Thursday 23 December 2010

Chocolate Spoons

Chocolate Spoons1


These are incredibly easy to make and can be used as they are for a sweet chocolate lollipop or to stir into hot chocolate or for stirring coffee to add a bit of chocolate to it.

Ingredients

2 cups milk chocolate chips
plastic spoons
decorations (sprinkles)

Directions

Put the chocolate chips in a microwave safe mug and microwave for one minute.

Mix the melted chocolate chips until smooth and creamy.

Dip plastic spoons into the mug until the mouth of them is covered in chocolate. Tap on the side of to get any excess chocolate off each spoon.
Lay the spoons face down on wax paper/grease-proof paper and let cool until the chocolate hardens.

Sprinkle the cake decorations over both sides of the spoons.

There is also the option of making the spoons without any colorful cake decorations. The decorations just make the spoons more festive in appearance.

Chocolate Spoon


Quick Fudge

Quick Fudge1


This fudge is quick and easy to make, taking just a few minutes in the microwave and using only a few ingredients.

Ingredients

2 cups milk chocolate chips
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

In large glass measuring cup, combine Nestle’s Toll House semi-sweet chocolate morsels and sweetened condensed milk.

Microwave on high 3 minutes.

Stir until morsels melt and mixture is smooth.

Stir in vanilla extract.

Spread evenly into foil-lined 8-inch square pan.

Chill until firm, about 2 hours. Makes about 1 1/4 pounds fudge.

The kids lined some decorative gift boxes and poured the fudge into them to make quick and tasty Christmas gifts to give out.

Quick Fudge


Wednesday 22 December 2010

Graham Cracker Houses

Graham Cracker House3


Rather than making gingerbread houses which can be time consuming and difficult for children, try making these graham cracker houses instead. Graham crackers, if you live in the United Kingdom, can be found on-line at American Soda. You can also find the white frosting there as well.

Ingredients

graham crackers
white frosting
assorted sweets and candies (such as gum drops, midget jems, foam fruits, dolly mixture)
food coloring (red, green, blue, yellow)

Directions

1. Separate some of the white frosting into different bowls and add the food coloring, mixing them in until you have some white frosting, some yellow frosting, some green frosting, some red frosting and some blue frosting.

2. Break the graham crackers into squares.

3. Spread the white frosting along the edges of four graham cracker squares and stick them together, forming a standing square.

4. Stick one graham cracker square across the top using white frosting.

5. Using the different colored frostings, "paint" the house in your chosen colors.

6. Use the still-sticky frosting to stick different assorted sweets and candies around the house's walls.

Note: I ran out of graham crackers to use for the roofs, so the children used digestives (which are a round cookie that is similar to a graham cracker which can be found easily in the UK) to make the roofs to their houses.

Here are some of the results that the children came up with while making these.

Graham Cracker House


Graham Cracker House1


Graham Cracker House2


Graham Cracker House4


Graham Cracker House54









Chocolate Cornflake Krackles

Chocolate Cornflake Crackels


This recipe is very simple for kids to make and you only need to use the microwave for the melting process.

Ingredients

2 cups cornflakes cereal
1 large bar of baking chocolate
Silver Balls (optional)

Directions

Melt the chocolate in the microwave. (This only takes about a minute or two.)

Stir the chocolate until it is all melted together and smooth.

Add the cornflake and stir until the cornflakes are completely coated with the melted chocolate.

Spoon the mixture into cupcake or muffin cases.

Set out to cool until the chocolate hardens.

Enjoy!


Chocolate Cornflake Crackles1



Tuesday 21 December 2010

Chocolate Peanut Butter Snowballs

Cocoa Peanut Butter Snowballs1


This is a really easy recipe for kids to make that doesn't require any baking or boiling.

Ingredients

1 heaping tbsp. smooth peanut butter (crunchy peanut butter can be used if a more crunchy texture is preferred)
1 heaping tbsp. golden syrup
1 heaping tsp. soft margarine or butter
2 heaping tbsp. brown sugar
2 heaping tbsp. caster sugar
2 heaping tsp. cocoa powder
powdered sugar/icing sugar

Directions

Mix the butter and the golden syrup together in a bowl, then add the peanut butter and mix it in.

Next add the cocoa powder and mix thoroughly.

Add the brown sugar and the caster sugar to the mixture and mix until thick enough to form balls. (If the mixture is still too sticky to form balls, you can add a tiny bit of plain flour to thicken it up, but usually this will not be necessary.)

Form the mixture into ten separate balls and roll each one in the powdered sugar (icing sugar) until fully coated.

Place the snowballs on a plate and refrigerate for an hour.

Enjoy!

Cocoa Peanut Butter Snowballs





Monday 20 December 2010

Cocoa-Dusted Peanutty Balls

Cocoa Dusted Peanutty Balls


This is a really easy recipe for kids to make that doesn't require any baking or boiling.

Ingredients

1 heaping tbsp. smooth peanut butter (crunchy peanut butter can be used if a more crunchy texture is preferred)
1 heaping tbsp. golden syrup
1 heaping tsp. soft margarine or butter
2 heaping tbsp. brown sugar
2 heaping tbsp. caster sugar
cocoa powder

Directions

Mix the butter and the golden syrup together in a bowl, then add the peanut butter and mix it in.

Add the brown sugar and the caster sugar to the mixture and mix until thick enough to form balls. (If the mixture is still too sticky to form balls, you can add a tiny bit of plain flour to thicken it up, but usually this will not be necessary.)

Form the mixture into ten separate balls and roll each one in the cocoa powder until fully coated.

Place the cocoa-dusted peanutty balls on a plate and refrigerate for an hour.

Enjoy!

Cocoa Dusted Peanutty Balls1