Holiday Best - Candies

Buckeyes

Submitted by Carolyn Pickens of Jackson

1 pound butter

3 pounds confectioners (powdered) sugar

1 block wax (parrafin)

2 pounds peanut butter

1 large bag chocolate chips (12 ounces)

Mix first three ingredients -- form into 1-inch balls.

Melt chocolate chips in double boiler; add wax; mixing together well.

Using toothpick, dip balls into melted chocolate covering all of ball. Set on waxed paper till chocolate is firm. Makes 250 candies.

To make a smaller batch of Buckeyes, using following ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 box powdered sugar

1/4 bar parrafin

1 cup peanut butter

1 6-ounce bag chocolate chips

* Cathedral Windows

Submitted by Rosalie Burnett of Jackson

6 ounces chocolate chips

2 tablespoon butter

1 egg, well beaten

3 cups colored marshmallows

1/2 cup nuts

1 cup flaked coconut

Melt chocolate and butter in double boiler. Add beaten egg, let cool.

Fold in marshmallows and nuts. Turn out on waxed paper, covered with coconuts. Form into 12-by-2 1/2 inch log. Wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate, slice when ready to serve. (Very pretty.)

Butter Pecan Turtles

Submitted by Rosemary Ross of Chaffee, Mo.

2 cups flour

1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup pecan halves

2/3 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup milk chocolate chips (no substitutes)

Mix flour, 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup butter on medium speed with electric mixer until well blended. Pat into 9-by-13 inch pan, sprinkle with pecan halves.

Cook 2/3 cup butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar, stirring constantly until mixture boils -- continue to boil for about 1 minute. Pour evenly over pecans and crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 22 minutes until caramel bubbles and crust is light brown. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with milk chocolate chips.

Allow chips to melt and swirl slightly with a fork as they melt.

Cool completely and cut into bars.

* Joe's Divinity

Submitted by Joe Anders of Cape Girardeau

2 cups water

4 cups sugar

1 cup Karo syrup (white)

3 egg whites, beaten until stiff

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup pecans, broken into small pieces

Combine sugar, water and syrup. Put on medium heat and bring to a boil. Boil until syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball. Place egg whites in mixer and whip for about 1 minute or until soft peaks form. Pour 1/2 of syrup mixture, in a fine stream, into egg whites. Beat with electric mixer. When remainder of syrup mixture forms a hard ball (about 3 additional minutes), add this slowly to the above. Mix until mixture will barely flow from beaters. Stir in pecan pieces and drop by spoon onto wax paper. When cool, store in tightly covered container. Makes about 80-90 pieces.

* Meja Candy

Submitted by Debbie Feiner of Jackson

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon white corn syrup

1 cup slivered almonds

1 tablespoon hot water

milk chocolate (candy bar or chips)

chopped pecans

Place butter, almonds, sugar, hot water and corn syrup in a heavy skillet over high heat. Stir constantly until mixture is the color of brown sugar. Pour onto a buttered cookie sheet and spread. Top with milk chocolate and spread chocolate over the surface as it melts. Sprinkle with pecans and allow to cool. Break apart. This is a wonderful candy and goes over well at cookie, candy exchange parties.

* Pralines

Submitted by Victoria Scherer of Jackson

1 pound light brown sugar

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

2/3 stick butter

2 tablespoon white Karo syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups whole nuts (halved)

Cook ingredients until it forms a soft ball, about 30 to 35 minutes. Then add nuts and beat by hand until ready to spread or drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.

* Fantastic Butter Toffee

Submitted by Judy Rolwing of Charleston, Mo.

2 cups whole unblanched almonds (about 10 ounces), divided

11 ounces milk chocolate, divided

2 sticks sweet butter

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cold water

Spread almonds in a pan and toast in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, shaking pan occasionally. Cool nuts. Grind milk chocolate fine in food processor -- do not overprocess. Set aside. Chop nuts coarse in food processor. Sprinkle 1 cup nuts over bottom of greased 15-by-10-1 inch jelly roll pan. Sprinkle 1 cup ground chocolate over nuts. Set aside. In heavy saucepan, combine butter, sugar and water; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture reaches 290 degrees (soft-crack stage). Very quickly pour mixture over nuts and chocolate. Sprinkle remaining chocolate over toffee; top with remaining nuts. Chill and break into pieces. Yield: About 2 pounds.

Pralines

Submitted by George Savoy of Cape Girardeau

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

2 teaspoons butter or margarine

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

3 cups pecan halves

Prepare 3 large cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Also have 3 wire racks available for cooling.

Combine white and brown sugars, pinch of salt and evaporated milk in a medium large cooking pot. Before heating, make sure to stir until all ingredients are liquid form. Turn on burner. Stir frequently until temperature reaches soft boil stage. Remove from burner. Add butter or margarine and vanilla. Stir until butter is blended. Add 3 cups pecans and mix well. With large cooking spoon, dip into pot and pick up 2 tablespoons of mixture and drop on to cookie sheet. You will need a second spoon to push ingredients off large spoon. Let sit on cookie sheet and cooling rack for 2 hours. By then praline should be solid and ready for eating.

This recipe makes about 24 to 26 pralines.

Christmas Bars

Submitted by Linda Glastetter of Benton, Mo.

1 package brownie mix

1 package milk chocolate Dove Promises

1 package M&M's, plain milk chocolate

1 package fun size Snickers candy bars

Prepare brownie mix in 8-by-8 inch pan. Bake and let cool. Place the Dove Promises in a mixing bowl and place the mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir the mixture as it melts. When mixture is shiny and smooth, turn off the heat. Pour half of the melted Dove Promises over the top and set aside the remaining.

Sprinkle with 3/4 cup chopped Snickers and 1 cup M&Ms. Let cool completely prior to serving.

Cut and enjoy;

Merry Christmas. (Leave one or two for Santa.)

Potato Candy

Submitted by Cookie Little of Cape Girardeau

2 small potatoes with jackets

1/2 stick of margarine

1/2 cup cream or canned milk

powdered sugar

Boil potatoes; peel and mash very fine. Add margarine and cream together. Add milk and enough powdered sugar to stiffen for handling. Pinch off small amounts and fill center with nut meat or coconut. Variation: Roll out like pie dough. Spread with crunchy peanut butter. Roll as for jelly roll. Chill, then slice.

* Christmas Fudge

Submitted by Hazel Sticht of Jackson

3/4 cup butter

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup evaporated milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

11 1/2 ounces milk chocolate chips

10 ounces peanut butter chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme

1 cup pecan pieces (optional)

1 cup walnut pieces (optional)

Melt butter in a large heavy pot over low heat. Add sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and extracts; stir until blended.

Add all chips and stir until melted. Stir in marshmallow creme until well blended.

Remove from heat. Blend in pecan and walnut pieces.

Pour fudge into a butter 9-by-13 inch pan. Cool and cut into squares.

Yield: 5 pounds.

Brickle Candy

Submitted by Carol Bierschwal of Cape Girardeau

35 Saltine crackers

2 sticks oleo

1 cup sugar

6 ounces (1 cup) chocolate chips

6 ounces (1 cup) peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 400. Line 10-by-15 inch cookie sheet with tin foil. Lay out crackers on cookie sheet, packing tightly. In a saucepan, melt oleo; add sugar and boil, stirring frequently for 2 to 3 minutes until sugar is melted.

Immediately pour over crackers and bake 7 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chips over crackers spreading evenly with spatula. Refrigerate when cool and then cut up into pieces.

Caramel Clusters Candy

Submitted by Joyce Burley of Jackson

14 ounces caramels

1/4 cup water

Melt this down in a pot on low or with a double boiler. Then pour over 6 cups of Rice Chex and 4 cups pecans. Mix and stir until coated. Pour into greased jelly roll pan.

Bake at 300 degrees. After 12 minutes, stir, then bake for 10 minutes longer. Cool. Break into bite-size pieces.

Divinity Candy

Submitted by Clara Broadhacker of Cape Girardeau

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup white Karo corn syrup

2 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups pecans

Cook sugar, water and Karo corn syrup until at a soft boil stage. Beat eggs until stiff and dry. Pour the cooked syrup over the egg whites and beat some more. Use only half the mixture and boil again until it's at the cracked stage. Add pecans and vanilla and beat. Dip out by the spoonfuls onto waxed paper.

Note: It's best to make this candy on a sunny day in cool weather. I make this each year for Christmas.

Toffee

Submitted by Tracey Tripp of Cape Girardeau

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter

3 tablespoons water

1 cup milk chocolate chips

chopped pecans or walnuts

Grease a cookie sheet very well with butter or margarine.

In a medium saucepan over medium/high heat, cook the butter, sugar and water, stirring constantly, until the mixture is light brown and boiling. Remove from heat and immediately pour onto the greased cookie sheet. Use a metal spatula to spread the mixture over the entire cookie sheet; it will be very thin. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the hot candy. Allow to sit for a minute or 2 until soft, then spread over the candy. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Allow to cool completely. Break into pieces.

* Penuche Nuts

Submitted by Patricia S. Allemans of Cape Girardeau

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup cream (half and half), soured

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups pecan halves (1 pound)

In heavy 2-quart saucepan, combine sugars and cream, stirring well. Cover pan; bring mixture to a boil and boil 1 minute or until all sugar crystals on sides of pan have melted. Remove cover; put candy thermometer in place. Cook over low heat to 246 degrees. Remove from heat; add vanilla and then nuts. Stir quickly until mixture coats all the nuts and loses its gloss. Turn nuts onto waxed paper; separate and let cool.

Keeps well in air-tight container.

Note: Cream may be soured by adding 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar and letting stand 10 minutes or so.

Marshmallow Cream Fudge

Submitted by Mary Bowers of Jackson

3 cups sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

1 pint jar marshmallow cream

3/4 stick butter or margarine

1 12-ounce package chocolate chips

1 cup nuts

1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring sugar, cream, butter to a boil. Cook to medium soft ball stage (236 degrees), stirring frequently. Add jar marshmallow cream, chips, nuts and vanilla. Stir until marshmallow cream and chips are melted. Pour into a 9-by-9 inch buttered pan. Let cool and cut. Yield: Approximately 3 pounds.

Peanut Brittle

Submitted by Cordelia Peters of Cape Girardeau

1 cup unroasted peanuts

1/2 cup white syrup

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Cook sugar, water and white syrup until forms soft ball. Add unroasted peanuts; cook until light brown. Remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon baking soda, dash of salt. Stir and pour on buttered cookie sheet. When hard, break into pieces.

* White Christmas Fudge

Submitted Tim Ward of Cape Girardeau

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup dairy sour cream

1/3 cup white corn syrup

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla or rum flavoring

1/4 cup quartered candied cherries

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Combine first five ingredients in saucepan and bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Boil, without stirring, over medium heat to 236 degrees, or until a little mixture dropped in cold water forms a soft ball.

Remove from heat and let stand 15 minutes. Do not stir.

Add flavoring, beat until mixture starts to lose its gloss (about 8 minutes). Stir in candied cherries and walnuts; quickly pour into a shallow greased pan. Cool, cut into squares.

Makes about 1 1/2 pounds of fudge.

Peanut Brittle Candy

Submitted by Betty Butler of Cape Girardeau

3 cups white sugar

1 cup white syrup

1/2 cup water

Cook this to rolling boil. Add 2 1/2 cups raw peanuts then cook, stirring constantly until it reaches 300 degrees. Have thermometer inside pan, then take off stove. Add: 1 tablespoon oleo, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir until melted. Add 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons baking soda. Stir very well; it foams up. Pour into buttered 9-inch foil pie pans. Shake the pans then until it shapes or you can grease cookie sheets with butter and shake all the bubbles out. Cool and take off pan. Makes about 7 to 8 patties. Note: Cook in heavy pot like Presto cooker.

* Triple Treat Candy

Submitted by Sue Kraus of Oran, Mo.

2 11 1/2-ounce packages milk chocolate chips

4 tablespoons vegetable solid shortening

1 14-ounce package caramels

3 tablespoons margarine

2 tablespoons water

1 cup chopped pecans

Melt one package of the chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of the solid shortening together covered in the microwave for 2 1/2 to 4 minutes using 50 percent power. Stir often. Microwave until most of the chips are melted. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Pour melted chips in a foil-lined, greased 8 1/2-by-11 or 2-quart dish. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Melt caramels and the margarine with 2 tablespoons water. Follow melting directions as for the chocolate chips. Stir until smooth and add pecans. Blend caramel mixture and pour over firm chocolate layer. Spread evenly and refrigerate again for 15 minutes.

Next melt the remaining package of chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening as before.

Pour the melted chocolate chips over the caramel layer and refrigerate again until firm (1 hour).

Cut into 1-inch squares.

Note: Best if the candy is kept in refrigerator.

5-Minute Fudge

Submitted by Dorothy Hemman of Brazeau, Mo.

Mix: 2/3 cup undiluted evaporated milk; 1 2/3 cups sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix in saucepan over low heat to boiling point. Cook five minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Add 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows; 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Stir 1-2 minutes until marshmallows melt. Pour into 9-inch square pan. Cool. Cut in squares. Makes 2 pounds.