Marshmallow Bonbons

38-40 large marshmallows
1 (12 oz.) package chocolate chips
Coconut
Sprinkles
Nuts, chopped

Place marshmallows on a pan that is covered with wax paper and place in the freezer. They will be ready by the time you need to dip them.

Pour coconut, sprinkles, and nuts on squares of wax paper. You could use a bowl but wax paper saves in clean up.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave for a couple of minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until melted.

Place frozen marshmallows on skewer or tooth pick and dip in chocolate and then in roll in your choice of ingredients (below).

Use a fork to slide them back on the wax paper. Chill.

Tasty topping ingredients that work well for Marshmallow Bonbons:

Coconut, toasted
Sprinkles
Nuts, crushed
Graham cracker crumbs (like s’mores)
Peppermint sticks, crushed
Candy, crushed
Candy bars, chopped
Dried fruit, chopped
Sweetened cereal, crushed

Once chilled, you can package in clear cellophane bags.

photo by: anniehp

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This is a fun candy to make anytime. Try having a taffy pull at your next older kids party, adult party, fall or Christmas party.

Delicious Homemade Vinegar Taffy

2 cups dark corn syrup
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. butter
food coloring
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine first five ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Continue cooking to 260°. Remove from heat and stir in soda, vanilla and a few drops of food coloring. Beat until smooth and creamy. Pour into a buttered pan. When cool enough to handle butter hands and pull until light in color. Pull into long strips and cut into 1 inch pieces. Makes 8 dozen.

From Dining on a Dime

Photo By: little blue hen

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This is the most asked for candy at Christmas in the Cooper and Kellam households. We always have to make at least 3 batches!!

Don’t let the paraffin scare you and keep you from making these. You can use chocolate candy wafers (sold especially for this) if you want in place of the paraffin and chocolate chips. Also in the book the recipe calls for 1/4 cup of paraffin which is what the recipe years ago called for but I use much less as you can see. The paraffin helps to keep the chocolate chips from sliding off.

Homemade Party Mints

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg white (meringue powder may be substituted)
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
4 small lids peppermint flavoring (try 1/2-1 tsp. then add more to taste if you need to)
1 Tbps. paraffin, shaved*
1 pkg. (12 oz.) chocolate chips

Mix powdered sugar, egg white or meringue, butter and peppermint flavoring. Make into small balls about the size of a quarter and then flatten on a cookie sheet. Put in the freezer. Melt chocolate and paraffin over a double boiler. When melted take mints out of freezer. Put a toothpick though the center of the mint and dip into chocolate. If mints on the cookie sheet begin to soften and thaw, refreeze because they are easier to dip. Put back on cookie sheet and let chocolate harden in the freezer. Wrap each mint in a piece of 5×5 inch foil. Makes twenty 2-inch mints.

*Paraffin may be left out and chocolate coating or almond bark may be used instead. 

For more easy holiday recipes like this, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbook!

Photo By: little blue hen

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Christmas On A Budget!

With consumers’ fears of a financial squeeze, many people think that a nice Christmas is out of the picture this year. But I say "Not so!" Here are a few ideas to help make Christmas memorable without breaking the bank!

• Go Potluck! You buy the turkey – Have everyone else bring the side dishes and drinks. Turkeys in our area are .59/lb this time of year. If you buy just the turkey, it will only cost you about $10-$15 to feed everyone for a large family gathering.
• Celebrate Christmas the week after Christmas. Take advantage of the after Christmas sales and plan your large extended family gathering for the week after Christmas. Besides being less expensive, it is unlikely to interfere with anyone else’s Christmas plans.
• Don’t give gifts or give inexpensive gifts to hairstylists, babysitters, teachers and others. I found several wonderful small scented jar candles on clearance for .25 each. I will put three of them in a small basket (purchased at the thrift store for .25) with some tissue paper, ribbon and nice note. A great gift for $1.25!

• Break up gift sets. If you find an item that comes in a gift set at Christmas, give parts of it to different recipients. This is great for bath or perfume sets.
• Yard sales and thrift stores equal great savings. You can find a lot of new or nearly new items for pennies on the dollar. For our son, we found a working telescope in the box. It cost $1.00, so we saved $24! He got what he wanted and we didn’t have to take out a home equity loan!
• Make memories, not more junk. Most kids get more than plenty for Christmas from grandparents, aunts and uncles. If you can only afford one gift for your child, make it a memory! Wrap a note in a box with instructions for a treasure hunt.. Send your child all over the house with clues and then have the real gift sitting under the tree when they return. Simple, but a great memory for them!

Here are some more great recipes for Christmas!

Mint Chocolate Cookies

2/3 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
2 cups flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Filling:

2-3/4 cups powder sugar
1/4 cup half and half cream
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 tsp. salt
Green food coloring

Cream butter, sugar then add milk and eggs. Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and chill for 2 hours until firm. Roll dough on floured surface about 1/8 inch thick Cut with 1-1/2 inch cookie cutter and place 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375° for 5-6 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Cool on racks. Combine filling and spread on half of the cookies, then top with the other halves. Makes about 7 dozen.

(This recipe may not sound appealing with vinegar in the title but it really is yummy. For something different this year, try having an old fashioned taffy pull! It’s a great party for teens or adults. Use different taffy recipes and play fun, silly games or watch a Christmas movie while eating the candy you made along with popcorn and cookies.)

Vinegar Taffy

2 cups dark corn syrup
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. butter
food coloring
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine first four ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Continue cooking to 260°. Remove from heat and stir in soda, vanilla and a few drops of food coloring. Beat until smooth and creamy. Pour into a buttered pan. When cool enough to handle butter hands and pull until light in color. Pull into long strips and cut into 1 inch pieces. Makes 8 dozen.

Herbed vinegars make great gifts especially if you want to give something different than the sweets most people get at this time of year. They’re also good for those who have to watch their sugar. Don’t forget the cooks in your life too!

If you’re trying to make it in time for Christmas, you’ll want to make it soon as it needs to age before it is used.

Herbed Vinegar

2 cup white vinegar
1 cup fresh herbs: basil, mint, dill, rosemary, chives or oregano (choose one)

Decide which herb you’d like to flavor your vinegar. Place the vinegar in a glass jar or bottle. Add herbs, seal and let steep for 2-4 weeks. The longer you let it steep, the stronger the vinegar. Remove herbs and put in 2 or 3 sprigs of the herb for decoration. Seal bottle with cork and then pour melted paraffin around the top and tie with a ribbon for gift giving. Makes 2 cups.

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Homemade Fudge Making Tips

• Line your pan with greased foil, plastic wrap or, better yet, parchment paper, making sure the foil comes up over the edge of the pan. Then, you can just lift it out of the pan for easier cutting.
• I have used almost every method known to man to find an easy way to cut fudge. After 40 plus years of fudge making (I started when I was in the womb, because I’m not that old, I’m sure I had almost given up until last year when I made a discovery that changed my life. I used a square metal scraper, sometimes called a dough cutter, with a rocking motion to cut my fudge. It works so well that I can hardly wait to make my fudge this year so I can cut it.
• You don’t always have to put fudge in pans. When slightly cooled, pour onto plastic wrap that has been sprayed with Pam and roll into logs. Chill and then slice.
• To add an elegant twist to homemade candy and cookies that you give as gifts, place them in cellophane bags and tie with a pretty ribbon. The fact that no wrapping is needed is an added bonus. You can place several bags of different things into a decorated box or basket for a larger gift.

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Readers’ Homemade Fudge Tips!

I think the best way to cool fudge is to pour it into a waxed paper half gallon milk carton. Once it has cooled you can peel off the carton and cut the fudge into perfect little squares. Brooke K.

I was wondering if you have thought of using a silicone baking pan to put the fudge in. If you spray it with Pam first then let the fudge set-up in it, you can simply flip it out onto a cutting board. I use a silicone Bundt pan to make meatloaf in the microwave. I also use a silicone Bundt pan for cakes and Jello molds. You can even make an ice mold, provided that you use distilled water. Everyone from Bed Bath and Beyond to Wal-mart now carries the silicone bakeware. They even make silicone "heart shaped" baking pans for Valentine’s Day! I hope my suggestion was helpful. I love "Living on a Dime."
Have a great day!!!

I saw your tip on fudge! We make the same recipe but now substitute Hershey’s kisses. This year I was able to get the kisses with almonds for $1 a bag which is a steal for our neck of the woods (Alaska!)

I saved the foil squares from the kisses as they are in beautiful falls colors. They will be glued to small boxes with lids (baby shoe boxes given away free at the shoe store) in which to place smaller presents. By the way, the fudge was the best we’ve made so far. We will be making it again for Valentine’s Day.

We roll it into walnut sized balls, roll in crushed nuts (bought when the bulk unshelled nuts go on sale and stored in the freezer/or on the back porch in our case), and give them out as chocolate truffles. We will make the same boxes but will cover them in red foil squares if I find Kisses on sale after Christmas. We make dividers out of cardboard, place the truffles in a small paper candy cup, and place them in the box. They make great presents as you not only have the chocolate but a pretty box as well. Oh, we do line the box with parchment or wax paper. I sometimes even cheat and reuse the little paper cups that come in a box of chocolate if we are given any over the holidays. My mother would die if she knew!!  Peggy

I believe I read that fudge cuts much easier with a plastic knife. Sandy

I just read your fudge recipe (which sounds wonderful, by the way) and thought I would mention that this year I made some fudge with Hershey’s kisses in the chocolate cherry cordial flavor. It tasted like chocolate covered cherries– It was to die for! Jane

For more homemade fudge and Christmas candy recipes, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbook.

photo by:vegan-baking

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Mom was making fudge this weekend so I just had to share our favorite fudge recipe. This is so easy and soooo yummy! Mom can never make enough! To save on the cost of the Hershey’s we usually buy them on clearance after Halloween.

Enjoy!! Tawra

Grandma’s Million Dollar Fudge

4 1/2 cups sugar
1 (12oz) can evaporated milk
1 Tbsp. butter

Mix ingredients, then boil 5 minutes.

Add:

2 1/2 (6 oz) large Hershey’s candy bars, crushed
1 (12 oz) bag semi sweet chips
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow cream
1 tsp. vanilla
nuts

Beat until well blended. Pour into 2 greased 9×13 pans for thicker pieces and for thinner pieces add another 8×8 pan.

Jill’s Helpful Fudge Tips:

• Before you start, be sure to have your pans all ready, your candy bars crushed, nuts chopped and every package opened and ready to dump in as soon as it is done boiling.
• I use milk chocolate candy bars, but my son-in-law and grandson love dark chocolate so I sometimes use dark chocolate and milk chocolate together. You can even substitute milk chocolate for the semi sweet chips. You can easily tailor it to your own personal preferences.
• Last year after Halloween, my daughter found a good deal on Hershey’s Kisses for 50 cents a bag, so I used those in place of my candy bars. That is why I say stock up after Halloween! The main thing is to have about 24 oz. of some kind of chocolate in the recipe.
• To make my life easier, I line the pan with plastic wrap, parchment paper or something like that and butter it well. Then I lift it out out the pan after it has cooled and use my metal pastry cutter (that has been buttered) to slice it. It works so well! I don’t cut it. I just press straight down with the cutter. There’s no gummy mess like I used to get when I would drag my knife through it.
• Sometimes I allow it to thicken, pour it onto plastic wrap and wrap and roll into logs, then slice.

      -Jill

For more homemade fudge and Christmas candy recipes, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbook.

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Here are two very easy candy recipes that taste like the real thing. If you are having a hard time finding a gift for that teenage boy or a certain man in your life, make one of these peanut butter cups in a pie pan and give him a giant one as his gift. Watch his eyes bulge and his mouth drool!

Peanut Butter Cups

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. (12 oz.) chocolate chips, any flavor
1/4 cup paraffin, shaved*

Cream butter. Add peanut butter, sugar and vanilla. In a microwave safe dish, place chocolate chips and paraffin. Microwave until melted, stirring frequently. Pour a small amount of melted chocolate in bottom of paper holders. Put in filling and pour more chocolate on top until filling is covered. Let chocolate harden before serving. Makes 2 dozen.

*When this recipe was originally written, you couldn’t buy dipping chocolate or the wafers so, if you prefer, you can use something like that in place of the chocolate chips and paraffin.

Peanut Butter Balls

Shape peanut butter into small 1 1/2 inch balls. Dip peanut butter balls into chocolate and place on wax paper to harden

Toffee

1 cup nuts, chopped
(pecans or walnuts are best)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Butter an 8×8 inch pan. Spread nuts in the bottom of the pan. On medium heat, bring sugar and butter to a boil 7 minutes. Spread into pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Let sit a few minutes. When melted, spread evenly. Let cool before cracking into pieces. Makes 24 pieces.

Photo By: nimetimesthree

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These sugared peanuts are not just good eaten by the handfuls, but also sprinkled on ice cream or desserts. You can also put them in pretty bags and give as gifts.

Sugared Peanuts

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups raw shelled nuts (I have used regular peanuts in the can and they work fine too)

Dissolve sugar in water in a saucepan over medium heat. Add nuts and continue to cook, stirring frequently. Cook until nuts are coated and bottom of the pan is dry (not too dry) Spread over ungreased cookie sheet Bake at 300° about 30 minutes stirring every 5-10 minutes.  From Dining On A Dime

photo by: fotoosvanrobin

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This potato fudge recipe is a great way to use leftover mashed potatoes!

Homemade Potato Fudge

3 Tbsp. shortening
3 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp. cocoa
1/3 cup mashed potatoes
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. (16 oz.) powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

In a microwave safe bowl, melt shortening and butter in the microwave. Stir in cocoa until smooth. Add potatoes, salt and vanilla. Mix well. Blend in powdered sugar, mix and add nuts. Dough will be very lumpy. Knead until smooth. Press into a buttered 8×8 inch pan. Cool in the refrigerator before cutting. Makes 64 pieces (yeah right!).

photo by: worth the whisk

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Fun Halloween Recipes

Pumpkin Marshmallows

Large marshmallows
Lollipop sticks*
Orange melting chocolates wafers

Put a stick in each marshmallow and place on a cookies sheet that is covered with wax paper; freeze. While they are freezing, melt chocolate according to directions on package. Dip in chocolate and place back on cookie sheet setting on bottom or with stick in the air.You can decorate them any way you like.

• You can find lollipop sticks in the cake decorating/craft section at Wal-Mart and stores like that.
• These marshmallow treats can be made for other holidays using different colored chocolate; red for Christmas or Valentine’s Day, green for St. Patrick’s Day, pastels for Easter or red, white and blue for the Fourth of July.
• White chocolate can be colored by adding gel or powdered food coloring, but not liquid.
• Buy your baking chocolate wafers after the holiday for next year. Baking chocolate keeps for ages.

Halloween Spiders

1 (12 oz) package chocolate chips
1 medium can chow mein noodles
1 package M & M’s

Melt chocolate chips. Stir in chow mein noodles. Drop by spoonfuls on to waxed paper and decorate M & M’s for eyes. You could save back some of the noodles for legs.

photo by: katerha

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