Peanut Butter Crunch Balls

These little treats are so easy to make and taste like a crunchy peanut butter cup. They have a good combination of a chewy, crunchy, chocolaty, peanut buttery texture. They're a good quick treat to make for parties or just nice little treats to have around the house to snack on. This recipe makes 24 balls but you can change the proportions easily and can also change the type of chocolate for your preference.















Peanut Butter Crunch Balls

4 Tbsp butter
2 Cups mini marshmallows
2 Tbsp peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
2 Cups rice krispie cereal
1 Cup peanut butter chips
300grams (or about 2 Cups) milk chocolate

1) Line and grease a cookie sheet and set aside
2) Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat until melted
3) Once melted add marshmallows and peanut butter and continue melting stirring constantly
4) Once mixture is melted remove from heat and add rice krispies and stir until completely mixed
5) Add chips and stir until completely mixed again, then using a greased Tbsp measure, form balls and let cool on greased cookie sheet
6) Once balls have hardened, melt chocolate in microwave stirring every 10sec.
7) Roll each ball in chocolate and place back on cookie sheet to cool and hardened (you can store the balls in the fridge to speed up the process) then enjoy!

Fudge Day

I've been meaning to go and buy a candy thermometer lately so I cant try a bunch of recipes I've found but just haven't got around to it. So, in the meantime I found a quick and easy simple fudge recipe from my Better Homes and Garden cookbook that I thought I would try. I made two different versions (I posted both versions below) because I couldn't make up my mind which type I would prefer. I made chocolate fudge first, following the recipe in the BHG cookbook, then second I made a cookies and cream fudge based on this recipe, http://www.recipezaar.com/16311, but still semi-followed the BHG recipe. Although the cookies and cream recipe produced more fudge, both fudge recipes turned out good. They were sweet, chewy, and not too soft but I still can't decide which type of fudge I prefer because their both so addicting.

















Chocolate Fudge

1 1/2 Cups sugar
2/3 Cups evaporated milk
1/2 Cup butter
2 Cups mini marshmallows
2 Ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/2 Cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp vanilla

Cookies and Cream Fudge

2 1/2 Cups sugar
3/4 Cups butter
2/3 Cups evaporated milk
2 Cups white chocolate chips
2 Cups mini marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla
1 Cup crushed Oreo's

(Follow these instructions for both fudge recipes)
1) Line an 8in square pan with foil and spray with Pam
2) In a large greased saucepan melt sugar, butter, and milk over medium-high heat until mixture boils, stirring occasionally
3) Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and stir mixture constantly for 5min
4) Remove mixture from heat and stir in chocolate, marshmallows, and vanilla until combined
5) Continue stirring for 1 min (then add Oreo's for cookies and cream fudge)
6) Pour evenly into greased pan, then cover and chill in fridge for 3-4 hours
7) One hardened cut into pieces and enjoy! (can be stored in fridge for up to 1 month)

Chocolate Brittle

My friend likes to call this recipe "Moose Poo", but I thought chocolate brittle sounded a bit more appealing. This recipe is my homemade version of Clodhoppers (http://www.clodhoppers.tv/). I used to make them using Golden Grahams Cereal, but I decided to make them from scratch which I think taste even better!

Chocolate Brittle

1/2 Cup butter
1/2 Cup sugar (either white granulated sugar or light brown sugar both work, but I prefer to use the white sugar for taste preference)
20-30 Graham crackers (amount depends on size of cookie sheet)
Approx. 400g of your favorite chocolate bar (I like to use either Cadbury's milk chocolate bar, Hershey's cookies and cream bar, or Lindt's dark chocolate bar)

1) Preheat oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
2) Melt butter and sugar over medium heat stirring occasionally and bring to a boil
3) Arrange graham crackers to fit evenly on cookie sheet
4) Pour butter mixture over graham crackers and spread to cover all graham crackers evenly
5) Place in oven for 8min then cool completely on a wire rack
6) Once cooled, break sugar coated graham crackers into bite size pieces
7) Melt chocolate in large pot over low heat stirring frequently
8) Once melted, add graham bits to melted chocolate and stir to cover each piece equally
9) Pour chocolate covered grahams back onto lined cookie sheet and spread evenly
10) Place in fridge to cool, once cooled break into pieces again and enjoy!