Caramel-Oat Bars

These bars are quite tasty. In my old Betty Crocker cookbook, they are classified as a cookie bar. But, they are ooey gooey and definitely could also fit into the candy category.
They are very rich, so you may want to cut your bars somewhat small.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
You will need a greased 9" square pan.

Ingredients:

BASE-
1/2 cup(1 stick) butter, melted
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt( if the butter is salted, do not use)

TOPPING-
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a large pan, melt the butter. Remove from heat and mix in the oatmeal, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and salt-if using.
Spread in the square baking pan.
Bake for 6-8 minutes or until bubbly.
Take out of oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top- right away.
Let soften for about 5 minutes and with a knife, spread the chips.

Put it in the refrigerator for about an hour or maybe a little longer. This makes it a whole lot easier to cut and get out of the pan.

After cutting, store them in the fridge.
Cutting them into 2"x1" bars will give you 36 pieces.

Enjoy!

Candy Cookies

Candy cookies are a yummy treat. Use whatever kind of candy coated chocolate you have. It's all good no matter what brand you use.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
You will need a couple ungreased cookie sheets.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup candy coated chocolate candies

Cream together butter, shortening, and sugars. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the m&ms and incorporate well.
Drop dough by heaping teaspoons- or use a small size cookie scoop- onto the cookie sheets.
Bake 8-10 minutes, until light brown.
The centers will be soft, but will finish cookie upon removal from oven.
Cool a minute or two on the sheets than remove to finish cooling.
You will get 2-1/2 - 3 dozen cookies.

You can also make bars by pressing the dough into a 13x9 inch cake pan and baking 20 minutes, until golden.

Yummy!

Puppy Chow

 Puppy Chow is super yummy. It is peanut butter and chocolate and who doesn't love that?


Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter(1 stick)
12oz(2 cups or 1 bag) chocolate chips
1-1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cup powdered sugar
12-17 oz. box crispix or rice chex cereal

Melt the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter. You can put everything in a large bowl and microwave for 1 minute, stir and than microwave and stir at 30 second intervals until smooth. Or you can melt on low heat on the stove, stirring constantly.
Pour over the cereal, that is in a really large bowl, and mix well.
Put about a cup of powdered sugar and 1/3 of the cereal in a large container with a tight fitting lid. Shake til coated well. Repeat two more times til all the cereal has been coated with the powdered sugar.
Store your puppy chow in a covered container or big baggie.
Now just sit back and watch it all disappear.

Cocoa Mints

If you are fond of chocolate and mint together, you are going to love these candies.
They are great to make with younger children. They will love using cookie cutters to cut them out and you don't use the stove or oven at all.

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Aluminum foil will work too.
You will also need cookie cutters and a rolling pin.

Ingredients:

1 cup processed cocoa powder- Dutch cocoa is preferred but any kind is yummy.
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon creme de menthe or peppermint extract
1/2 cup water
2 pounds powdered sugar- you would need 7-1/2 cups

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and knead until well blended. If it is too thick, add some water, a 1/4 teaspoon at a time.
On a counter, place the dough and roll out to 1/4 inch thick.
Using cookie cutters, cut out and place on waxed paper. Chill for 1 hour til firm.
Store in an airtight container.

You will get 2-1/4 pounds of candy.

Fast and Easy Chocolate Fudge

This fudge is the easiest I have ever made. To make it even faster you can make it in the microwave.

Ingredients:

1 pound semisweet chocolate, finely chopped- 2-2/3 cups of semisweet chocolate chips will work perfect.

(1) 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon chocolate or vanilla extract

1-1/4 cups chopped pecans- optional

Butter an 8" square pan.

In the top of a double boiler melt the chocolate and milk together, stirring until very smooth. Or add the chocolate and milk to a glass bowl and microwave on high, stirring every 15 seconds, until melted and smooth.

Add to that the vanilla extract along with the pecans- if using.

Pour into the pan and cool until set.

Cut into bite size pieces.

Enjoy!

Caramel Corn

Caramel corn is a great sweet treat.
This is an old family recipe. It makes a lot.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F.

Ingredients:
7-1/2 quarts popped corn- If you use an air popper 2-3 batches will give you the amount you need.
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

In a large pan or dutch oven combine the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil, and let it continue to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda quickly.
Pour the brown sugar mixture over the popcorn and mix well.
Divide the popcorn among 3-4 large baking pans. Put in the oven and stir every 15 minutes. After an hour take it out of the oven and let it cool.