It’s not too early to start holiday baking, so here are my first suggestions. All are easy to make.
White caramel fudge
3 C white chocolate chips
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
4 TBS butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 C chopped pecans
1/2 C room temperature caramel sauce
Combine chocolate chips, milk, and butter in a medium size glass bowl and heat in microwave for 90 seconds. Stir to combine and heat another 15 seconds. Stir and heat an additional 15 seconds, only if needed. There will still be a few pieces of unmelted chocolate in the bowl.
Stir until mostly smooth with just a few flecks of unmelted chocolate. Add vanilla extract and pecans and stir to combine. Scoop onto a parchment paper lined 9-in. tray. Spread with a spatula to approximately 1-in. thickness. Drizzle with caramel sauce. Lightly swirl caramel into fudge with a knife or the end of the spatula. Chill until ready to serve. Slice into 1-in. squares and store in an airtight container in refrigerator for up to a week.
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Chewy bars
cooking spray
2 C graham cracker crumbs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 C sunflower seeds
1/2 C milk chocolate chips + 1/4 C for topping
1/2 C butterscotch chips + 1/4 C for topping
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-in. baking pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs, sweetened condensed milk, sunflower seeds, 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips and 1/2 cup butterscotch chips. Spread into prepared pan.
Top with 1/4 cup each of milk chocolate chips and butterscotch chips.
Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool before cutting into bars.
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Cheesecake truffles
1 8-oz. pkg. of cream cheese
1 regular size jar of your favorite peanut butter
1 bag of melting chocolate
1/2 C of graham cracker crumbs
1/4 C of powdered sugar
nuts (optional)
Put cream cheese, powdered sugar and peanut butter in mixer and whip together using paddle attachment (you can hand mix if you would prefer) until fully incorporated.
Once combined, use your hands to create little balls, about an inch and a half each.
Roll each ball in the graham cracker crumbs, and then press them into each ball with your fingers (you don’t want loose crumbs).
Place each ball onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 1-2 hours.
Place melting chocolate in a bowl and microwave for 90 seconds. Stir and, if needed, heat an additional 15 seconds until it’s smooth and creamy. Watch it closely. Keep stopping to stir. It burns easily. You can use a double boiler to always get perfect melting chocolate.
Using a fork, dip balls into melted chocolate. Tap a fork on the side of the bowl to remove the excess. Place back on parchment-lined sheet. Refrigerate until it’s time to serve.
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Thought – There’s that moment when the steak is on the grill and you can already feel your mouth watering. Do vegans feel the same when mowing the lawn?
If you would like to share a recipe with me, send it to the J-T or email it to me. (Melanie Behrens – melb@marysvillejt.com)