Now that we are into the holiday season I do make a few more treats than normal (though I do feel the need to admit that I generally do not eat many of them).
People tend to think that making candy is complicated…it doesn’t have to be. Last year the kids and I make homemade peanut butter cups. These peanut butter cups were made with only three ingredients:
- Freshly ground peanut butter
- Chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life chips)
- Coconut oil
Melt the bag of chocolate chips over a double boiler along with 1-2 tsp. of oil.
Once melted, pour a small layer into mini cupcake liners and place it in the fridge for approximately 10 minutes. Place the melted chocolate over the double boiler to ensure that it remains melted.
Top the hardened chocolate with some peanut butter and try to keep it in the center allowing a rim of chocolate to remain around it (this will allow the next layer of chocolate to completely cover the peanut butter).
Cover the peanut butter with another layer of chocolate and place in the refrigerator to harden.
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This year I used the same method to make chocolate covered pretzels (gluten-free) and peanuts. My daughter and I broke small pretzel sticks in half and mixed them with the melted chocolate. We then placed spoonfuls of the chocolate covered pretzels on waxed paper to cool and harden…little chocolate bird’s nests. We had some left over at the end with a little too much chocolate, so we mixed in some peanuts and made spoonfuls of that. They have been a total hit with my family!