Christmas Time is Candy Time
In our house homemade candy is a favourite at Christmas; chocolate truffles, coconut bonbons and peanut butter balls are always on my family's wish list.
While homemade candy can be time consuming they are easy enough that a child can make them. Growing up my mother would sit my friends and I at the kitchen table with a bowl of candy dough - coconut, peanut butter, or chocolate. We would roll balls of the homemade candy mixture and then either dip or roll them in a yummy exterior coating of coconut, nuts, crumbs or chocolate.
From my family to yours :
Peanut Butter Snowballs
Ingredients:
1 cup Peanut Bu:tter, smooth
2 cups Icing Sugar
1 cup Rice Krispies
1 tbsp Butter
1 cup Coconut, medium
Directions:
Cream Peanut Butter and 1 cup of icing sugar until smooth.
Add Rice Krispies, butter and walnuts.
Evenly mix together.
Roll mixture into balls.
Mix 2 tbsp water and 1 cup icing sugar together
Dip each ball in the icing sugar/water mixture
Roll each ball into coconut
Place in fridge for 15 minutes before serving
Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
Ingredients
2 cups Peanut Butter, smooth
2 cups Icing Sugar
3 cups Melting Chocolate Wafers (Wiltons Melts)
Directions
Cream Peanut Butter and icing sugar until smooth.
Roll mixture into balls.
Freeze until hard and no longer sticky
Melt chocolate wafers
Dip each ball chocolate and set aside on parchment paper until chocolate hardens
Place in fridge until ready to serve
Chocolate Truffles
Makes 4 dozen small truffles or 2 dozen large size truffles.
Ingredients
1 can Sweet and Condensed Milk
2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
2 cups Finely Shaved Sweetened Coconut
2 cups Finely Crushed Walnuts (use your favorite kind of nuts if you don’t like walnuts)
Directions
In a medium saucepan over low heat melt and combine sweet and condensed milk and chocolate chips.
Once melted and smooth remove mixture from heat. Leave mixture to cool and set until it is the consistency of modeling clay. In a hurry? Put saucepan in refridgerator.
While mixture cools and sets, crush your walnuts until they are fine crumbs. Pour crushed nuts in one bowl and coconut in a second bowl and set aside.
Using a small spoon or a melon baller scoop out a small amount of chocolate and roll into a ball in your palm. Keep a glass of warm water on the table to rince off spoon or melon baller when they become gummed up with chocolate.
Once the ball is at your desired size and shape drop in coconut or crushed nuts. Coat the outside of the ball and set aside on a plate. (Look out for little helpers taking a bite, re-rolling the ball and putting it back on the plate)
It is your choice how many truffles you want coated with coconut or walnuts. Once you have all the mixture rolled into balls and coated separate the two types in layers in a plastic container for storage, using waxed paper between each layer to keep truffles from sticking together.
Keep truffles in a cool place until time to serve or give away to keep them from melting. You can also freeze them.
Adult Variation
In addition to the above listed ingredients add 2 ounces of baileys or kalua and an additional 3 cups of chocolate chips (1.5 cups per ounce of alcohol).
If making adult variation store finished truffles in the fridge and the flavour and smell of the alcohol will be stronger.
Another family favourite at Christmas are Cherry Balls. Since moving out and starting a family I have turned the family Cherry Ball recipe into a Coconut Bonbon recipe, which has quickly become a favourite of my inlaws. From my kitchen to yours our recipe for Cherry Balls and Coconut Bonbons
Coconut Bonbons (New Recipe)
Ingredients
2 cups Butter, softened
6 cups Icing Sugar
2 tsps Coconut Extract
3 cups Coconut, shaved unsweetened
3 bags Wilton Candy Melts (12oz)
3/4 cup + 1.5 tsps Crisco shortening
Directions
Cream butter and icing sugar together
Beat in coconut extract
With your hands, knead in coconut until evenly combine
Using 1.5 tsp of mixture form balls
Freeze balls until hard
In microwaveable dish melt 1 bag of Wilton Candy Melts at a time with 4.5 tsps of Crisco
Using a toothpick or skewer dip each ball in the mixture and set aside on a parchment lined tray or stick other end into a piece of styrofoam until candy coating hardens
Once coating has set remove toothpick or skewer and dot the hole with melted candy coating
Store in fridge
Cherry Balls (Original Recipe)
Ingredients
2 cups Butter, softened
6 cups Icing Sugar
2 tsps Almond Extract
3 cups Coconut, medium unsweetened
2 cups Candied Cherries, halved (red and green)
2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
4 tsps Milk (if needed
Directions
Cream butter and icing sugar together
Stir in almond extract
With your hands, knead in coconut until evenly combined
If mixture is too stiff, add 1-2 tsps of milk at a time to desired texture
Flatten a tsp of mixture on your palm
Place a cherry piece in the centre
Roll coconut mixture up around the cherry and form into a ball
Roll ball in graham cracker crumbs and set aside
Repeat until all of the coconut mixture is used
