Christmas Holiday Sweet Treats

Discussion in 'Holidays & Traditions' started by Babs Hunt, Dec 2, 2017.

  1. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    h-HOLIDAY-CHRISTMAS-BARK-RECIPES-640x362.jpg
    https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/11/holiday-christmas-bark-recipes_n_2245720.html

    I used to always love to bake "sweet treats" and share them with family and friends and our neighbors during the Holiday season. As I've gotten older and have less energy it sometimes seems to be to much of a chore now to me. So I've been looking for recipes of "sweet treats" that are easier and some no bake things too.

    A couple of years ago I found the recipes for Christmas bark and I made the white chocolate bark with crushed peppermint pieces and brought some to our Family gathering on Christmas day. It was such a hit with everyone that now this year I am going to try making different kinds of bark and hopefully the link I've included will have more than enough bark recipes to choose from. :)

    Do you like to bake or make Christmas sweet treats for yourself or to share with others? If so what are your favorite "sweet treats" and feel free to share recipes with us if you want to. :)

    The two pictures I shared are barks I definitely want to make this Holiday season.

    PARADE-andes-inspired-chocolate-mint-oreo-candy-bark.jpg
     
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  2. Missy Lee

    Missy Lee Veteran Member
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    I have been debating whether to even enter this thread knowing there were going to be pictures and here I am on a sorta diet.

    Diet be dammed
     
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  3. Ann George

    Ann George Veteran Member
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    @Babs Hunt

    I tried some Christmas bark from Costco recently. It looked similar to your first photo and was really good! I'm also looking for a simple bark recipe to try this Christmas so thanks for the link. :)
     
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  4. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    Here's the recipe for the first batch of bark I made @Ann George. It is very simple and everyone loved it.

    Peppermint Bark

    2 bags (12oz each) white chocolate chips
    1 cup peppermint candies, unwrapped

    Line a 15x10x1 in baking pan with foil. Coat with nonstick cooking spray. Place white chocolate chips in a large glass bowll Microwave at 60% power for 1 minute. Stir. Repeat. stirring until smooth.

    Place candies in a quart size zip lock bag. Place bag inside a gallon zip lock bag. Crush with a meat mallet or heavy saucepan.

    Fold half the crushed candy into the melted white chocolate. Pour onto the prepared pan, spreading almost to edge of pan. Sprinkle top with remaining crushed peppermint candy. Refrigerate until firm, about one hour. Break apart into bite size pieces. :)

    th (44).jpg
     
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    Last edited: Dec 3, 2017
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  5. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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  6. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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  7. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    Being Diabetic II, we indulge very, very little.
     
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  8. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    There are plenty of candies, etc. now days that have no sugar at all in them. And you can bake sweet treats without sugar too. There are alot of wonderful sweet treats recipes for those who are diabetic too Cody.

    Sweet treats are something I enjoy making and sharing...they are also something I eat small amounts of because most of them aren't the healthiest things for us to eat. :) Yet they sure taste good and since I eat plenty of healthy foods I don't have a problem with eating small amounts of sweet treats. :)
     
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  9. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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  10. Cody Fousnaugh

    Cody Fousnaugh Supreme Member
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    The sweet stuff may not have actual sugar in them, but they do have sugar alcohols in them. We don't make anything (sweets) for Christmas. Basically speaking, Christmas, Halloween and Easter are "no, no" for us when it comes to "sweet treats". Got to keep that bg number down as much as possible.
    The candy we had left over from Halloween, we gave to the complex office.
     
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  11. Ann George

    Ann George Veteran Member
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    Thanks, looks good and super easy and will certainly make a nice addition to any Christmas dessert tray! :D
     
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  12. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    My Mom was diabetic Cody so I do understand what you mean. But sweets are allowed as long as they are in balance with the rest of your diet and definitely in moderation. :)
     
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  13. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    IMG_0586.JPG

    Here's my White Chocolate Peppermint Bark and my Peanut Butter Chocolate Bark that I'm bringing to our Christmas Eve Family Gathering.

    This is the first time I made the peanut butter chocolate bark and everything was going fine until I tried to melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Just like last year when I tried to melt some chocolate chips they did not melt into creaminess like the white ones do. But I did chop up the solidness of the melted chocolate chips and blend this into the melted peanut butter and white chips and once it had time to solidify in the refrigerator I cut it into pieces. It doesn't even break the same way the White Chocolate Peppermint bark does but cuts more like it is fudge. The good news is it tastes wonderful! :)
     
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  14. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    My Christmas bark was a big success. How can I tell? My SIL made sure I made a goodie bag for him to take home of some...and my middle daughter called me yesterday to tell me my 8 year old grandson brought both bark containers to her and told her not to let anyone take anymore of the bark...the rest was for him! :D
     
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  15. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    When this thread was last active, I was trying to think of a candy that we usually had at Christmas time. Several of my Swedish relatives made them, but I didn't know whether they had a name, or how to describe them. I am working on the Virginia, Minnesota category at my job with Aviva Directory and I came across them from a candy company there. The ones made by this company are called Hot Air, which is not what the homemade candies that I am thinking of were called. I couldn't remember what they were called but the store ad says that they are sometimes called Sponge Candies, and that's what they were called. Whatever was beneath the chocolate had a texture similar to that of a malt ball, which I could have used as a descriptor, but I couldn't think of the name for a malt ball either. Anyhow, they were good and I'd order some, but the shipping charges will probably discourage that. Since I'm from that general part of the country (UP of Michigan), I wasn't surprised to find them in a Minnesota candy store.

    spongecandy.png
     
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