Peppermint Bark

Must be the season to make candy! Last week I needed 2 desserts for various church functions and for one it had to be either green or red. I made peppermint bark 2 years ago and thought it turned out pretty good so I made it again. My friend Erika gave me 3 bottles of green food coloring so I knew what color I was going to make it.

Peppermint Bark

Ingredients

• 12 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 12 ounce bag of white chocolate chips
• 2 tsp peppermint extract
• 3 candy canes
• green food coloring (optional)

-Place contents of 12 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips into a bowl and into the microwave for 90 seconds (check & stir every 30 seconds)
-Once chocolate is melted, stir in 1 tsp of peppermint extract
-Spread out onto aluminum foil lined cookie sheet
-Place in fridge and let it set up for about 10 minutes
-After 10 minutes in the fridge, start the second half:
-Crush up 3 candy canes
-Place contents of 12 ounce bag of white chocolate chips into a clean bowl and into the microwave for 90 seconds (check & stir every 30 seconds)
-Once white chocolate is melted, place candy canes and 1 tsp of peppermint extract into the chocolate.
-You can add food coloring of your choice if you please
-Spread white chocolate over the semi-sweet and leave it in the fridge for an hour until it sets

I left it in the fridge over night and the next morning I flipped it over onto the cookie sheet and smashed the semi-sweet side with a cup to break it up. People seemed to enjoy it. :-)

Pecan Pralines

Between studying for the CBEST, I watched a few minutes of Paula Deen and she was making pecan pralines with a friend. Feeling inspired and knowing I had all the ingredients, I decided to take a crack at it!

The recipe I made is a combination from a recipe on the all recipes website, Buttermilk Pralines, and Stan Strickland's Pecan Pralines Recipe.

Pecan Pralines

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup buttermilk (I only had milk on hand, so I added 1 tbs of lemon juice to the cup of milk and waited 10 minutes)
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 stick of butter (no substitutes)
• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:


In a heavy 3-qt. saucepan, combine all ingredients except the pecans.
In a heavy 3-qt. saucepan, combine all ingredients except the pecans. Cook and stir over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 238- 241 degrees F or a soft ball stage**. This takes patience so don't get discouraged. (Don't I sound like a hypocrite?)

**What is a soft ball stage you ask? This is a method one can use if you don't have a candy thermometer. At this temperature, sugar syrup dropped into cold water will form a soft, flexible ball. If you remove the ball from water, it will flatten like a pancake after a few moments in your hand. Fudge, pralines, and fondant are made by cooking ingredients to the soft-ball stage.



Stir in pecans then remove from heat. Beat with a wooden spoon until mixture loses its gloss and begins to set, about 8 minutes.

Quickly drop by teaspoonfuls (or whatever size you want) onto foil-lined baking sheets. Cool.

You really do have to move quickly because it sets up fast. The last few pralines did not look as nice as the first ones I scooped out. I will definitely be making these again!!