Buck Eyes
Chocolate Caramel Turtles
Chocolate Fudge
Cyndi’s Candy Cane White Fudge
Dark Chocolate Truffles
Divinity
Divinity Ghosts
Easy Truffles
Frozen Banana-Chocolate Treats
Hay Stacks
Mock Toffee Brickle Bars
Peanut Butter Cheese Balls
Peanut Butter Dreams
Peggy's Perfect Peanut Butter Fudge
Penuche (Brown Sugar) Fudge
Pine Bark
Potato Candy
Pralines
Walnut Candy

Buck Eyes
If you don't know where the paraffin wax is down at the Piggly Wiggly, then just substitute some regular chocolate almond bark for the paraffin wax and bag of chocolate morsels. Momma said the milk chocolate chips are the best, if you do find the paraffin wax and chips.

1/2 block paraffin wax
1 small bag chocolate morsels
1 stick butter
1 box 10x (this means powdered) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup milk

Melt paraffin wax and chocolate morsels in double boiler. Do not overheat. Mix butter, 10x sugar, vanilla, peanut butter and milk; form into small balls. Pierce each ball with a toothpick and dip into chocolate mixture, leaving a small spot to look like buck eye. Place on waxed paper to cool.

Chocolate Caramel Turtles
Makes 3 dozen.

16 oz. package of caramels
2 tablespoons water
3/4 pound pecan halves
6 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine caramels and water in a saucepan. Stir until all caramels are melted. Arrange 36 groups of pecans 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Drop melted caramel by teaspoons on top of nuts. Cool. Melt chocolate chips and frost top of each turtle.

Chocolate Fudge
Oh boy, I am famous for this. I got this recipe out of this million-year-old recipe book. This is one temperamental recipe.

3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons cocoa (for dark chocolate, use 3 tablespoons), sifted
1 tablespoon, plus 2 tablespoons butter, separated
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Combine milk, cocoa, 1 tablespoon butter, sugar, salt and corn syrup in a saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.

Increase heat and bring to a boiling point and boil gently WITHOUT STIRRING until softball stage (my personal range is 234-236F), then remove from heat.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cool for around 10 minutes. Add vanilla and optional nuts; beat until it thickens slightly and starts to lose its gloss. Pour immediately into greased pan. Cool and cut.

Cyndi’s Candy Cane White Fudge
12 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 c coarsely chopped peppermint candies

Butter an 8-inch square baking pan; line bottom and sides with foil allowing foil to extend over sides of pan by about 1". Butter foil. Over medium-high heat in top of double-boiler or heatproof bowl set over pot of hot water combine white chocolate and condensed milk. Cook, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth, 5 minutes. Pour mixture into pan; sprinkle candy over top. Using knife lightly swirl candy into chocolate mixture. Refrigerate until firm, about 6 hours or overnight. Cut into 1" squares, diamond shapes or rectangles. Store in refrigerator.

Yield: 64 pieces

Dark Chocolate Truffles
Gosh, I love truffles.

8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, sifted
2 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted

Place 8 oz. semisweet chocolate and the unsweetened chocolate in a 4-quart bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a 1 1/2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate. Allow to stand for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Refrigerate this mixture (ganache) for 1 hour until firm but not hard.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Using a tablespoon of ganache for each truffle, portion 24 truffles, even spaded onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Refrigerate the ganache portions for 15 minutes (so the ganache will be firm enough to roll into truffles). When the ganache is firm enough to handle, remove from the refrigerator and individually roll each portion of ganache in your palms, in a gently circular motion, using just enough pressure to form smooth rounds. Roll 16 of the rounds in 2 tablespoons cocoa and separately roll 8 in the powdered sugar until completely covered. Store the truffles in a tightly sealed plastic container in the refrigerator. Remove about 1 hour before serving.

Divinity
I haven't had the best of luck with divinity, but I discovered that I wasn't beating the mixture long enough! Make this on low humidity days when the sun is high, the wind is slight, the planets align, and the entire world breaks out singing "kumbaya." (Just kidding. Maybe. Probably.)

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
Dash salt
2 egg whites room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or *other flavorings)
1 cup chopped pecans

Spread out a couple of sheets of waxed paper. Butter two large spoons and set aside.

In a 3-quart sauce pan, bring the sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt to a boil, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Once at a boil, stop stirring and cook to 260F – hard ball stage.

While the mixture is coming up to temperature, whisk egg whites on high speed in a heavy duty mixer until very stiff peaks form.

Once the syrup has reached 260F, remove from heat. Turn the mixer to medium-high and carefully and slowly pour the syrup into the egg whites. Do this very slowly, it should take about 2 minutes to do this.

Add vanilla, and continue beating until the mixture loses its gloss, and holds its shape when dropped from a spoon, approximately 4-6 minutes. This is the "magical" stage - if you don't beat it enough, you'll have divinity soup, and if you over-beat it, you'll have divinity crumble.

If you aren’t sure if you've mixed it enough, drop a bit of the candy on the wax paper to see if it stands up and doesn’t melt into a puddle. If it melts into a puddle, beat a minute or two longer and check.

Stir in the nuts, and then spoon out a heaping spoon of candy, one at a time with greased spoons. Use one spoon to hold the mixture, and the other to scrape the candy off the spoon.

Let candies set out on waxed paper for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight before storing in an airtight container.

• Jell-O divinity: add in 3 tablespoons of Jell-O gelatin powder flavor of your choice to whipped egg whites before you add the sugar mixture.
• Maple walnut: substitute maple flavoring/extract for the vanilla, and use chopped walnuts instead of pecans.
• Peppermint: add in 1/2 cup of crushed peppermint candy and optional 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract.
• Chocolate mint: add 1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips, 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract and optional 2-3 drops of green food coloring.
• Cherry: add 1/2 cup of chopped maraschino cherries, substitute 1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice plus 1/4 cup water for the 1/2 cup water, substitute almond extract for the vanilla, and optional 2-3 drops of red food coloring.
• Coconut: add 2 cups of shredded coconut.
• Miscellaneous fruit: stir in your favorite dried fruit (i.e., cranberries, cherries, figs, peaches, dates, raisins, apricots, etc.) or candied fruit (pineapple, cherries, ginger, dates, orange/lemon peel, etc.).
• Almond: substitute almond extract for the vanilla, and chop up a cup of slivered almonds.
• Nut variations: substitute chopped pistachios, walnuts, macadamia, peanuts, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, cashews, or even hazelnuts for the pecans.
• Peanut butter: substitute 1/2 cup chunky (or creamy) peanut butter for the chopped pecans.
• Coffee: stir in 2 tablespoons of instant coffee at the same time you add the vanilla extract.
• Chocolate: melt 2 squares/ounces of semisweet chocolate and stir it in when you add the vanilla.
• Chocolate butterscotch: stir in 1/2 cup butterscotch chips and 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips at the same time you add the vanilla extract.

Divinity Ghosts
I first made these ghosts for Josh's preschool Halloween party in 1995, and then I made them for Ashley's Kindergarten class in 1996, and they were a hit both times. These are a major pain in the butt to make though, so be warned!

1 (7.2-oz.) package fluffy white frosting mix NOT prepared frosting
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup boiling water
1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar, sifted
Semi-sweet chocolate mini morsels
Semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Combine frosting mix, corn syrup, vanilla, and boiling water in a large mixing bowl; beat at high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at very low speed. Mixture may be too stiff for some mixers (like mine!), so beat by hand if necessary.

Spoon into a decorating bag fitted with a large round tip, or a heavy-duty, zip-top plastic bag (snip a hole in the corner of the bag).

Pipe ghost shapes on wax paper lined baking sheets; smooth surface of candy with a wet finger. Press 2 chocolate mini morsels for the eyes and one chocolate morsel for the mouth into the ghost.

Let ghosts stand 2 to 3 hours or until candy feels firm. Carefully turn candy over, and let stand 12 hours or until dry. Store in airtight containers.

Easy Truffles
Tip: place waxed paper under cooling rack to catch drips and make cleanup easy. If the melted chocolate dries out while you’re heating it, add in some solid vegetable shortening 1 teaspoon at a time until you get the consistency you want.

Also, try substituting peanut butter chips instead semisweet chocolate chips. For Ashley's first grade Halloween party, I used the peanut butter chips, then rolled the balls in chocolate sprinkles, and called them "spider eyeballs." They were a hit!

1 (16-oz.) container chocolate frosting
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 to 1 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, pistachios, peanuts ... whatever flips your trigger) optional

Combine chocolate frosting and powdered sugar in a large bowl, stirring until thoroughly blended. Roll frosting mixture into 1-inch balls; set aside.

Melt chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat. Dip candy balls in melted chocolate, place on cooling rack, and then sprinkle with chopped nuts. As soon as the coating hardens, store in an airtight container.

Frozen Banana-Chocolate Treats
1 1/2 cups crushed Oreo cookies (about 30 cookies)
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons margarine or butter (melted)
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup chocolate flavor syrup
2 small ripe bananas (smashed)
2 cups (1 pint) whipping cream (whipped)

Line 9x5-inch loaf pan with aluminum foil, extending foil above sides of pan; butter foil. Combine crushed cookies, sugar and margarine; press firmly on bottom and halfway up sides of prepared loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, syrup and bananas; mix well. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into prepared pan; cover. Freeze 6 hours or until firm. To serve, remove from pan; peel off foil. Garnish as you desire; slice. Return leftovers to the freezer.

Hay Stacks
1 3-oz. can chow mein noodles
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1 bag butterscotch chips
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

Melt the butterscotch chips and peanut butter over low heat. When melted, stir in nuts and chow mein noodles. Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper. Cool completely, then remove to air tight container.

Mock Toffee (Butter Brickle) Bars
Gosh, I could eat 57 pounds of these!

12 (or more) Graham Crackers
1 cup real butter
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup of finely chopped pecans (if you can heat these in a skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes, they’ll taste better!)

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper, or greased tinfoil, or just grease a cookie sheet. Break up graham crackers into smaller crackers and place them on the prepared cookie sheet. Get as many crackers side-by-side as you can.

In a medium sauce pan, bring butter and sugar to boil and boil for three minutes, stirring constantly. Pour over graham crackers. Use a spoon to make sure all the crackers are coated. Sprinkle chopped pecans over top.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until it gets bubbly and golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. If you used parchment paper on your cookie sheet, you can allow the crackers to cool completely, and then store them in an air-tight container.

Peanut Butter Cheese Balls
This recipe came from Imogene Merritt, Rhonda Garrison's mother. It is wonderful, tried and true!

1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup powdered milk
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 box powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups grated mild cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla
Graham cracker crumbs

Cream the butter with powdered milk. Add peanut butter and vanilla. Mix in cheese and sugar. Roll into balls, and then roll in the graham cracker crumbs. Refrigerate.

Peanut Butter Dreams
Wow. I think I just gained 10 pounds typing this recipe in.

1 cup butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate morsels, melted
2/3 cup chopped peanuts

In medium saucepan, over low heat, melt butter. Add peanut butter; stir until well blended. Remove from heat; stir in sugar and graham cracker crumbs.

Add 1/3 cup nuts. Pat into greased 9x9-inch pan.

Spread melted chocolate over mixture in pan; sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup nuts over mixture. Chill until firm; cut into 1 inch squares. Store in cool, dry place. In your basement next to all of those dead bodies will do nicely.

Peggy's Perfect Peanut Butter Fudge
I wonder who gave me this recipe? Out of all my fudge recipes, this one is the easiest.

3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon corn syrup
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup (chunky is best) peanut butter

Cook first 4 ingredients until soft ball stage; remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients and set aside until peanut butter melts. Beat until it thickens then pour into pan.

Penuche (Brown Sugar) Fudge
This is pronounced "pee-noo-chee." Pay close attention to the temperature of the mixture while boiling and also stir/beat it until it slightly thickens and isn’t as shiny.

3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring or 2 teaspoons maple flavoring if you want a maple penuche
1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts), optional

Combine first 5 ingredients (milk, sugar, brown sugar, salt, and corn syrup) in a saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture is well blended.

Increase heat and bring to a boiling point and boil gently WITHOUT STIRRING until soft ball stage (236-240), then remove from heat.

Add butter, cool for around 10-20 minutes; until mixture is around 110º. Add vanilla (or maple) flavoring and nuts, if desired. Beat until it thickens slightly and starts to lose its gloss. Pour immediately into greased pan. Cool and cut.

Pine Bark
This is Traci's recipe, and it is very similar to butter brickle.

Sleeve saltine crackers
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups margarine
6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400F.

Line a casserole dish with crackers, salty side up. Mix together sugar and margarine in saucepan and simmer for 3 minutes, then pour over crackers. Bake 6 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let the chips melt and spread them out as they are melting.

Potato Candy
What?! This is actually very good; give it a try.

1 very small potato, peeled
1 box powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter

Boil potato until very tender. Drain the water and mash it until smooth. Using a stand or hand mixer, gradually add powdered sugar until the dough has the consistency of play-dough. Roll this dough out (like you would roll out cookie dough) onto waxed paper dusted with powdered sugar. When dough is about 1/4 inch, trim ends so that the dough is a rectangle. Spread peanut butter onto the dough. Roll the dough into a log shape, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for 2-4 hours or until you are ready to serve it. Cut into 1/4 -inch slices.

This can be for any occasion. Add food coloring if desired.

Pralines
I got this recipe for old fashioned pralines back in the early 90’s from a sweet Cajun lady I worked with, Deborah Jowers. Do not give these to children under four years old. I learned this lesson the hard way with Josh's help. On November 10, 1996, Josh inhaled some pecan pieces to his right lung and had endoscopic surgery the following morning to remove them. Whew.

NOTE: dump the pecan halves in an ungreased skillet and toast them for about 5 min before adding them to the mix.

1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
Dash salt
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Sheet or two waxed paper

Combine first 5 ingredients in a saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture is well blended - about 4 hours. (Just kidding…it seems like that long though!)

Bring to boiling point and boil gently until soft ball stage (236-240F) WITHOUT STIRRING then remove from heat. Add the butter and then let this mixture cool for ten minutes.

Add vanilla; beat until semi-cool and it thickens and loses its gloss (this is the tricky part; you almost have to be psychic or psychotic or something to know when to stop stirring). If mixture seizes up, add hot water and continue stirring. Add pecans and drop by tablespoons onto waxed paper. Cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Walnut Candy
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon white corn syrup
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
6 oz. chocolate bits

Butter 9-inch square pan. Melt 1 cup butter in 2-quart saucepan; slowly stir in sugar. Add syrup and water; stir. Cook over medium heat (290º on a candy thermometer) or until a little mix dropped in cold water becomes brittle. Add 1 cup walnuts, cook 3 more minutes; stir. Pour into pan. Remove when cold. Place on waxed paper. Melt chocolate bits and coat toffee with chocolate. Sprinkle with nuts. Allow to set 1 minute, then turn over and repeat coating. Break into bite-sized pieces.

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