Treats!

This is the second year I’ve tried my hand at making some Christmas “cookies.”  I always call them “cookies,” but there’s really no baking involved.  Still, these are treats that my Mom used to make when we were growing up, but when we were gone for college, she slowed down on her cookie making, largely because we weren’t around to help eat them.

Regardless, I missed them and I wanted my kids to get the same treatment, so I started to make them last year when I had off for Christmas break.  Thus, here we go again.

The ones pictured up top are almond bark-covered Oreos.  I also put some peanut butter between Ritz crackers and dipped those, as well.  The fun part about making both of them is that it can be challenging to figure out which is which, as they’re about the same size and shape.  

I actually dipped Oreos and pretzels a few years ago back in St. Louis, but ended up burning the almond bark by trying to microwave it.  I just couldn’t figure out the right settings to melt the chocolate without having to stir it every 30 seconds.  Then last year, I tried it using a double boiler method and believe you me, it works wonders.  I suppose it takes a little longer than it does in the microwave, but I have yet to burn anything, so I figure it’s worth it.  I used the double boiler for just about everything I made this year.

The holly candy (above) is corn flakes, marshmallow, corn syrup and green food coloring.  It isn’t too terribly hard to make, though getting the shape right can be a little tough.  I think I did a better job this year of mixing everything, so the candy held together a bit better rather than falling apart a flake at a time.

The chocolate-covered rice krispie treats are also a favorite of mine, though I always forget that they aren’t technically rice krispie treats, in the traditional sense.  Sure, they’ve got most of the hallmark ingredients (like, you know, rice krispies…), but they lack marshmallows, which ends up leaving them a bit drier.  The topping, though, mixes chocolate and butterscotch chips together (also in the double boiler).

This was my first year trying to make chow mein noodle candy.  These are similar to what Brooke’s family has (haystacks), but my family always put marshmallows in there.  I ended up adding a few extra noodles to the mix, as I thought they looked a bit over-marshmallow-y (sure, that’s a word…), so we’ll see in the finished product whether I got the mix right.  I haven’t tried them yet.  Brooke had me make some her way, but we’ll save those for next weekend when we head to Hannibal.

Anyway, it doesn’t take all that much time to make them and I certainly like eating them.  If anything, the cleanup takes longer than the “making” part takes. 

Meg’s been eyeing these treats for a few days now and I haven’t let her have any.  I’m terrible. 🙂