Candy Turkeys

Easy PayDay Candy Bars

Ingredients
3 cups salted peanuts (no skins), divided (16 ounce container)
2-1/2 tablespoons butter
2 cups peanut butter chips
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
2 cups miniature marshmallows
Directions
Place 1-1/2 cups peanuts in the bottom of an ungreased 7 x 11-inch baking dish lined with parchment paper.
In a large saucepan melt the butter and peanut butter chips.  Stir until smooth.  Remove from heat.  Stir in the condensed milk and marshmallows.  Stir until smooth and combined.
Pour peanut butter mixture over peanuts in pan.  Sprinkle with remaining 1-1/2 cups peanuts over top or peanut butter mixture.
Cover and refrigerate until chilled.  Then cut into sticks.

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Almonds

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. Sugar
1 1/2 C. Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp. Cinnamon
1/8 tsp. Salt1 Egg White
2 tsp. vanilla
3 Cups Almonds
1/4 C. Water

In a medium sized bowl, mix together sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. In another medium sized bowl, whisk the egg white and vanilla until it’s a little frothy. Add almonds. Make sure the almonds are thoroughly coated in the egg white mixture. Add cinnamon mixture to the almonds and toss until coated.

Thoroughly spray with Pam, or whatever, the stoneware of your large crock pot (mine is a 4 quart). Add the mixture of almonds and sugars to the crock pot and turn it to low.

Cook ( with the lid on) 3-4 hours stirring every 20 minutes (I only did 3 hours). In the last hour, add the 1/4 C. of water and stir well. This ensures a crunchy yummy coating. (*make sure after you’ve added the water that you continue to cook the nuts for another 45min to an hour.)

You have to stir really well, especially as it gets later in the cooking process.

Line a baking sheet with parchment and spread the almonds flat to cool (if you can wait that long!). The almonds will be sticky at this point, so make sure you separate them a little and have no large mounds.

Toffee Coated Peanuts

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups unsalted dry roasted peanuts

Directions:

1. In large bowl, combine sugar, butter, corn syrup, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Add peanuts, toss to coat. Transfer to 15x10x1 inch baking pan.
2. Bake at 300 for 20-25 minutes or until bubble and golden brown, stirring once. Be sure to keep an eye on these. Cool on wire rack; break apart if necessary. Store in an airtight container.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients:

• 1 16-oz jar if creamy Natural Jif peanut butter (or use whatever you have)
• 1 2-lb bag (or 2 1-lb bags) of high quality chocolate chips, milk or dark (we’re a MILK chocolate sorta family)
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 4-6 Tablespoons melted butter
• Cooking Spray
• Mini Cupcake Papers

Melt butter in microwave. Empty the peanut butter into a bowl and stir in the powdered sugar. Mix in 4 Tablespoons of melted butter. If it seems a little dry and crumbly, add another 1 to 2 Tablespoons of melted butter. Just enough to make into a thick, smooth filling. Set aside.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or the microwave), stirring often until it becomes smooth and velvety. 
Arrange your cupcake papers onto a baking sheet and lightly mist with cooking spray.

Spoon the melted chocolate into the cupcake papers, coating the bottoms and sides entirely. I had to use one finger to “coax” the chocolate up the sides of the cupcake wrapper. Set the extra chocolate aside.

Once all cupcake papers are coated, place the tray in the refrigerator to cool for about five to ten minutes.

Pipe or spoon the peanut butter mixture into the cooled chocolate cups. I used a Ziploc bag to pipe the mixture into the cups…SO fast and easy that way!

When all the chocolate cups are filled, dip one finger into some water and then press down on each glob of filling to flatten a bit. Then spoon the remaining melted chocolate over the top of the peanut butter and place the tray back in the refrigerator for another 30-minutes to set completely.

Divinity

Ingredients

• 4 cups sugar
• 1 cup white corn syrup
• 3/4 cup cold water
• 3 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
• 2 cups chopped pecans

Directions

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Stir only until sugar has dissolved. Do not stir after this point. Cook syrup mixture until it reaches 250 degrees F on a candy thermometer, bringing it to a hard ball stage.

While the syrup is cooking, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Once the sugar mixture reaches 250 degrees F, carefully pour a slow steady stream of syrup into the stiffly beaten egg whites, beating constantly at high speed. Add the vanilla and continue to beat until mixture holds its shape, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in pecans.

Using 2 spoons, drop the divinity onto waxed paper, using 1 spoon to push the candy off the other. This may take a little practice because the technique is to twirl the pushing spoon, making the candy look like the top of a soft serve ice cream. If the candy becomes too stiff, add a few drops of hot water. You will need to work fast when making this type of candy. After you spoon the cooked sugar and nuts onto the waxed paper, you're done. Cool the candies on racks completely. You can store them in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Tootsie Rolls

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup dry milk powder
• 1/2 cup white corn syrup

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together. Knead like you would for bread. Roll into rope shapes and cut into desired lengths.