Peppermint Bark

 Ingredients:

18 ounces dark chocolate chips (can use semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips)

18 ounces white chocolate chips

1 cup crushed candy canes or hard peppermint candies

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract divided.

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  

2. Melt dark chocolate in a microwave-safe dish for 45 seconds.  Stir, then continue to heat for 10 seconds, stirring in between, until completely melted.

3 Stir in ¼ teaspoon of vanilla.

4. Pour melted dark chocolate onto parchment paper and spread evenly to about ¼ inch in thickness and chill in the refrigerator/freezer while preparing the white chocolate.

5. Melt white chocolate chips in a separate bowl in the microwave following the melting instructions above. If the chocolate should start to seize, you can fix it with a teaspoon of coconut oil.  

6. Add ¼ teaspoon of vanilla and ½ cup of the crushed peppermint candies to the white chocolate and stir to combine. 

7.  Pour white chocolate on top and carefully spread it over the dark chocolate. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup crushed peppermints. Refrigerate for 10 minutes or until hard. Cut pieces with a sharp knife.

Cowboy Candy ... AKA Candied Jalapeños

Cowboy Candy is a sweet and spicy treat made with candied jalapeños. Here is a simple recipe you can use to make these tasty treats for desserts, snacking, etc. Use these pepper rings to top cornbread, chop them up and add them to cream cheese for a delicious spread, garnish cocktails, or just snack on them. Basically, the jalapeños are preserved in a simple seasoned syrup and stored in the refrigerator, or processed in water bath.

Ingredients:

• ½ kilo of fresh jalapeño chili peppers (that about 1.1 pounds for you U.S. folks that still can't use the metric system, or 6-8 peppers)
• 1 cup white sugar
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Directions:

• First, clean the jar(s) you will use to store the Cowboy Candy. This recipe will yield about 3½ cups of candied jalapeños.
• Second, put on a pair of gloves to protect your skin from the oils in the jalapeños.
• Slice the jalapeno peppers crosswise into 6 mm thick rings (¼ inch). You can remove the seeds if you like a milder treat, but I don't. Set them aside while you make the syrup.
  
• Mix together the sugar, vinegar and all the seasonings in a pan. Bring the mixture to a quick boil, and reduce the heat to a low simmer until the sugar dissolves into a thick syrup.
• Add the jalapeno rings and mix to evenly coat them with the syrup, and bring it back to a low simmer.
• Simmer the jalapeños in the syrup for about 4-5 minutes. They will darken just a bit as they cook slightly and soak up some of the sugar syrup.
• Transfer the candied jalapeno peppers into the cleaned jar(s), then fill the jar(s) with the remaining syrup. This time we just used a single one quart mason jar for the whole batch and the recipe didn't quite fill the jar.
  
• Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 or 4 months. You can eat them right away, but if you chill them in the refrigerator for a week, or so, the flavors will develop and just get better.
• You can also use a canning process with a water bath to store them for a year or more. (Click here to learn how.)

Homemade Almond Joy and Mound Bars

"Sometimes you feel like a nut, and sometimes you don't!" Try this simple recipe for a sweet treat.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, lightly packed
• 3 level tablespoons unrefined virgin coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons honey or agave syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 10-11 roasted and unsalted almonds for the Almond Joy Bars
• 4 ounces chocolate, either bittersweet chips or a bar broken in to small pieces

Directions:

• In a food processor, process the shredded coconut, coconut oil, honey, vanilla extract, and salt until it forms a thick paste, about 2-3 minutes. Test the coconut mixture to see if it holds together by squeezing a small amount in your palm. It should compact nicely. If the coconut mixture doesn’t hold together well, then continue to process the mixture for 1 to 2 more minutes.

• Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon or melon ball scoop, (this helps to keep the bars uniform in size) scoop out and gently press down the coconut mixture into the measuring spoon. You want a fairly level scoop here. Drop the tablespoon of mixture onto the lined baking sheet and then press and mold the balls into a rectangle shape. You can press and mold them on the baking sheet or in the palm of your hand, whatever is easier for you.
  

• Press an almond on top of the coconut bars to make an Almond Joy or leave as is to make a Mounds bar.  Place the coconut bars in the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes, or until solid.

• Once the coconut bars are frozen, it’s time to melt the chocolate. Keep the coconut bars in the freezer until you have melted your chocolate. If you’re using a 4-ounce bar of chocolate, you will need to chop it up or break it up into small pieces. I use 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Place the 4-ounces of chocolate into a heatproof bowl.
  

• Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water, (make sure that the bowl doesn’t touch the water) and melt the chocolate, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until melted and smooth. Immediately remove the melted chocolate from the heat and give it a stir with a spatula.

• You can also melt the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl for 15-second intervals, stirring between each interval, until the chocolate is smooth. Be very careful to not overcook or scorch the chocolate.

• When the chocolate is melted, take out the frozen bars.

• I find it easiest to set the bar in the chocolate and use the spatula to thoroughly coat it with chocolate.  Alternately, you can gently insert a toothpick into a bar, and dip the bar into the melted chocolate making sure that the whole bar gets covered with chocolate. Lift the bar out and tap off any excess chocolate. Return the chocolate covered bar to the parchment paper. Repeat the process with the other remaining bars.

• Once all of the bars have been dipped into the chocolate, place them in the freezer for a few minutes to set.
  

• Store the bars in the refrigerator in an airtight container. These bars should keep for several days.

• Take the bars out for a few minutes to thaw a bit before you consume them!

Yield: 10-13 bars

Salted Chocolate Caramel Candy

We had some chocolate chips in the pantry, but I didn't have all the ingredients needed to make fudge. So, rather than run to the store, I decided to invent a recipe for salted chocolate caramels. These caramels make a delicious, salty 'n sweet treat.

Ingredients:
2 cups of sugar
2 cans of sweetened condensed milk
1 ounce can of evaporated milk
2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
2 cup of dark molasses*
2 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Melt the sugar, milks, butter and molasses together in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir every couple of minutes until it reaches a temperature of 235°F to 240°F on a candy thermometer. You will need patience for it to come up to temperature, and you'll need to be careful not to let it scorch.

Remove the pan from the heat, add vanilla and 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Mix until all the chocolate chips are melted.

Pour the mixture into two baking dish, or two cookie sheets, that have either been greased, or lined with parchment paper. Allow the caramels to cool at room temperature for an hour. Score the candy into bite size piece that you can break apart when it's completely cooled. Sprinkle Sea, or Kosher, salt on top after you score the candy and you'll have an awesome salty/sweet treat.

*Note: Here in Costa Rica, I make my own molasses with unrefined brown sugar cakes called "Tapa de Dulce". This is crude sugar cane juice that is cooked down until it caramelizes. Then it's poured into wooden molds and left to cool and setup into brown sugar cakes. I melt the "Tapa de Dulce" with an equal part of water and let it simmer until it reached the consistency of syrup, about 225°F on a candy thermometer.

Holiday Crack

My friend David sent me a recipe for New Year's Eve Crack.

Warning! This is a highly addictive treat and you won't be able to eat just one piece. I would never make this to have around the house, but I'd gladly make it for a party at someone else's house.

I plan on taking this "crack' to my friend Joni's New Year's Eve Party tomorrow night.

After I read the ingredients, I realized I would have to modify it just a bit. I don't care for the product sold here for brown sugar, because is it simply raw sugar with caramel added, and it doesn't pack down well. I like using the real thing... traditional sugar cakes sold as Tapa de Dulce. In my opinion, Tapa de Dulce has more of a natural molasses flavor I find delicious.

Ingredients:
20-24 saltine crackers
2 sticks (1 cup) butter
1 cup packed Tapa de Dulce (or brown sugar if you must)
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup of holiday sprinkles (think 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year's colors)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F.
• Line a cookie sheet with foil and coat it with nonstick cooking spray. 
• Lay the saltine crackers on the cookie sheet in a single layer with the salted side down.
• Grate the Tapa de Dulce with a cheese grater, or food processor until you have enough to firmly pack one cup of sugar.
• Melt the butter and Tapa de Dulce in a saucepan over medium heat and stir frequently to prevent the butter from scorching.
• Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil for 3-5 minutes to create toffee.
• Remove from the heat and carefully pour the butter and sugar mixture over the crackers on the cookie sheet.
• Place the cookie sheet with the crackers and toffee in the oven for 3-5 minutes, until the toffee is bubbly all over. Carefully remove the cookie sheet from the oven.
• Immediately top the toffee crackers with the chocolate chips, and allow them to sit for a minute to soften and melt. When the chocolate chips are soft, take an offset spatula and spread the melted chocolate into an even layer over the toffee crackers.
• Top with holiday colored sprinkles.
• Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for a least 30 minutes.  Once the "crack" is set, break it into small uneven pieces by hand.
• The Holiday Crack can be stored in a airtight container for about a week (if it lasts that long.)

Caramel Candy

I saw a recipe recently for Caramel Candy and as usual, I didn't have the required ingredients. So, I decided to invent my own with the ingredients I had on hand and it is delicious.

Ingredients:
1 cup of sugar
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 stick of butter (½ cup)
1 cup of dark molasses*
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:
Melt all ingredients together in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir every couple of minutes until it reaches a temperature of 235°F to 240°F. Be careful that you don't let it scorch.

Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish and allow it to cool at room temperature for an hour. Score the candy into bite size piece that you can break apart when it's completely cooled. Sprinkle Sea, or Kosher, salt on top after you score the candy and you'll have an awesome salty/sweet treat.

*Note:  Here in Costa Rica, I make my own molasses with unrefined brown sugar cakes called "Tapa de Dulce". This is crude sugar cane juice that is cooked down until it caramelizes. Then it's poured into wooden molds and left to cool and setup into brown sugar cakes. I melt the "Tapa de Dulce" with an equal part of water and let it simmer until it reached the consistency of syrup, about 225°F on a candy thermometer.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

After 2 days of aging

A couple of years ago, our daughter, Mary, gave us some wonderful homemade vanilla extract. As luck would have it, I dropped the bottle and broke the cap. I never did find a replacement cap, or bottle, so all of the contents evaporated while sitting in a kitchen cabinet.

Needing to replace it, I went to our favorite local grocery store Coopeatenas and found they only carry artificial vanilla flavoring. Not one to settle for less than the best, I started searching the internet for different recipes and finally cobbled this one together.

I just happened to have plenty of vanilla beans stored in a vacuum sealed bag that I had shipped in our sea container when we moved to Costa Rica last year.

Ingredients:
8 whole vanilla beans
1¾ cups of cheap vodka
¾ cup of cheap dark rum

Directions:
Slice vanilla beans in half and then lengthwise. Using a funnel, or a very steady hand, pour the alcohol into a clean, empty bottle. Add the vanilla beans to the bottle and store it in a dark place for a couple of weeks. Once a day, shake the bottle to help speed up the extraction process.

As you use the vanilla in your favorite recipes, you can top off the bottle now and then with some additional vodka and dark rum in a 2:1 ratio. The beans will eventually break down and dissolve, so add more vanilla beans when necessary.

Note to self:  Buy small bottles and more vanilla beans.  May need to make lots more of this for future gift-giving.

Peanut Brittle

Ingredients:
1 cup Spanish peanuts, raw
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup corn syrup, light
1 tsp baking soda

Directions:
In skillet on medium heat, mix sugar, water and corn syrup. Boil until mixture 'hairs' when you let it drip from the spoon. (this is the hard ball stage) add peanuts. Let cook until peanuts start looking light brown and the sugar/water mixture starts looking a little brown. Remove from heat, add baking soda and stir. Mixture will foam up, stir several times then either spoon onto foil for individual pieces or just pour out into one big piece. The longer you stir the mixture the browner it will get. The more brown the more better the flavor. Let cool, peel off foil and store in air tight container. Makes about 20-25 tablespoon size pieces.

Originally posted 1/08/08