Posts Tagged ‘candy’

Saltine Toffee

April 29, 2017

Southern cooking relies on ingredients that are a.) Cheap, b.) tasty, and c.) generally pretty terrible for your body.  Saltine Toffee historically  meets all of those criteria.  It’s often a Christmas cookie treat, but it’s one of my go to treats to send along on trips and as a gift.

Start by lining a sheet pan with saltine crackers.  I line with foil for the mess and a sheet of parchment paper to stop the candy from sticking to the foil.  Who wants to eat little bits of foil? (Foil sounds like f-oh-l when I say it, if that helps.)

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In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, bring butter and brown sugar to a boil.  Stir to keep the sugar from burning for 3 minutes.

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Pour the boiled sugar mixture over the crackers (it will plop, more than stream) and spread evenly.
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Bake in the oven at  425 for 5 minutes until the sugar mixture is hot and bubbling, then remove and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips.  I’m a stickler for fair trade chocolate because imho, child slavery tastes bad.    Cover with foil and let sit for 5 minutes until the chocolate has melted, then spread the chocolate out across the toffee crackers.  I top it with pecans, because Central Texas, but it’s good as is or even with crushed peppermint.
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Refrigerate until cool, peel the candy from the lined pan and break into bite sized pieces.
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Saltine Toffee:
Soda crackers, about 50
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup salted butter
2 cups fair trade semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 pecans

Preheat oven to 425. Cover a lined baking sheet with soda crackers, leaving as little gap as possible.  Place butter and brown sugar in a heavy sauce pan and bring to a boil for 3 minutes.  Pour boiling sugar mixture over crackers and place the sheet pan in the oven.  Bake for 5 minutes or until bubbling.   Remove from heat and immediately cover with chocolate chips.  Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes.  Spread melted chocolate chips with a rubber spatula and then top with pecans if desired.  Place the sheet pan in the refrigerator for 15 or 20 minutes until cool.  Break into serving pieces.  Best fresh while the crackers are still crisp, but can be stored in an air tight container.

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Not Quite Buckeye Balls

November 15, 2013

I don’t normally talk in such definitive terms but: We’ve all been making Buckeye Balls incorrectly for the entirety of man kind. It’s true. The correct recipe follows.

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1 (6.5oz) container of PB2 with chocolate
1/2 of the same container filled w/ powdered sugar
2 tbs virgin coconut oil
6 tbs dark spiced rum
3 tbs coconut coffee creamer
chocolate bark, melted

In the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment, lightly mix PB2 and powdered sugar. Mix in the coconut oil and blend for about a minute until it’s even distributed through the bowl. Add in the rum, 1 tbs at a time, until the batter has a sufficient rum taste but doesn’t knock you over. Then add the coconut creamer until the mixture just comes together. You might not use all of the creamer. It should look like this:

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Roll the dough into balls worth one or two bites. Refrigerate them for half an hour. Melt chocolate bark by the directions provided (Or make your own using your favorite chocolate and a scoop or two of shortening. I was lazy today.) Cool until you can just touch the chocolate enough to work with. Swirl each dough ball into the chocolate bark, and then set on a lined cookie sheet.

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Refrigerate until set, then serve. Then thank me. Often. I’m freezing them and sending them to Costa Rica, because I want to be that far away from their magnetic wonderfulness.

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