Today I stayed home sick and made Christmas treats all day. It really put me in the spirit of the season! One of my favorite things to make is the easy truffles, where you take the pretzels and melt kisses onto them, then top with M&M's. I did a variation on that, where I used caramel chips instead of M&M's. When I was done, I ended up with lots of broken pretzels and many leftover kisses. So, being the thrifty person I am, I used my excess materials and came up with something yummy! This recipe is so easy and so forgiving. Feel free to add or take away anything you want.
Holiday Chocolate Crunch Candies
1.5 to 2 cups Hershey's kisses, unwrapped
3/4 cup crushed pecans
1 cup crushed pretzels
1/2 cup caramel chips
1 Tbsp water
Melt the kisses in a microwave safe bowl for one minute, then stir until smooth and creamy. Stir in the pretzels and pecans. Scoop onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, wax paper, a silpat, or aluminum foil. Do not spread thinner than about one inch.
In another microwable bowl, melt the caramel chips and water for 45-60 seconds. Stir until smooth. Spoon over chocolate mixture. Set the whole thing in the refrigerator or another cool area for about one hour or until hardened.
Use a pointed knife and a mallet to chisel and chip the block of chocolate down into small pieces, like you would English toffee, and enjoy!
Tips:
- It might work better to spoon bits of the chocolate mixture into small candy cups while it is still soft and melty, then spoon a little caramel over each before refrigerating.
- Walnuts would probably work well if you don't like pecans so much, or actually any nut you prefer would go well when I think about it.
- Any caramel would work fine, and if you can get it to harden up you might like it that way (I prefer mine to be soft and gooey).
