Happy Halloween!

 

Halloween 'Boo' Bags

These little Halloween ‘Boo’ Bags are not only cute, but they are completely edible right down to the handle. The chocolate covered bars stand up to look like bags filled with Halloween treats.

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Halloween ‘Boo’ Bags
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Ingredients for the bars
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10 oz bag of large marshmallows
3 Tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
3 cups Trix cereal
1 cup Cheerios
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
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Butter an 8x8 pan and set aside. Combine Trix, Cheerios, pecans and cranberries in bowl and set aside. In a heavy sauce pan, over low heat, melt butter. Add marshmallows and stir until melted and blended with butter. Add cinnamon and vanilla. Stir well. Add cereal mixture. Pour into 8x8 pan. Smooth down top with the back of a buttered spoon on spatula. Allow to cool at room temperature.

When mixture is cooled, cut into 9 equal size bars. The bars will still be a little soft, so you can mold them, if needed, so they will stand up right. Place bars in the freezer for ten minutes.
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Ingredients for decorating the bars
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16 oz almond bark
Writing icing
Candy corn for decorating
.
While bars are chilling, melt almond bark according to package directions. Remove bars from freezer. Dip each bar in the chocolate, leaving about half an inch uncovered, and stand upright on wax paper. Once chocolate is hardened, apply the handles. Coat the inside first inch of each licorice stick with the melted chocolate. Apply each end to the side of a bag and hold in place until the chocolate hardens, about 20 to 30 seconds. You can reinforce the handle by adding a little melted chocolate around the seams.
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To make signs for your bags, put wax paper on a cutting board. Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate on wax paper. Make the area large enough to write all of the words you want on your bag. With writing icing, spell out the words you want, like RIP or Boo. You can even use names if you want. Leave enough room between each word to cut out signs. With a sharp knife, cut around your words. Lift the wax paper and remove each sign. Put a little melted chocolate on the back of the sign and place it on the front of the treat bag. The chocolate will harden and hold the sign in place.
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Store in air tight container overnight. If you are not serving the bags the next day, refrigerate them until ready to serve.

Golden Graham Spiders

 

Golden Graham Spiders
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These spiders may look scary, but they taste delicious. Coconut tinted with black food coloring give the spiders their ‘hairy’ appearance. They make the perfect addition to your Halloween treat table! 
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Golden Graham Spiders
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1 cup Golden Graham cereal, crushed
8 oz package of chocolate almond bark
2 Tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
½ cup raisins
½ cup rolled oats.
1 cup coconut
Black food coloring
Miniature pretzels, about a half-cup
Writing icing, red
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In a glass bowl, mix coconut with a few drops of black food coloring. Stir until complete coated, adding more if needed. Set aside. Melt almond bark according to package directions. Mix in peanut butter and stir until smooth. Add cereal, raisins, and oats. Drop by tablespoonful onto wax paper, making the candy in an oblong shape. Before candy hardens, top each one with the tinted coconut.. Break pretzels into small pieces reserving the ones that are slightly curved to make your spider legs. Coat each pretzel ‘leg’ with melted chocolate and attach to the spiders side. Someone may be counting, so be sure to use four legs on each side. Reinforce the legs by drizzling a little melted chocolate on each side after they are attached. Sprinkle a little more coconut on top. Take the red writing icing and add two red dots on the front of each spider for eyes.

Halloween 'Boo' Bags

These little Halloween ‘Boo’ Bags are not only cute, but they are completely edible right down to the handle. The chocolate covered bars stand up to look like bags filled with Halloween treats.
.
Halloween ‘Boo’ Bags
.
Ingredients for the bars
.
10 oz bag of large marshmallows
3 Tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
3 cups Trix cereal
1 cup Cheerios
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
.
Butter an 8x8 pan and set aside. Combine Trix, Cheerios, pecans and cranberries in bowl and set aside. In a heavy sauce pan, over low heat, melt butter. Add marshmallows and stir until melted and blended with butter. Add cinnamon and vanilla. Stir well. Add cereal mixture. Pour into 8x8 pan. Smooth down top with the back of a buttered spoon on spatula. Allow to cool at room temperature.

When mixture is cooled, cut into 9 equal size bars. The bars will still be a little soft, so you can mold them, if needed, so they will stand up right. Place bars in the freezer for ten minutes.
.
Ingredients for decorating the bars
.
16 oz almond bark
Writing icing
Candy corn for decorating
.
While bars are chilling, melt almond bark according to package directions. Remove bars from freezer. Dip each bar in the chocolate, leaving about half an inch uncovered, and stand upright on wax paper. Once chocolate is hardened, apply the handles. Coat the inside first inch of each licorice stick with the melted chocolate. Apply each end to the side of a bag and hold in place until the chocolate hardens, about 20 to 30 seconds. You can reinforce the handle by adding a little melted chocolate around the seams.
.
To make signs for your bags, put wax paper on a cutting board. Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate on wax paper. Make the area large enough to write all of the words you want on your bag. With writing icing, spell out the words you want, like RIP or Boo. You can even use names if you want. Leave enough room between each word to cut out signs. With a sharp knife, cut around your words. Lift the wax paper and remove each sign. Put a little melted chocolate on the back of the sign and place it on the front of the treat bag. The chocolate will harden and hold the sign in place.
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Store in air tight container overnight. If you are not serving the bags the next day, refrigerate them until ready to serve.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Since I figure most of you will have lots of leftover candy, I wanted to share this recipe recently shown on WSMV - More at Midday - Don't Bug Me Chocolate Cake. Not only is it great for Halloween, but I think it would make a cute birthday cake. Check it out and have a Happy Halloween!

Cranberry Raisin Drops

I was telling Sunflower Sue about my latest chocolate and fruit experiment the other day. She wondered if I would be posting a picture. My answer was no, because it looked like all the other chocolate drop candies I had already posted. The taste is different, but you can't tell that from the picture. So, had this partial bag of candy corn that needed to be used. Well, it is Fall and close to Halloween....
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Cranberry Raisin Drops
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1 lb of chocolate almond bark
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Candy Corn
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Melt chocolate according to package directions. Stir in cinnamon. Add graham cracker crumbs, cranberries, raisins and pecans. Drop by teaspoonful onto wax paper. Before chocolate sets, top each candy with a piece of Candy Corn.

Golden Graham Spiders

Golden Graham Spiders
.
These spiders may look scary, but they taste delicious. Coconut tinted with black food coloring give the spiders their ‘hairy’ appearance. They make the perfect addition to your Halloween treat table! This is one of the recipes that I submitted to BettyCrocker. For details on how you can submit your own spooky recipes for the chance to appear on the homepage this Halloween or to find other delicious treats, click here.
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Golden Graham Spiders
.
1 cup Golden Graham cereal, crushed
8 oz package of chocolate almond bark
2 Tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
½ cup raisins
½ cup rolled oats.
1 cup coconut
Black food coloring
Miniature pretzels, about a half-cup
Writing icing, red
.
In a glass bowl, mix coconut with a few drops of black food coloring. Stir until complete coated, adding more if needed. Set aside. Melt almond bark according to package directions. Mix in peanut butter and stir until smooth. Add cereal, raisins, and oats. Drop by tablespoonful onto wax paper, making the candy in an oblong shape. Before candy hardens, top each one with the tinted coconut.. Break pretzels into small pieces reserving the ones that are slightly curved to make your spider legs. Coat each pretzel ‘leg’ with melted chocolate and attach to the spiders side. Someone may be counting, so be sure to use four legs on each side. Reinforce the legs by drizzling a little melted chocolate on each side after they are attached. Sprinkle a little more coconut on top. Take the red writing icing and add two red dots on the front of each spider for eyes.

Halloween 'Boo' Bags

I was given a wonderful opportunity to submit a Halloween recipe to BettyCrocker.com for possible publication on their website. I actually came up with two recipes and will be posting the next one closer to Halloween. If you're interested in submitting your own recipe, click here. Their website also has great recipes, contests, coupons and much more. These little Halloween ‘Boo’ Bags are not only cute, but they are completely edible right down to the handle. The chocolate covered bars stand up to look like bags filled with Halloween treats.
.
Halloween ‘Boo’ Bags
.
Ingredients for the bars
.
10 oz bag of large marshmallows
3 Tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
3 cups Trix cereal
1 cup Cheerios
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
.
Butter an 8x8 pan and set aside. Combine Trix, Cheerios, pecans and cranberries in bowl and set aside. In a heavy sauce pan, over low heat, melt butter. Add marshmallows and stir until melted and blended with butter. Add cinnamon and vanilla. Stir well. Add cereal mixture. Pour into 8x8 pan. Smooth down top with the back of a buttered spoon on spatula. Allow to cool at room temperature.

When mixture is cooled, cut into 9 equal size bars. The bars will still be a little soft, so you can mold them, if needed, so they will stand up right. Place bars in the freezer for ten minutes.
.
Ingredients for decorating the bars
.
16 oz almond bark
Writing icing
Candy corn for decorating
.
While bars are chilling, melt almond bark according to package directions. Remove bars from freezer. Dip each bar in the chocolate, leaving about half an inch uncovered, and stand upright on wax paper. Once chocolate is hardened, apply the handles. Coat the inside first inch of each licorice stick with the melted chocolate. Apply each end to the side of a bag and hold in place until the chocolate hardens, about 20 to 30 seconds. You can reinforce the handle by adding a little melted chocolate around the seams.
.
To make signs for your bags, put wax paper on a cutting board. Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate on wax paper. Make the area large enough to write all of the words you want on your bag. With writing icing, spell out the words you want, like RIP or Boo. You can even use names if you want. Leave enough room between each word to cut out signs. With a sharp knife, cut around your words. Lift the wax paper and remove each sign. Put a little melted chocolate on the back of the sign and place it on the front of the treat bag. The chocolate will harden and hold the sign in place.
.
Store in air tight container overnight. If you are not serving the bags the next day, refrigerate them until ready to serve.