Monday, December 14, 2015

Christmas Goodies the easy way

I'm all for cooking from scratch. You know that, right?

But there are some Christmas goodies that are so good, I just have to take the easy way out.

Take these for instance:

I call them "Crunchy Turtles."

Ingredients:



Pretzels
Caramels
Ghiradelli Dark Melting Wafers

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

Line a cookie sheet with baking parchment and pre-heat your oven to 325°.

Build your crunchy turtle like this:

Pretzel


Two chocolate melting wafers


Another pretzel


A caramel


Put the baking sheet in your preheated oven for five minutes.

When you take them out, they'll be all melted together into caramel/chocolate goodness. With a crunch.

Some of the caramels slide off their perch, but that didn't
affect the taste!

When they're cool, melt more of the chocolate and drizzle it onto the turtles.


All right, my drizzling isn't very neat. If you have time, you can make it look very pretty. You could even sprinkle some freshly ground sea salt on top if you have a craving for salted caramel!

But I had a very limited time in my kitchen for these goodies. Michael and Kris had their own project and needed kitchen space.

I'm sure these have a name, but we'll just call them Rolo Pretzel Snacks.

Ingredients:

1 bag Rolo candies
1 bag Hershey Kisses
Pretzels

This recipe involves a lot of unwrapping.


And more unwrapping.


Once you've unwrapped the chocolate, it's time to build.

Once again, use a cookie sheet lined with baking parchment. Place your pretzels on the sheet, and place one Rolo candy on each pretzel.


Turn your oven on low broil, and put the cookie sheet in - just long enough to melt the candies.

After the candies are melted, remove the sheet from the oven and place a Hershey's Kiss on each Rolo, squishing the Rolo as you go. Let them cool, and you're all set!


So delicious!

But Michael and Kris weren't done yet! They had purchased a Gingerbread House kit from the store, and started building.


And here is their finished product:



Meanwhile, in another part of town, Josh and Carrie had purchased a similar kit and were building their own Gingerbread House while watching Die Hard. That's everyone's favorite Christmas movie, right?


So at our house, and I hope at yours, too, It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Last week's tree from the Great Christmas Tree
Hunt, all dressed up.

17 comments:

  1. I'm glad we're not the only family who loves the Die Hard movies, LOL! From skyscrapers to Dulles airport, we love them! We're ridiculous people, but I blame that on having four boys and a husband. :)

    I must try these because they look easy and amazing!!!! Jan, I love easy and amazing!

    SWEEEEET!

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    Replies
    1. Actually, Ruthy, I think it was a comment you made one year that got my family to start thinking Die Hard when it comes to Christmas movies! LOL!

      I have to admit, there are very few of these snacks left this morning. Both recipes are bite-sized and very snatchable! But we can make more :)

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  2. Is this where I confess I've never seen a Die Hard movie? My daughter and I count Meet Me in St. Louis as our favourite Christmas movie. LOL

    And now you've reminded me that I can no longer get Rolos up here. Sigh. I remember their chocolatey/caramelly goodness. Whimper. Very clever candy making though. Great for gift giving.

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    Replies
    1. Kav, You have Cadbury caramel chocolate. Oh my. You can use those squares. Cadbury beats Rolo any day.

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    2. Oh, these would be amazing with Cadbury caramel chocolate squares! You'll have to try it!

      And Die Hard movies...you really have to want to see Bruce Willis suffer when you watch those. Because he does. Talk about putting your hero through the wringer!

      I have to admit, though, that I can't watch Meet Me in St. Louis too soon after we move. When Judy Garland sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" to her little sister, I'm right there with that little girl, grieving the home they're leaving. But this year, I think I'll have to watch it again. It's been almost five years since our last move. I think I can make it through the movie with only one box of tissues!

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  3. Wow Jan you got me on the word EASY. Yep, these look easy and fun. I bet the bit of salt really makes these yummy. Thanks for sharing this idea. I will definitely try it. I'm going to go visit my godson this week and these look perfect for the two of us to make together.

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    Replies
    1. As I was making these, I knew they were perfect for an adult/child type fun project. :)

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  4. Die Hard isn't my favorite, but it certainly is up there. How could it not be with Bruce starring?

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    1. LOL! My husband and I went through a Bruce Willis marathon last spring. The Die Hard movies and a few others. Good Friday night date material!

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  5. What a beautiful gingerbread house. They did an awesome job.

    I'm getting ready to make some turtles very similar to yours, Jan. Except I'll add a pecan and no drizzle. But chocolate, caramel and the salt from the pretzel... What more could one ask for. Hmm...perhaps I'd best not make them so soon.

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    Replies
    1. A pecan added is a great idea!

      I'm making a batch of your pumpkin bread today, Mindy. Gifts for the neighbors. :)

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    2. Mindy, the ones I had at the party had a pecan on top instead of the kiss. So yummy!

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    3. Oh, I hope you like it, Jan. I just made my second batch if the year Saturday. People can't get enough!

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  6. Jan, I love these candies! I recently had some that were made with the Rolos. Very easy! I can't wait to try them. Turtles are some of my favorite candies.

    Love the tree! It turned out beautiful!

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    Replies
    1. These are super easy and so quick! A great snack if you need something last minute :)

      And thanks! We never know what our tree will look like once we get it home and decorated! We're very pleased with this one.

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  7. And it looked so much smaller in the woods...

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    Replies
    1. They do. They really do look smaller in the woods!

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