White Chocolate Covered Popcorn with Crushed Candy Cane

white chocolate covered popcorn and hot cocoa with marshmallows

 

Around the holidays and throughout the winter, I love to make this super simple popcorn recipe that is always a huge hit. My sister first introduced me to white chocolate covered popcorn several years ago. Thank you Karla!

I’ve always been a fan of white chocolate so the combination of creamy, sweet “chocolate” (some argue that white chocolate is really not chocolate at all – I don’t’ care, I just like it) plus the salty popcorn is a delightful bite.

The simple, two ingredient treat became a go-to dessert that I’d bring along to parties, play-dates or pretty much wherever.  Everyone loved it. I would always label it indicating that the white on white bowl of popcorn was, in fact, white chocolate covered popcorn. Without this explanation, I’m pretty sure people thought I was showing up with a plain bowl of popcorn.

If you know me, I’m not much of a baker so that might have been a distinct possibility. Just this week, I contributed two cookie desserts to our annual family cookie contest and you would have thought the baking aisle of a grocery store had exploded in my kitchen. Sugar, melted chocolate, pots and pans were everywhere. While the end result was actually pretty good, the mess was beyond my desire to repeat the baking process any time soon.

As it was, the white chocolate covered popcorn recipe was perfect for me because it was so easy. But after a few years, I began to get bored with the same old thing and started to get creative with add-ons. My most successful addition was crushed candy cane. It took the recipe from awesome to outrageous. The peppermint flavor brightened up the sweet and salty combo and the pops of red added a pretty dimension to the presentation.

When I paired the updated version of my sweet treat with a cup of hot cocoa the reviews were even more favorable. The kids loved it when they’d come in from sledding and would devour an entire bowl while warming up with cocoa. The scene always gave me a warm feeling and still does.

Just last week I served my white chocolate covered popcorn with crushed candy cane to a group of friends and I couldn’t have been happier to see them nibbling away, bite after bite.

So how simple is it?  Here’s the recipe.

White Chocolate Covered Popcorn with Crushed Candy Cane

Ingredients

  • 1 large bag of microwavable popcorn, popped
  • ½ bag of Nestle white chocolate morsels (12 oz. bag), melted
  • 1 cup crushed candy canes (less or more according to your taste)

Directions

I use the microwave but if you are not a fan of nuking your food, you can prepare your popcorn and chocolate on the stove top. If you do melt your white chocolate in the microwave, start at 1 minute, remove and vigorously stir, then return to the microwave for 15 second increments. Stirring vigorously each time until all morsels have melted. The morsels will continue to melt significantly as you stir, so you shouldn’t need to microwave more than 2 or 3 times.

Place popcorn in an oversized bowl, drizzle white chocolate and mix until all popcorn is coated. Add crushed candy cane, mix gently and spread onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Let sit until chocolate hardens or if you have room, pop in the refrigerator and it’ll be ready even sooner.

Once hardened, break apart, serve and enjoy!

 

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Much Joy!

 

If you are still looking for a special gift to give, consider a gift certificate to my latest sponsor, Daring Spirits. Link directly to their site from the image in the sidebar to the right.

Or stop in to Helen Thomas in Andover -open until 9 pm every night until Christmas- link to their Facebook page from the sidebar.

Next Post Wednesday 12-28-2016

 

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Crescent Roll Recipes – I Like Them Apples

Crescent roll recipes - Apple pie crescent with strawberries
A great bite-crescent roll recipes

 

I’m not much of a baker and as much as I love apple pie, I’ve never actually made one. Recently however, I came across an apple pie recipe, or I should say variation, that even I could handle.

Apple Pie Crescents

I’m not sure what prompted me to try these little bundles of yumminess – I must have seen a crescent roll recipes video on Facebook or a television commercial – I can’t remember which. Either way, it looked so darned easy; I decided to give it a go. With a total of five ingredients these tasty bites were calling my name.  The original recipe is from Pillsbury and is one of many clever crescent roll recipes they have available on their website. Who knew you could do so much with crescent rolls? Not me – not surprising!

My version came pretty close to the original, but I don’t think I’ve ever made a recipe without having to make at least one substitution. I’m always missing something or have an alternative that I prefer to use. In this case, I already had red delicious apples so I used those, and I also had pumpkin pie spice in my rack so I used that instead of the called for, apple pie spice. Waste not want not, right?

Ingredients

  • apple (I use whatever I have), peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1, 8 oz. tube crescent rolls
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 tsp pie spice (I used pumpkin)

Next…

  • Heat oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Can I just say that I don’t know what I’d do without parchment paper. I use it for everything from pounding chicken breasts into the perfect cutlet to lining my cookie sheet for absolutely anything I put on them.  It just makes for a no stick, no mess, no fuss cooking scenario that always makes me glad I took the extra step to lay it down.
  • Stir your apple slices with 1 tablespoon of melted butter, set aside.
  • Mix brown sugar and pie spice.
  • Lay out your 8 individual triangles of crescent dough onto your parchment lined cookie sheet.
  • Sprinkle each crescent with the brown sugar mixture. (don’t be overly generous here, otherwise you’ll end up with a oozy mess. A good, heaping tablespoon should do).
  • Place one apple on the widest end of the crescent triangle and gently roll til secure.
  • With the remaining two tablespoons of melted butter, brush each bundle.
  • Bake 10-12 minutes or until crescents are golden brown
  • Let cool. Do not cover until cooled as the trapped steam will render the delicious, crescent crust soggy (yes, I made that mistake.)
  • Done! So easy and so good.
apple pie crescent roll ingredients
Ingredients and the process.

 

The Review

I’ll be honest, when I first made these, I didn’t think the apple would be cooked through. I was wrong, they were perfect and it was a delicious bite.  I ended up making three batches for my Daring Spirits event last week and they received great reviews.

I have finally found a dessert recipe that I don’t mind making and with the holidays right around the corner, this is sure to be a go-to contribution for Thanksgiving and Christmas alike.

Enjoy! As far as crescent roll recipes go, this one is a keeper for sure. And try it with pumpkin pie filling too. My mom told me hers were a huge hit.

 

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Fredrick’s Purple Velvet Cake – A Purple Pleasure

Frederick's Pastries Purple Velvet Cake
Frederick’s Purple Velvet Cake

 

This week the blog took a turn toward food and drink, so it seemed fitting to finish off with something sweet.  Food Network has a show called “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.” If I were on this show, my best thing would undoubtedly be Frederick’s Pastries’ Purple Velvet Cake. My mouth waters for this supreme confection.

I do consider it a special occasion treat, since whenever we’ve had it for a birthday or otherwise, I find myself hovering over the leftover portion with a fork and an endless appetite for more.  It is honestly so good that I can’t stop myself and I don’t want to. However, I can’t do that on a regular basis. Instead, I hold out and crave it until the next reasonable time I can find cause to celebrate. Hmmm, what shall my next excuse be? Mother’s Day of course – just a week away! I’m counting the minutes. Frederick’s does offer it’s purple velvet creation in cupcake form, if you choose to indulge more frequently.

What Makes Fredick’s Purple Velvet Cake So Delicous?

At first I thought it was the frosting that had something particularly special about it. But when we last enjoyed it for Julia’s birthday, I slowed down a bit to dissect the flavors. A mouthful of frosting alone assured me that the frosting was second to none.  It’s sweet, but not overly so. A bite alone of the pretty purple velvet cake then made me realize that the spongy perfection was really as delicious as the frosting. At that point I just dove in and continued to enjoy the full combination of flavors.

If you’ve never tried this divine dessert, go for it – it’s worth every bite.

 

slice of Frederick's Pastries purple velvet cake
A sweet slice.

 

Frederick’s Pastries has locations in Bedford, NH, Amherst, NH and North Andover, MA.

Not new to Fredrick’s amazing creations? Share your favorite cake or dessert in a comment below.

 

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