Sweets for the Sweet

My friend, Michelle, requested some recipes for sweets! She’s been waiting a long time for this and I hope you enjoy them as well.

Some of my favorite candy is Reese’s peanut butter cups and Almond Joy candy bars. Here are a couple of recipes that are very similar and best of all, they are easy to make....even our boys can do it!

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolates

½ stick of butter, softened

2 ½ cups of powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup smooth peanut butter (I like Skippy Natural)

½ tsp salt

1 cup milk chocolate or dark chocolate

Mix together butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt in a mixing bowl. Blend on medium speed for about 2 minutes until it’s very smooth.

Use a spoon to dip out some of the mixture and form it into quarter sized balls. You can also choose to press the mixture into candy molds if you are going for a specific shape. When you are finished shaping them, cover them with foil and let them chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

While the “filling” is chilling (funny huh?), melt the chocolate. After the filling part has chilled, dip them, one at a time, in the chocolate. Allow a little of the chocolate to drip from them so the chocolate is a thin layer, then place them on a cookie sheet that’s lined with wax paper or parchment paper.

Chill them again to set the chocolate. When they are firm, serve.

Chocolate Coconut Candies

4 cups powdered sugar

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tbsp vanilla

1 (12oz) package, flake coconut

1 stick butter, melted

12 oz pkg. chocolate chips (milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate)

½ block of paraffin (optional)

Mix together sugar, milk, vanilla, and coconut. Add butter and mix well. Form into desired shapes or press into candy molds. Chill overnight or for several hours.

Melt chocolate and paraffin in a double boiler. Dip candy and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or wax paper.

The paraffin is option, I personally don’t use it but it does leave the chocolate a little softer.

If you want the candy to taste like Almond Joy (without the almond) then use milk chocolate chips. If you want it to taste like Mounds candy, use semi-sweet chocolate chips.