butterscotch Candies

Lesson #66: Chocolate Dipped Honeycomb Candy

After much trial and error over the years, I have finally improved my candy making skills. In graduate school, many errors occurred because my friend and I are did not have a candy thermometer. We decided to "eye ball" our chocolate fudge and peach jam, which respectively became fudge and peach ice cream topping when the candy did not set. Here's my advice to you: invest in a candy thermometer if you want the recipe to work!

I thought these candies would be the perfect addition some homemade gifts I've been making this week. The recipe its self is pretty simple - just water, sugar, and corn syrup. After the sugar comes to the correct temperature (see, this is where the candy thermometer becomes helpful!), stir in baking soda, pour on a baking sheet, and cool. The baking soda bubbles up in the candy and creates a really COOL texture. It looks exactly like honeycombs!

After you break the candy into pieces (this can be messy - see the first picture), I dipped the candy partially in dark chocolate. The candy tastes like a mixture between a caramel and honey. I liked the bitterness of the dark chocolate to offset the sweetness of the candy. My husband doesn't care for chocolate and he liked the candy plain. In any case, this candy is YUMMY!

LESSON LEARNED: Use a candy thermometer!

Recipe for Chocolate Dipped Honeycomb Candy

Lesson #65: Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

This past weekend, we had a Christmas celebration at my Grandma's house, so it was the perfect excuse to try another dessert that could easily feed a large crowd. I've been fixated on the idea of trying a peanut butter cheesecake, so here's what I came up with!

I first made a crust out of chocolate graham crackers. Next, I blended a generous amount of peanut butter into my cheesecake batter. Finally, I topped off the cheesecake with a milk chocolate ganache and chopped mini peanut butter cups. The end result was a super RICH and DECADENT peanut butter/chocolate cheesecake. YUMMY!

LESSON LEARNED: Holidays are the perfect time to bake rich and decadent desserts!

Recipe for Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

Lesson #64: Gingerbread Cookies

I'm pretty particular about gingerbread cookies. I like the cookies to be more spicy than sweet; soft than hard; thicker than thinner. I first made this recipe last year and thought these were great! By adding molasses and milk, these cookies stay super soft for days!

The only tricky thing about this cookie dough is that is MUST be chilled before you can roll & cut the cookie dough. If you don't you will have a sticky mess on your counter top.  

LESSON LEARNED: Soft gingerbread cookies rock!

Recipe for Gingerbread Cookies

Lesson #63: Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

I think that chocolate and mint are a WONDERFUL combination. I'm especially partial to peppermint patty candies, so encasing this candy around a chocolate cookie sounded like something I had to try out.

These cookies are soft and tender with a nice chocolatey flavor. The peppermint candy nicely holds its shape once it cools. I would recommend double checking to make sure the dough completely wraps around the candy - if you don't - the peppermint will spread onto the baking sheet as it cooks. Not that I know this from personal experience or anything :)

I packaged up the cookies for my class after I drizzled them melted white chocolate and red sprinkles.

LESSON LEARNED: Chocolate and peppermint combine to produce a very tasty cookie!

Recipe for Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Lesson #62: Oreo Cheesecake Truffles

Are you looking for a dessert to add to your holiday cookie platter? Look no further! These YUMMY bites are super easy to make and only require 3 ingredients: a package of Oreo cookies, one 8 oz. package of cream cheese, and melted chocolate.

These chocolate received GLOWING reviews from my students and husband (who usually doesn't care much for chocolate desserts). The tangy-ness of the cream cheese nicely offsets the sweet cookies and you can dip them in whatever type of chocolate you prefer (I used milk chocolate). Enjoy! 

LESSON LEARNED: Desserts with only a few ingredients can be wonderful!

Recipe for Oreo Cheesecake Truffles

Lesson #61: Candy Cane Ice Cream

I've mentioned this before, but to re-iterate, my husband LOVES ice cream! I was out of town last weekend and there was no ice cream in the house, so he (gasp!) bought ice cream. I came home, saw the Ben & Jerry's in the freezer, and knew I should definitely make ice cream this week.

Since there's a ton of candy canes in the stores right now, this was my inspiration for the ice cream. First, I melted candy cane into the custard base for the ice cream. As I was churning the ice cream, I intensified the candy cane flavor by adding additional crushed candy canes. Finally, I added a few drops of red food coloring to make the ice cream look extra festive. DELICIOUS!

LESSON LEARNED: Homemade ice cream beats store-bought ice cream any day!

Recipe for Candy Cane Ice Cream