Something I really look forward to when visiting California (aside from seeing family of course)….is Sees Candies. In fact I blogged about it last year too. And now I’m craving dark chocolate anything.
Shoot.
But I’m hoping that a knockoff version will fill the void. For some reason it never dawned on me try making them at home until Maggie from Smashed Peas and Carrots came into my life. If you haven’t been to her blog before she’s a got a slew of cool sewing tutorials, yummy recipes, and a funny sense of humor. You’ll love her! Here’s what she’s been mixing up for us….
Thanks Dana!
I just love this time of year…the pretty lights, being surrounded by family and friends, delicious homemade smells wafting throughout the house, and lots of traditions, old and new. One of my favorite traditions this time of year is hosting a Cookie Exchange, or if you have a bit more time having an entire Cookie Baking Day. When I first moved away from my family I hosted Cookie Baking Days with my friends–kind of like a Girl’s Night Out but during the day. Now with three kids to wrangle, it’s a bit harder to carve out time for a Cookie Baking Day, so Cookie Exchanges are what we’ve been doing.
One of my favorite recipes to make for an Exchange are Maple Walnut Chocolates. You can omit the walnuts if you have allergies or just plain don’t want them in the chocolates, the recipe will work either way. But there is just something about that ‘maple walnut’ combination that is so, so good to me. This recipe makes a whole lot of candies so be prepared to share….or your hips may hate you come January.
Maple Walnut Chocolates (makes about 5 dozen 1-inch balls)
7 1/2 cups powdered sugar (you need a whole 2 lb bag)
1 tsp vanilla
1 package chocolate bark
In a saucepan, combine the condensed milk and butter. Stir over low heat until butter is completely melted. Place powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Pour the milk mixture over the sugar while mixing on low until well combined. Stir in vanilla, maple flavoring and walnuts.
Roll into balls and place on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Freeze for about 1 hour. Melt chocolate bark in the microwave following package directions. Then just dip, dip, dip those little maple balls into chocolate….
until you have rows of yummy goodness like this:
Your kitchen will look like a veritable Chocolate Factory.
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Thank you Maggie! These are definitely at the top of my Sweets to-do list. Maybe in California I’ll whip up a batch with my sister–she’s a huge chocolates lover too. But who knows if I can wait that long. Mmmmm.
Check out the Sweets and Treats archive page HERE.