I am ready for the Christmas candy! For some reason I only feel completely inspired to make candies and cookies in the mass quantities when it gets close to Christmas. It must be something in the air. Whatever it is, I enjoy making all the sweet stuff. My kids do too! I don’t have my list completely set on what we’ll be making, but started a test run on a batch of Haystacks. The main thing I remember about Haystacks is the butterscotch flavor. Haystacks can be made a variety of ways, but I’ve eaten them with chow mein noodles, and potato sticks. I think either one tastes good. I’ve even had one variation with marshmallows. They were all great variations.
I thought I would be adventurous and try out some Ramen noodles in place of the chow mein noodles or potato sticks. The Ramen noodles were okay, a bit too crunchy. I thought that the hot butterscotch chips would soften them a little, but they kept most of their crunchiness. Why Ramen noodles? I had nothing else on hand, and I’m all about experimenting. I’ve messed up plenty of things in the past, so why not Ramen Haystacks. Let’s just say that I’ll put that in my “Don’t try this again” file. It was okay, and edible, but not melt in your mouth delicious.
I used a simple recipe of 1 cup butterscotch chips, 1/2 cup peanut butter, and will use about one to two cups potato sticks on my next try. I did learn that these freeze really well. Freezing actually helped to speed up the process for them to set-up or harden. They are quite soft and melty though at room temperature, even after setting up. On a scale of 1 to 10 for difficulty, I would rate these as a 1.5 for ease of making, and clean-up. After melting the peanut butter and butterscotch chips in a pot, all that is left to do is stir in the potato sticks or chow mein noodles, then spoon onto wax paper. The wax paper allows you to easily remove them, and makes it extremely easy to clean-up. This is a definite keeper on my list of candies to make for Christmas.
i made pecan divinity yesterday. it was yummy and easy to make.
2cups sugar
1 cup water
1 (7oz) jar marshmallow cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c chopped pecans
heat sugar and water in large heavy pot over med. heat (without stirring) until candy thermometer reads 250*.
remove from heat and add the other ingredients.
stir til cooled and holds shape when dropped from a spoon.
quickly drop by tsp onto waxed paper. sets in about 5 minutes.
My Dad loves divinity. I have always been too scared to make it for him. His Mom made it for him when he was a child before she passed so it has fond memories and I don’ know if I can live up to them. I might have to try it!
I always like to make goodies for people also. When everyone gets their candy and cookie tins emptied they give them to me bc they know I will put thm to use. I LOVE vanila covered pretzels. They are so delicious. Chocolate covered are a big hit too. They are very easy and pretty inexpensive. They can be served plain or sprinkled w colored sugar or candy sprinkles. Cookies and quick breads are also a big gift for me. Everyone loves goodies and especially ones they don’t have to make themselves LoL..
Just do a few trial runs on your divinity till you get it right. I can’t for the life of me make fudge, and I’ve given it quite a few trial runs. Maybe it’s time to give it another try this year!
That does sound easy! I will have to give this one a trial run too.