Candy is Dandy

The Christmas Season is a sweet season, including the treats of candy that we buy and make for sharing with family and friends. Christmas is the 3rd biggest candy holiday, after Halloween and Easter. There are lots of recipes for family favorites and traditional candies of the perfect fudge, peanut brittle, chocolate covered taffy, etc. I've done these in years past and like most people, struggled with the many ingredients called for, varying degrees of heat, boiling syrup, soft or hard boil stages, caramelization or crystallization. Often we found we liked Hershey's just as well!

So this year, my new favorite combines two of our favorite candies - Hershey's Hugs and M&Ms! And it couldn't be simpler. Spread mini pretzels (I especially liked it with the small square pretzels) on a foil covered baking sheet, top each with a Hug, heat in a 350 degree oven for 3 - 5 minutes. Remove when the Hugs start to look glossy. Remember chocolate melts quickly, if you wait until you think its melted, its too late! Top each with a M&M while still soft and warm. The hardest parts? Unwrapping that many Hugs without eating every other one, and waiting for the finished candies to become firm (putting them in the freezer helps speed up this process)!

Here's the finished candies - you can leave off the M&M's like those on the right if you want - but why would you?

The other favorite and quick candy that I always do at Christmas time is Peanut Clusters. It is extra easy and extra quick. I use 8 ounces (half of the 16 oz package) of chocolate almond bark or candy coating, melt in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes (again, remember it holds it's shape so it won't look melted), stir to completely melt. Add about 1/2 jar (8 ounces) of lightly salted peanuts and stir together. Drop by spoonfuls on foil or parchment paper to harden. You can make the full 16 ounces of each if you like, I only make a 'half recipe' at once - a form of portion control! If you want to make any more, its better to do it in batches instead of trying to melt a large quantity of chocolate at once in the microwave.