Candy Cane Fudge

This fudge is a delightfully festive looking treat for the holidays! It is easy to make, can be made by children and makes a great homemade gift for the neighbors and your kids' teachers. It is a twist on my original Quick Fudge recipe.

 Ingredients

2 cups white chocolate chips or 450g white chocolate
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
10 to 12 candy canes

Directions

Crush candy canes into very small broken pieces. (A mortar and pestle work great for this, or just put them in a seal-able storage and roll a rolling pin over it several times.)

In large glass measuring cup, combine white chocolate  and sweetened condensed milk.

Microwave on high 3 minutes.

Stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth.

Stir in vanilla extract.

Stir in 2/3 of the crushed candy canes.

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

Sprinkle remaining crushed candy canes over the top.

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


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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

This is simple to make, does not require the use of an oven (only a microwave) and kids will love it!


Ingredients:


1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1/4 cup sugar
mini cupcake papers



Directions:

1. Mix the peanut butter, butter and sugar in a bowl and set aside.

2. Melt the chocolate in a mug by placing it in the microwave for 2 minutes, stopping the microwave to stir the chocolate half-way through.

3. When the chocolate is soft and fully melted, place a teaspoon into each mini cupcake paper and spread across the bottom.

4. Place a small amount of the peanut butter mixture in the center fo the chocolate in each mini cupcake holder.

5. Cover the peanut bitter with more of the melted chocolate.

6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.

7. Enjoy!





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Easy Banana Bread

This recipe only takes 5 minutes to prepare before baking. Adults will need to put the mixture into the oven and remove it from the oven, but children can do all of the measuring and mixing themselves.

Ingredients

4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour


Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

2. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.

3. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.

4. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.

5. Add the flour last and mix.

6. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan.

7. Bake for 1 hour.

8. Cool on a rack.

9. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Enjoy!


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Rock Cakes

My husband grew up having these as a special treat. So today, he brought the kids into the kitchen and taught them how to make these fruity rock cakes.



Serves 12.

Ingredients

225g plain flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
110g butter or margarine
110g mixed dried fruit
55g raisins
55g caster sugar
1 medium egg
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
demerera sugar for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200C (180C for fan-assisted ovens) or 400F.

2. line or grease baking tray.

3. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl.

4. Add the fruit, raisins, sugar and egg and mix well.

5. Mix in two tablespoons of milk.

6. Spoon 12 large spoonfuls on the tray or trays, spearating by about 1 1/2 inches form each other.

7. Sprinkle the tops with demerera sugar.

8. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool for 5 minutes after removing from the oven.

Serve and enjoy!

Make sure the parent or adult operates the oven and places in and removes the cakes from the oven for safety.





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Reduced Sugar Belgian Chocolate Truffles

These are delicious and decadent tasting smooth and creamy chocolate truffles.

The version noted here for is Belgian chocolate, but these could just as easily be made in any flavor, from simple mint chocolate to toffee chocolate or orange chocolate, depending on which flavor of Options or Skinny Cow sachet is used.

These are very easy to make and don't require any actual cooking other than a minute's use of the microwave, so kids can easily make these!

(The next time I make these, I will add a photo to this post.)

Makes 20

Ingredients

50g Dark Chocolate
113g Quark
6 tbsp sweetener
2 sachets of Belgian Chocolate flavor Options
1 tsp Cocoa to dust (1/2 syn per tsp)

Directions

1. Melt chocolate in microwave for 1 minute

2. Beat Quark with sweetener until creamy. Add melted chocolate and mix well.

3. Add the Options sachets and mix well.

4. Make into 20 blobs using a teaspoon and put on greaseproof paper or wax paper.

5. Put into the fridge to harden for about two hours.

6. Remove from the fridge and shape into balls.

7. Roll in cocoa powder and set in the fridge overnight.

8. Serve and enjoy!


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Quick Saint Patrick's Day Cookies

I had not planned anything special for St. Patrick's Day this year even though I usually do. So when today arrived, I knew I needed to do something quick.

My kids loved making and eating these green cookies. They were fascinated with the fact that the cookies and frosting were actually green.



Makes 12 cookies.

Ingredients

1/2 cup soft margarine or butter
1 cup sugar
1 medium egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp green food coloring
2 cups powdered sugar (icing sugar)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Fry Light or other oil spray
decorative sprinkles (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

2. Mix the butter, sugar, egg, 1/2 the green food coloring and 1/2 of the vanilla extract together in a bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and baking powder together.

4. Mix the two bowls together by pouring the flour mixture into the other bowl and combining with a spoon until thoroughly mixed.

5. Spray a baking tray with Fry Light or other oil spray.

6. Put spoonfuls of mixture onto try, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between each.

7. Bake in the oven for 8 to 12 minutes.

8. While the cookies are baking, mix the milk, powdered sugar, the rest of the vanilla extract and the rest of the green food coloring in a bowl together. (If the mixture is too thin, add more powdered sugar until you get the desired consistency.)

9. Remove cookies from oven and leave to cool for 15 minutes.

10. Once the cookies have cooled, pour the frosting mixture over the cookies. Add sprinkles if desired and then leave to sit for another 15 minutes.

Enjoy!













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Chocolate Spoons

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.



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Quick Fudge

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.



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Graham Cracker Houses

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.


















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Chocolate Cornflake Krackles

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!





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Chocolate Peanut Butter Snowballs

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!






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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!




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Ghost Meringues

Ingredients

3 large eggs, whites only
75g icing sugar/powdered sugar
100g caster sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 130C/110C Fan/Gas 1.

2. Mix together caster sugar and icing sigar.

3. Put 3 large eggs whites in a clean bowl and whisk until they form stiff glossy peaks.

4. Add the sugar mixture, one spoonful at a time, whisking until stiff again between each addition.

5. Spoon the mixture into a freezer bag and snip the corner and make a hole. Line the baking tray with wax paper/baking paper and pipe out the meringue to make blobs with the peaks at the top. (I did not have a freezer bag, so I eliminated that step and just spooned my meringues carefully.)

6. Make the eyes with silver balls and bake in the oven for 2 hours.















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Kids' Cooking Fun!

My husband decided to get the kids doing some cooking today. We had bought some cooking supplies, aprons and chef's hats for the kids, so he thought they'd have fun doing some cooking with the new stuff.

First, they had to get all of the supplies out. Connor was thrilled with the new dinosaur-shaped cookie cutters.



And Isabella was quick to put on her new cooking apron and chef's hat.




Connor put his new cooking apron and chef's hat on too.




They started out by making cupcakes (known as fairy cakes in the UK). Gabriella put the cupcake papers into the cupcake pan.




Then she realized that she wasn't wearing her chef's hat, so she rectified the situation.




The cupcakes were just made with a simple sponge cake mix, bought for 69 pence from the local store. The kids just had to add water and an egg to it, mix it and then have their daddy put it in the oven.

The cupcakes were baking when my husband realized that we were out of powdered sugar (called icing sugar in the UK). I left to go and get some powdered sugar. By the time I got back, they had already eaten the fresh-from-the-oven cupcakes! I have six kids (still at home) and twelve cupcakes were made, so they each had two. This means I didn't get any pictures of the cupcakes to share here.

They also used some of the new teddy bear and butterfly jello molds to make jello shapes. They were not ready when the younger kids went to bed though, so they will have them tomorrow, and we'll see how well they shaped.

Gabby used our new butterfly-shaped chocolate molds to make flavored ice cubes. The chocolate mold was little bit too flexible, so it was difficult placing it in the freezer without spilling some of the liquid. We'll have a look at the ice cubes tomorrow and see how they came out. (I think Gabby would have preferred to make chocolate in the tray!)

Then they made sugar cookies with the dinosaur-shaped cookie cutters. Fortunately, I was home when these came out of the oven, so I was able to photograph them both while they were cooling on a rack and again once they were put onto a plate.




The three of them really enjoyed cooking and making such a variety of different things. I must admit that they consumed more sugary food than I usually allow, and this resulted in them acting more hyper for a while and then much crankier and whinier once they came off from the sugar high. But I have a feeling that they will look back at today as a fond memory someday.

Basic Sugar Cookies

Makes 60 cookies (depending on the size of the cookie cutters).

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
1.In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

2.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

3.Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.




Nutritional Information Per Serving
Calories: 109
Total Fat: 5g
Cholesterol: 26mg

Cookies & Cream Dessert

This is so easy for your kids to make, and it's relatively healthy too!



Serves 1.

Ingredients

1 Oreo Cookie
100g Fat-free Greek Yogurt
Sweetener (to taste)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Method

1. Mix the sweetener, yogurt and vanilla extract together in a bowl.

2. In another bowl, place the Oreo cookie and, using the back of a spoon, crush it until it is a combination of small chunks and powder.

3. Mix the crushed Oreo in with the yogurt mixture.

4. Spoon into a small bowl for serving.