Hersey Pretzel Treats

I have been wanting to this fun idea for a while now and finally did on New Year's Eve. I tried a few different ideas with our Christmas candy. These are Rolo's with Peanut Butter M&Ms.

We did a few Reeses Peanut Butter Cups with regular M&Ms. They tasted pretty good just looked funny.
We did Rolo's with pecans and of course we did some regular Hersey Kisses with regular M&Ms. (You can see a few of them in the back ground.)

They are really easy and make a cute addition to any snack table. I was wishing I would have picked up a few more bags of Christmas Hersey Kisses and Rolo's when they were on Clearence. I could have thrown them in my freezer. I think I need to start keeping some chocolate on hand for when I need to take a treat somewhere. These were really fun. You can use regular pretzels too. These are just a little less messy when cooking. But after they have cooled it really doesn't make a difference.

Chocolate Pretzel Treats

Bag of Hersey Kisses or Rolos

Bag of M&Ms

Bag of Pretzels

Place pretzels on cookie sheet (you can cover it in foil or parchment paper first if you are worried about a mess. Place unwrapped Kisses or Rolos on pretzels. Place in a 170-200 degree oven for about 4-6 minutes. Watch closely they burn easily. You will know it is ready when chocolate feels soft when touched with a wooden spoon. Take out and place an M&M onto of each Kiss or Rolo. Press down slightly. Let cool completely and enjoy.

Chew Chex Mix

Ingredients:
2 cubes margarine
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1-1/2 cups light Karo syrup
1 16 oz box rice or corn chex cereal
Dump chex into a large bowl. Set aside. Bring Margarine, sugar, and Karo syrup to a boil. Immediately reduce heat and cook for 3 minutes. Pour over chex and stir until well coated. Nuts may be added for variety. This recipe also works really well on those yellow corn puff things, if you know what I am talking about.

Homemade Carmels

Carmels

2 cups white sugar
2 cups cream
1-3/4 cup Karo Syrup (light)
1 cup (2 cubes) butter
1 tsp vanilla
Cook sugar, butter, Karo syrup, and cream over medium heat, stirring constantly,to firm ball stage or 230º-245º on a candy thermometer. (It should be the color of a paper bag.)Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour into a buttered 9×13 glass or metal cake pan. Let cool completely, then cut into squares and wrap in wax paper.
***Hints. When making Candy ALWAYS use a thick bottomed pan. When you pour the caramel into the cake pan do not scrape the bottom and edges. Scrape them out onto a different dish (let your husband have that part..don’t tell him it is the reject pile) or it will leave little dark crisper pieces in the caramels. *Firm ball stage means…when you drop a spoonful in cold water you can form it into a ‘Firm ball’ that holds its shape. Basically you want it to be the consistency of a caramel. For more pictures of the cooking process go here.

Carmel Crunch Corn Puffs

This works great on regular popcorn too. Just be careful when you make it, it is addicting and you won’t be able to stop eating it.

1 bag puff corn
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. vanillapinch salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

Combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, vanilla and salt in saucepan. Boil 4-5 minutes, stirring continually (I usually only do 4 minutes.) Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Mixture will foam. Pour over puff corn in a large roaster that has been well greased. (I use a cookie sheet and try to be careful not to dump to much over the edge when I turn it). Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool on a cookie sheet or wax paper. (I am usually not patient enough to wait the whole hour. It still turns out great if you only do 30 minutes in the oven and turn twice.)