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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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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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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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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Pumpkin Raisin Muffins & Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Pumpkin Raisin Muffins





Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (or pumpkin puree)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.

2. Mix sugar, oil, eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices.

3. Add wet mixture and stir in raisins. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins





Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (or pumpkin puree)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.

2. Mix sugar, oil, eggs. Add pumpkin and water. In separate bowl mix together the baking flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices.

3. Add wet mixture and stir in chocolate chips. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.




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Edible Peanut Butter Marshmallow Playdough

Kids have a lot of fun making this! It's very messy but ultimately worth the mess! Despite being messy, this is so easy for children to make.



Ingredients

Marshmallows
Peanut butter

Directions

1. Top several marshmallows each with a spoonful of peanut butter. Start kneading the two together until it forms a smooth ball that can be manipulated like playdough.

2. Play with the playdough balls and form shapes, use cookie cutters in it and generally just play with it the way you would normal playdough.

3. Eat the playdough. Yum!





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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

Quick & Easy Strawberry Cookies

This is an unusual way to make cookies, but these cookies have a very cake-like texture and a terrific strawberry taste.



Makes 12 cookies.

Ingredients
1 cup Strawberry Nesquick
2 cups plain white flour
1 egg
2 tablespoons light margarine or butter
low calorie oil cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 200F/100C.

2. Mix all of the ingredients together until smooth.

3. Place spoonfuls onto baking tray sprayed with low-calorie cooking spray, leaving adequate space between each one as they will spread when cooking.

4. Bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Alternatively, your kids can sprinkle some Hundreds & Thousands over the cookies before baking, making the cookies into Strawberry Confetti Cookies.

Peanut Butter Honey Oatmeal Balls

This recipe is simple, does not require any cooking, and provides a bit of protein and fiber.



Ingredients
1 tbsp. reduced fat peanut butter
1 tbsp. pure honey
1/2 cup oats

1. Mix the peanut butter and honey together until smooth.

2. Add in the oats and mix completely.

3. Using your hands, separate the mixture into five sections and roll into balls.

4. Refrigerate for one hour and then serve.

Easy Ice Cream Sandwiches

These ice cream sandwiches are easy to make and are a little healthier than store bought ice cream sandwiches.



Ingredients
1 packet Sugar-free Dream Topping/Dream Whip
300ml Semi-skimmed or 1% fat milk
30 digestive biscuits (or, in the U.S.A., you can use graham crackers)
Cling film (or, in the U.S.A., you can use Saran Wrap)

1. Using a mixer, mix the Dream Topping and milk according to the instructions on the packet.

2. Spread the whipped mixture onto 15 biscuits.



3. Place another digestive on top of the ones with the whipped topping, being careful not to press the digestives down.

4. Carefully wrap some cling film around each digestive, being gentle and taking care not to press the two digestives together.

5. Freeze for one hour.



Optional:
For variation, mix hot chocolate powder into the whipped topping. There are several flavors of whipped topping to choose from, including mint chocolate, regular chocolate, and toffee.

Candy Corn Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is very simple, but, for very young children, will require an adult to use the oven. This also makes a colorful cookie for Halloween.



Ingredients
cookie dough mix
package of candy corn
low calorie cooking oil spray

Prepare the cookie dough mix as instructed on the packaging. (Some only need water added which is ideal when cooking by kids, but other mixes may require eggs and/or butter. Alternatively, buy pre-made cookie dough, although your child will miss out on the "mixing" part of the preparations this way.)

Place spoonfuls of cookie dough onto a baking tray sprayed with low-cal cooking oil spray. Add one candy corn on the top of each cookie right in the middle.

Bake as instructed on cookie dough packaging. The candy corn will become slightly melted but stil retain most of its shape once the cookie is finished baking.

Reduced Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies

Kids will find this recipe simple to make, and it only uses a small amount of ingredients. Very small children will need a parent to help with the oven.



Ingredients
2 oz peanut butter
2 oz light margarine
3 1/2 oz Splenda
1 beaten egg
4 oz self-raising flower

Cream peanut butter, light margarine and Splenda together. Beat in the egg. Stir in the flour and knead well. Place small balls well apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes at 200C/395F.