candy fail

 

A few days before Christmas I wanted to make a couple more batches of goodies.  I had made a few half-batches of different cookies but we have been nibbling on them.

I think it's more fun to enjoy the sweet treats in the days leading up to Christmas rather than have them leftover afterwards...getting stale and making us feel guilty for continuing holiday indulgences.

I decided to make Buckeye candy. I haven't made it in several years and didn't even have a recipe anymore.  I found a recipe online and made up the peanut butter balls...ready to be dipped in chocolate.

That's when things went haywire!  The recipe instructed to melt the chocolate for dipping, adding a couple tablespoons of shortening for a dipping consistency.

I didn't have shortening so thought I could use butter.  WRONG!  The chocolate turned dull and dry - no way to dip anything in it.

Trying to figure out a way to save it and have something edible, I melted the chocolate again, adding sweetened condensed milk and poured that over the peanut butter balls, which I had arranged in a casserole dish. Sort of like a tray of fudge.

It seemed like it might work out so I refrigerated it overnight.  The next morning I sliced it and we all tried it.  It's okay but really overly rich and sweet.

I put it back in cold storage and later (in a few weeks) I might try melting some of it again and tossing with rice krispies or some other kind of cereal.  Or maybe it could be used for cake frosting?

I later read online that butter shouldn't be used in melting chocolate because it has water in it, whereas shortening does not.

I also want to say that I do not like the Walmart store brand of confectioners sugar (used in the peanut butter balls).  To me, it has a starchy taste from whatever they use to keep it from clumping.

This is a different cookie that I tried this year...Raspberry Thumbprints...

They were a bit tricky too...with the raspberry jam wanting to bubble up out of the thumbprint while baking.  

I'm finished with baking now for awhile!