Blondies

This recipe from my favorite basic cookbook - Better Homes and Garden - is a great way to pull together a sweet treat with items you have on hand.  Basic ingredients like brown sugar, eggs, and butter make it an easy option.  The photo above is from the cookbook, and the one at the end of the post is my less-than-perfect blondie.  We loved these, and I can't wait to make them again sometime soon!

4 cups packed brown sugar

1 1/3 cups butter

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

4 eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Line a 13x9 pan with greased foil or parchment paper.

2.  In a large saucepan, cook and stir brown sugar and butter over medium heat about 6 minutes or until melted and smooth.  Cool 10 minutes.

3.  In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Stir eggs and vanilla into cooled brown sugar mixture.  Stir in flour mixture.  Spread in prepared pan.

4.  Bake 45 minutes.  Cool completely.  Use foil or parchment paper to lift blondies out of pan. Cut into bars.

- I cut the recipe in half and made in a 8"x8" square pan.

- Optional toppings before baking: 

• 3/4 cup chopped nuts
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Butterscotch Blondies

I have been taking meals over to my dear friend whose son is at MD Anderson.  Usually I bring brownies or cookies for dessert, but this time I was looking for something a little different.  I picked up a bag of butterscotch chips at the grocery store and found this recipe online at the Nestle website.

These blondies are TO DIE FOR.  If you like butterscotch or caramel flavor, you will absolutely love these chewy bars.  They made a full 9x13 pan and were so easy to make.  You probably have everything in your pantry to make them except for the chips.  So pick up some butterscotch chips on your next grocery trip!  Put them in your pantry, and you'll be ready to make these next time your in the mood for some chewy, tasty blondies.

Mini S'mores Pie

Here's another of Jack's cooking creations.  He chose our dessert this week from the Tasty You Tube videos - Mini S'mores Pie.

These were sooooo good with a homemade graham cracker crust, a chocolate pudding pie base and a roasted marshmallow on top.  Jack did a great job with all the steps, and learned how to temper eggs when mixing them into a hot mixture.

We cut the recipe in half, and it still made 12 little pies in the muffin tin.

Graham Cracker Crust:
2 packets of graham crackers, finely crushed
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
⅓ cup granulated sugar

Chocolate Filling:
1 ¼ cup of heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
⅓ cup granulated sugar 
10.5oz / 300g dark chocolate (60% cocoa minimum) chopped
3 eggs, plus 2 yolks 

20 large marshmallows 
Foil cupcake liners

1. Preheat oven to 350˚ F. 
2. Combine crushed graham crackers, melted butter, and sugar in a bowl until all of the crumbs are moistened with butter. 
3. Fill foil cupcake liners halfway, then using a small spoon or your fingers push down the crumbs to form your crust. 
4. Bake 5-7 minutes, until they are just starting to turn golden brown. Set aside.
5. Lower oven temperature to 275˚ F.
6. Combine the cream, butter, and sugar into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 90-120 seconds, stirring halfway through. 
7. Add chopped chocolate and stir until all the chocolate is melted. 
8. Whisk 3 eggs and 2 yolks in a separate bowl. While stirring eggs, add a small amount of warm chocolate/cream mixture into the eggs (to gently warm up your eggs so they don’t scramble!)
9. Pour the egg mixture back into the chocolate/cream mixture and stir.
10. Pour the chocolate filling into cupcake foils leaving a little bit of room at the top.
11. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until the chocolate filling is just set and wobbles very slightly shaken
12. Turn on the broiler to high and top each pie with a marshmallow. 
13. Broil the pies until the marshmallows just start to char and brown. If the tops brown too quickly for the marshmallow to spread across the entire top of the pie, take the pan out and once they have cooled for a minute, press down on the top of the marshmallow and the gooey insides will come out and spill on the top of your pie! 

Bananas Foster

One of Michael's favorite desserts is Bananas Foster.  If it's on the menu at a restaurant, he's likely to order it.  How is it possible that I have never made it at home in 14 years of marriage?!

Pioneer Woman's recipe from her cookbook Food from my Frontier was easy as can be. 

I cut this recipe in half since it would just be Michael and me eating it.  And sadly, I didn't have any rum.  But this was really good without that added rum flavor.  

And I think a cast iron skillet is a requirement for this traditional dish.  If only we had Bluebell Homemade Vanilla ice cream, it would have been perfect.

1 stick butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup cream

2 bananas

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Dash of cinnamon

Optional 1/2 cup rum

Melt the butter in the skillet.  Add the brown sugar and stir for a few minutes.  Add the cream.

Peel the bananas and slice on an angle.  Add bananas and nuts to skillet.  Continue to stir until thick and bubbly.  

Click over to Ree's recipe to see the details about adding the rum!

Linking to:  

Momfessionals Recipe Club

Fudge

Grace and Jack had "make fudge" on their holiday bucket list.  So we made fudge on Sunday night.

I think this might be the first time I've made fudge.  My mom used to make it, and there are certainly lots of variations on the recipe.  I found this recipe on the back of the Kraft Marshmallow fluff.

The recipe was really easy...don't let the use of a candy thermometer turn you off.  Really you just boil the mixture for 4 minutes and then you just check to make sure it has reached 234F.

Also, the recipe called for one 9x9 pan.  I felt this would make very thick fudge.  So I used two 8x8 pans.  It made a really nice size of small squares of fudge.  That is just right for something so rich.

Here's the recipe...

3 c sugar
3/4 c butter
1 5oz can evaporated milk
12 oz semisweet chocolate (I used chocolate chips)
1 jar marshmallow fluff
1 tsp vanilla

Line 9-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Bring sugar, butter and evaporated milk to full rolling boil in 3-qt. saucepan on medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook 4 min. or until candy thermometer reaches 234°F, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

ADD chocolate and marshmallow creme; stir until melted. Add vanilla; mix well.

POUR into prepared pan; spread to cover bottom of pan. Cool completely. Use foil handles to lift fudge from pan before cutting into squares.

Better Buttercream Icing

I made a cake for Judy's birthday this week and tried a new buttercream recipe.  Previously I had posted an icing recipe from my Better Homes and Garden cookbook.  It was good, but very sweet and not as spreadable as I'd like.

I found a different recipe on a new-to-me blog called The Kitchen Magpie.  Click on over to see her great photographs and many, many recipes.  Here's her recipe for buttercream icing.

The main change I made was lowfat milk instead of cream.  Even with regular milk, this icing is very rich and smooth!


-Cream 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter.  It should be whipped up to a fluffy, almost white appearance.

-Gradually mix in 4 cups powdered sugar.

-Add 3 teaspoons vanilla.

-Add 3-5 tablespoons milk, until desired consistency is reached.


Easy and soooo delicious!  You will not want canned frosting after you taste this.

7-Minute Frosting

If you are a child of the 70s or 80s, you might remember having 7-minute frosting.  This was my favorite icing growing up, and something I remember my mom making for birthday cakes.

I made some cupcakes at the spur-of-the-moment last night.  Maybe because Grace just got braces on and maybe to give a family who drove Grace to riding lessons or maybe just because.  I decided to try this 7-minute frosting for the first time.

It was a really easy recipe.  It is a fluffy icing that seems much lighter than a typical buttercream.  Probably because there is no butter involved!  The best way to describe it is to say it is homemade marshmallow fluff.

I only had one egg left after making the cupcakes, so I cut the icing recipe in half.  It was still plenty of icing for 12 large cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes.  I would recommend refrigerating the cake for storage.

I used the recipe from She Wears Many Hats.  She has great photography of the frosting, so go check it out!  I also found similar recipes from Paula Deen, Martha Stewart, and Epicurious.

1/3 c hot water

2 c powdered sugar

2 large egg whites

1/2 t cream of tartar

1/4 t salt

2 t vanilla

Create a simple syrup in a pan by whisking together hot water and sugar.  Boil for 1 minute and set aside.

Add egg whites, cream of tartar and salt to a mixing bowl.  Beat at high speed, slowly streaming in hot simple syrup and vanilla.  Beat until spreadable consistency is reached.

I'm linking up to Andrea's Recipe Club.  If you are visiting from Momfessionals, you can also check out our family blog here - The Other Side of the Road.

And if you're looking for Thanksgiving recipes, I have a list of some favorites that I've made over the years here on Tanya's Table.

Thanks for stopping by!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These Chocolate Crinkles from Betty Crocker were DELICIOUS!  One of the kids described them as "Bite sized brownies, but even better."  And the other said "These are as good as your chocolate chip cookies."  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

1/2

cup vegetable oil

4

oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, cooled

2

cups granulated sugar

2

teaspoons vanilla

4

eggs

2

cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

2

teaspoons baking powder

1/2

teaspoon salt

1/2

cup powdered sugar

Mix oil, melted chocolate, sugar, and vanilla.  Stir in eggs, one at a time.  Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt.  Refrigerate for 3 hours.

Roll dough into small balls.  Coat in powdered sugar.  Bake 10-12 minutes at 350.  Remove immediately from cooking sheet.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

During the fall, I can't seem to get enough pumpkin...pumpkin spice latte's, pumpkin candles, and pumpkin baked goods!  In the past, I have made pumpkin pie (of course!), pumpkin bread, pumpkin whoopie pies, pumpkin doughnut muffins, and pumpkin cranberry bread.  Yum!

I thought the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins on the Life in Grace blog looked delicious.  And they were!

Unfortunately, only half of our family are big pumpkin lovers - myself and Jack.  Michael and Grace don't share the love.  These muffins have a very mild pumpkin flavor and they were a big hit with everyone.  I guess the chocolate chips don't hurt!

I like that this recipe has whole wheat flour.  I might even try to make them a little healthier next time by substituting some apple sauce for part of the oil, like my healthy chocolate muffins.

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups oil
1 t salt
1 t soda
1/2 t baking powder
2 t vanilla
1 can pumpkin
1 t cinnamon
2 cups choc chips (I only added a heaping cup)

Mix sugar, eggs, and oil in a mixer until light and smooth.  Add the rest of the ingredients (except chocolate chips) and mix well.  Add the chocolate chips.  Bake in muffin tins for 14-18 minutes at 400F.  Made 24 muffins.

Dutch Apple Cake

Grace needed to bring an international dish to her girl scout meeting last week.  After much thought, we picked Dutch apple cake.  We have a Dutch friend who makes an excellent apple pie that inspired us.

It was so easy and absolutely delicious.  Grace was very proud to have made the cake herself!

Before baking.  Cooking in your pj's is just the best!

Hot apple cake from the oven

Apple yumminess

• 2 eggs
• 175 g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling (approx 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 85 g butter (approx 6T or almost a stick)
• 75 ml milk
• 125 g plain flour (approx 1 cup)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

• 1. Preheat the oven to 200C (about 400F). Line the sides and base of a 20 x 20cm square cake tin with parchment paper.
• 2. Using an electric whisk, whisk the eggs, caster sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl until the mixture is thick and mousse-like and the whisk leaves a figure of eight pattern (this will take about 5 minutes).
• 3. Melt the butter in a saucepan with the milk, then pour onto the eggs, whisking all the time. Sift in the flour, cinnamon and baking powder and fold carefully into the batter so that there are no lumps of flour. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.
• 4. Arrange the apple slices over the batter. (They will sink to the bottom.) Sprinkle over a tablespoon of sugar and bake in the oven for ten minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180C/gas 4 and bake for a further 20–25 minutes or until well risen and golden brown.
• 5. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. Cut into squares and serve warm.

Pecan Pie

from Karo syrup website

I knew Pecan Pie would be a special treat for Thanksgiving, especially since it is Michael's favorite pie.  I had to hunt down some imported Karo syrup, but everything else was easy to find.  It is such a simple recipe and hard to go wrong!  It is straight from the back of the Karo syrup.

Old-Fashioned Yellow Cake

Yellow cake mix is one of our favorites, but it is very rare to find it here in the UK.  And unfortunately, any cake mix will cost £2-5 (about $3-8!).  So I have been making more homemade cakes, and this one is a real winner.

I found the recipe for this old-fashioned Yellow Cake via Pinterest via Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice.  Be sure to click over to The Cinnamon Spice website as they have some great pictures and other recipes.  This recipe is originally from a McCall's cookbook from over 100 years ago.  It's still delicious today!

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 + 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans.
• 2. In a large mixing bowl sift flour and sugar, baking powder and salt.
• 3. Add butter, milk and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides of bowl.
• 4. Add eggs, beat for 2 more minutes.
• 5. Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally among both. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
• 6. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Turn out and cool thoroughly on wire racks. 

Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts

These little morsels of pumpkin yumminess are sooo good!  The recipe is from Craving Chronicles, via Christine on Pinterest.  And it looks like they were also inspired by the Pioneer Woman via Tasty Kitchen.  Needless to say, you just can't go wrong with these pumpkin muffins.  They could be a sweet breakfast, a scrumptious snack or a small dessert.  That is if you can just eat one!

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned plain pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup low-fat milk

For Coating
1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 24-mini-muffin tin with Pam.  

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and spices (through cloves). In a separate, large bowl whisk together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until smooth. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined – do not over mix!

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. (Using a 2-tablespoon scoop will ensure uniform size.) Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the muffins bake, melt butter in one bowl and combine granulated sugar and cinnamon in another bowl. Remove muffins from oven and cool for 2 minutes, or until just cool enough to handle. Dip each muffin in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar to coat.

Buttercream Frosting

I tried making some homemade icing for Grace's birthday last week.  It was tasty and very easy!  This is from the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book.

3/4 c butter, softened
2 lbs powdered sugar (8 cups)
1/3 cup milk
2 t vanilla

Beat butter with mixer til smooth.  Gradually add 2 cups of powdered sugar, beating well.  Beat in 1/3 cup milk and vanilla.  Beat in additional milk to reach spreading consistency.  (I had to add a little more than called for to get the right texture.)  This will frost a 2 layer cake.

To make it a chocolate frosting:  beat in 1/2 cup cocoa powder into butter before adding sugar.

Hot Fudge Sauce

Food Network image

My aunt Suzette has been making this delicious Hot Fudge Sauce for many years.  The recipe is originally from the Houston Junior League Star of Texas Cookbook.  It is really simple to make, and the payoff is a very rich sauce that has a definite "homemade" taste.  The recipe makes quite a bit of sauce, so it is nice to put it in glass jars for gifts.

Like my previous post about French Silk Pie, this one involves a little patience...slow heating and lots of stirring.  Make sure that all the sugar grains are completely dissolved.  Hot fudge sauce is not supposed to be crunchy.  If you don't have a double boiler (I didn't), you can improvise with a metal or glass bowl over the pot of boiling water.

Metal bowl over a pot of boiling water.  Adding the evaporated milk, alternating wit the sugar.

1/2 cup butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
3 to 3 1/4 cups sugar (I used just 3)
1 can evaporated milk (recipe says 13 oz, but now the cans are 12 oz)

Melt butter and chocolate in top of double boiler over hot water.  Gradually add sugar and half the milk alternately, stirring well after each addition.  Add remaining milk, stirring constantly.  Cook til mixture is thick and sugar is dissolved, about 10 minutes.  Store in refrigerator.

French Silk Pie

I had a sudden urge for an old family recipe today, and realized I hadn't made this yummy pie in many years.  I'm not sure why, since it is such a favorite!  The original recipe for French Silk Pie comes from my great aunt Freda, although I most remember my grandmother "Gram" making it.

It is such a rich treat, but simple because it can be made from pantry items.  The key to this pie is PATIENCE.  Lots of waiting by the mixer for the sugar to cream with the butter, for each egg to beat in, and for the cream to whip up.  As the original recipe card says, "Mix in mixmaster."

Another mental note to make is that this dessert does contain raw eggs.  The pie is well-chilled, but not actually cooked.  I have seen some recipes that add pasteurized egg product instead of actual eggs.  I have never tried this approach, so can't really recommend it.  The best advice would simply be not to eat this if you have some kind of compromised immune system or if you are pregnant.  Otherwise, I can tell you that this pie has been enjoyed in our family for many years with no illness from the raw eggs.

My ingredients, with the exception of the whipping cream which was still in the fridge.  I set my eggs and butter out for about 30 minutes to take the chill off of them.  I haven't made a pie crust in years, but should really give it a try again!  For a quick weeknight supper, Pillsbury will have to do.

Two other recommendations on the ingredients...Kirklands Vanilla from Costco is such a bargain.  Don't ever buy it at the grocery store again.  And organic eggs have gotten ridiculously affordable at Walmart now.

The picture above shows creaming the butter and sugar.  This seriously takes about 10 minutes because you want the sugar completely dissolved.  No one wants a crunchy pie!

Here's the bittersweet chocolate.  The recipe uses two squares.  You add 1.5 oz to the pie, and use the other half square to make shavings for the top.

The above picture shows the butter, cream, and chocolate mixture with the addition of one egg.  You beat this for FIVE minutes.  No scrimping on the mixer time!

The above picture shows the pie mixture after the second egg has been added.  So adding up the mixer time, we have about 10 minutes for the butter and sugar, 5 minutes for the first egg, and 5 minutes for the second egg.  After adding the vanilla, this goes into the baked pie crust and into the fridge to set.

Here I am whipping the cream.  I have added the powdered sugar and vanilla.  Be extra careful to just whip until peaks form.  Too much mixing of the cream actually makes butter.  Not what you want to top the French Silk Pie.  (And yes, I have done this before.)

The finished product...a family heirloom recipe for French Silk Pie.  Of course, Michael and I enjoyed ours.  Jack absolutely loved his.  Grace enjoyed hers after scraping off the whipped cream.  Please excuse my well-done pie crust!  Here's the recipe...enjoy!

Baked pie crust
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1.5 oz bittersweet chocolate
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

1/2 pint (8 oz) whipping cream
2 T powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Chocolate for shavings

1.  Prepare your pie crust.
2.  Cream butter and sugar until you can't feel grains of sugar.
3.  Melt chocolate and cool.  Add to butter mixture.
4.  Add 1 egg.  Beat 5 min.  Add 2nd egg.  Beat 5 min.  Add 1 tsp vanilla.
5.  Pour into pie crust and chill.
6.  Whip cream, then add powdered sugar and vanilla.
7.  Top pie and decorate with chocolate.
8.  Keep chilled.

I found a similar recipe on Martha Stewart, although the larger amounts of ingredients suggest it makes a bigger pie.

Come join Love the Pie with TidyMom  sponsored by Cherokee USA, Le Creuset, Wilton,Bags by Bloom and  Harvard Common Press

Semi-homemade Chocolate Cake

Here's a quick tip for getting rid of the "cake mix" taste in a chocolate cake mix cake:  substitute buttermilk for the amount of water called for on the back of the mix.

I used a devil's food mix, and this little trick completely took away the artificial taste sometimes found in a cake mix.  The finished product was rich with a perfect texture.  It also rose up to be a little thicker than it would have with just water.

I picked up this tip somewhere along the way...maybe Hoosier Homemade or The Cake Mix Doctor or Sandra Lee.  Try it...you'll like it!

Best Brownies

I have always been a "mix" kinda gal.  When brownie mixes can be found for 0.75 at Walmart, it is hard to pass up the store-bought mix.  But yesterday I gave this recipe a try, and I don't know if I'll ever go back to a brownie mix.  These taste DELICIOUS...so chocoalate-y.  And they literally mixed up in 5 minutes.  The hardest part was melting the butter in the microwave.  Give them a try!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Hershey's.

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts(optional)
• CREAMY BROWNIE FROSTING(recipe follows)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan. 

2. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs; beat well with spoon. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in nuts, if desired. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. 

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Prepare CREAMY BROWNIE FROSTING; spread over brownies. Cut into squares. About 16 brownies. 


CREAMY BROWNIE FROSTING

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
3 tablespoons HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1 tablespoon light corn syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Beat butter, cocoa, corn syrup and vanilla in small bowl until blended. Add powdered sugar and milk; beat to spreading consistency. About 1 cup frosting.

Easy Chocolate Pie

This chocolate pie is DIVINE and so, so easy.  I made for a meal I delivered, and doubled it to have one for us.  Now if we can just have Michael home for a meal, it will be perfect!

I have made "homemade" chocolate cream pies before, and this tastes just as good to me.  And much quicker too.  I found it on Jennifer's blog, and she found it on All Recipes.

Ingredients2 cups cold milk (we usually use skim, but I bought 2% for this to make it creamier)
2 (3.9 ounce) packages instant chocolate pudding mix
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust, chocolate
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup chocolate shavings (I didn't measure, just grated chocolate on top)


Directions 
1.In a large bowl, mix milk and pudding. Beat with wire whisk for 1 minute. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of pudding into graham cracker crust.
2.Gently fold in 1/2 of the whipped topping into remaining pudding. Spread this mixture over the pudding layer in crust. Top with remaining whipped topping. Garnish with chocolate shavings and cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Peppermint Bark

If you love Williams Sonoma Peppermint Bark, you will love this recipe!  I was even told that it was BETTER than theirs...wow!  It was very easy to make, and I think I'll use it for teacher and neighbor gifts next year.

I found the recipe on Happy Housewife Living Life.  Myra is a fun blogger who has great ideas!  I changed a few things based on what I had.  She used soft peppermints, but I used the crunchy candy canes that I had on hand.  Also, I did not mix the mints in with the white layer like she did.  Be sure to check out the original recipe on her website.

Ingredients:


1 1/2 packages white almond/chocolate bark
24 oz chocolate chips
1 1/2 t oil
Peppermints, crushed (but not powdery)
2-3 t peppermint extract


Prepare two cookie sheets with wax paper. Stir chocolate chips and oil well. Melt in microwave, stirring often. Spread thinly on wax paper. Reserve any extra chocolate in ziploc bag. Place both cookie sheets in freezer or refrigerator to allow chocolate to harden.

Meanwhile, melt white almond bark in microwave, stirring often. Add 2 t. peppermint extract and stir well. Taste test and add more extract if needed. (I used 3 teaspoons.)  

Remove cookie sheets from freezer and spread white chocolate/peppermint mixture thinly over hardened chocolate. Sprinkle larger pieces of peppermint on top. Press large pieces down gently. Cut a very small corner out of ziploc bag and drizzle chocolate on top of peppermint bark. Allow bark to harden, then break in small pieces.

Helpful hints (lessons learned from  making it for the first time!):

*I will probably spread a little thinner next time.  I think my candy turned out a little too thick.

*Cut a VERY small hole in the baggie.  Mine was a little too big and the pressure of the chocolate ripped the bag, leaving a giant blob of chocolate on the slab of candy.  Not too pretty, but very tasty!