Aunt Debbie’s Buckeyes

Dad called Aunt Debbie on Christmas while at our house. It was so nice to “talk” to her for a few minutes. While talking, she mentioned that she was making some candy with a granddaughter. Aunt Debbie gave us her recipe to make the candy also.

Use gluten free Crispy Rice and be sure all your ingredients are gluten free if you want to make them just like Aunt Debbie does.

We have made buckeyes before, but we really like this version with the Crispy Rice. I think it may be our new favorite way to make these treats.

Easy “Turtles”

This is a super easy candy recipe for children learning how to follow directions. It was the first “candy” recipe my children learned to make on their own.

Cookie Dough Truffles

I am not sure where we found this recipe, but it was one of the first truffle recipes we tried.

If you prefer not to eat “raw” flour, place flour on cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool before using. The truffles will have a nuttish flavor.

Cream Cheese Truffles with Variations

When we first started learning to make desserts, this is one of the first, and easiest truffles we learned. Have fun experimenting with your own variations!

Caramel

This is our favorite caramel recipe. We have tried a few other ones, but always come back to this.

Home Made Butterfingers

I do not remember where we found this recipe, but it was one of the first candy recipes we learned how to make.

While the recipe is very easy to make, it is also easy to let the temperature get to high. Because of this, I changed our recipe to a slightly lower temperature so that the candy is pulled off the heat earlier and has less chance of being overcooked.

Use your favorite recipe for the dipping chocolate. While confectionery coating is okay, a good milk chocolate or dark chocolate makes the candy taste the best.

Sea Foam Candy

We discovered this candy a few years ago while browsing a candy store. Mark quickly declared it was his favorite candy ever. When looking for “sea foam”, we realized this candy comes with many different names; honeycomb candy, sponge candy, or fairy food.

For fun, we decided we needed to learn how to make his favorite treat. At first, we could not find any recipes or information about it, except in an old cookbook. However, now we can find different recipes for it in cookbooks or looking on line.

This is not a super hard recipe to make, but sometimes it turns out wonderfully and other times it is a little finicky. We have not learned why, but it is a great reason to make more.

We prefer the candy with a touch of molasses (or dark corn syrup) but it is just as good either way. However, the candy lasts longer coated in chocolate, so we highly recommend that if you want to save for longer.

Caramel Popcorn with Pretzels and M&M’s

Allan first tried this popcorn when his mom made them for a trip he took with his father. He enjoyed it so much that he made sure that we got the recipe. The recipe called for pressing the warm mixture into a pan and letting cool before cutting into bars.

I have never made this into bars. I much prefer to bake it little to get rid of some of the stickiness and enjoy it as caramel corn. To make it just a little different, add 2.5 tsp cinnamon to the caramel just before pouring over the corn.

Butter Toffee

Before getting married, I worked as a third grade paraprofessional.  My first year was wonderful. The teachers used me as an under teacher, working with different students and using my strengths to help the classes.   Since I am right handed, I learned to write on a chalk board and I taught cursive that year.

Since I interacted with the students so much, they spoiled me often.  At Christmas, Brianna brought me a batch of this candy.  I liked it so much, I requested a recipe.  I have made this recipe almost every year since.  Now Andrea makes this recipe also.

 

Chocolate Chip Marshmallows

We enjoy learning new recipes every winter.  Adrian decided that marshmallows sounded good to try this year.   He attempted them himself and discovered they were a lot easier to make than he thought.

We used mini chocolate chips, but most of them melted.  The next time we make these, we plan to omit the chocolate chips, but cut the squares larger and dunk them in the chocolate.

These taste great alone, but are also wonderful in hot chocolate!