Caramel Puff Corn

This stuff is seriously addictive, and you'll either love me or hate me for sharing the recipe. Many batches were made over the holidays, and they disappeared so quickly there was barely time to take a photo. It's sweet, salty, buttery, crunchy, ridiculously easy to whip up and even easier to eat. And eat. And eat.

Did you notice that there are no popcorn hulls? No hard kernels or bits to get stuck in your teeth either. That's because it starts with a bag of butter flavored Puffcorn,  a ready made snack food you can buy in the potato chip aisle. I used Chester's Puffcorn, but there are are other brands available that come in different sized bags. Thank you Vicki Bensinger, for introducing me to this irresistible confection!

The caramel corn may be good, but it doesn't hold a candle to this sweet little bundle! I braved the cold of Chicago last week to snuggle with my brand new granddaughter. Isn't she precious? I hope one day she'll love to bake with me as much as my sweet grandson does. I miss them both!

Caramel Puff Corn
Recipe from here, here, and here!

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter (no substitutes!)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup light Karo syrup
1 tsp. baking soda
approx. 8 oz. BUTTER flavored Puff Corn (I could only find Puff Corn in 3.5 oz. bags. I used two bags of Chester's Puff Corn. You could use three bags to get a bigger batch with a lighter caramel coating.)
***If you have a hard time finding Butter flavored Puff Corn, you can use the Snack Finder here to find Chester's Puff Corn in your area. 


Directions
Empty puff corn from bags into large buttered roasting pan. Set aside.
In a 2 qt. saucepan stir together butter, sugar and syrup.
Using medium heat, bring to boil. Boil 2 minutes stirring constantly.
Add baking soda. Mixture will bubble up. Stir and remove from heat.
Pour caramel mixture over puff corn in roaster. Stir until puff corn is coated.
Bake in 250F oven for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to distribute caramel evenly over puff corn.
Working quickly, turn out onto parchment and separate puffs while they cool. Store in an airtight container. Try not to eat it all before it gets into the container! :)

The Runaway Mummy

 
      How many of you grew up with Margaret Wise Brown's classics, Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny? And  have read them over and over to your own children? And grandchildren maybe?  If you, like me, can recite them with your eyes closed while you're half asleep with a child snuggled on your lap begging you to "Read it again, pleeeeease?" then you might just appreciate these two "Petrifying Parodies," Goodnight Goon and The Runaway Mummy, from Michael Rex.

    
     We had fun in my class this week comparing these two books with the originals. It was obvious that Michael Rex, the author, had an appreciation of both Margaret Wise Brown's stories  and Clement Hurd's illustrations. My own kids grew up with these classics and have fond memories of them.

     These little mummy cookies are just cute spooky enough to go with either of these books. No special decorating skills are needed for these little guys. Just make up some gingerbread men, (or would you call them gingerdead men?) "glue" on candy eyes and pipe on the frosting. I used a small Wilton basketweave tip, but a ziploc baggie with the corner cut off would work just as well. These were made from my favorite Iced Spice Cookie recipe, but any gingerbread (or even chocolate) cut out cookie would work.

And if you find that your gingerbread mummies are too scared to be alone on Halloween, you could always make them some skeletons to keep them company. :)

 

Iced Spice Cookies (Printable recipe here.) 

Iced Spice Cookies recipe adapted from Patti Paige, Creative Ideas for Living Jan/Feb '89 2/3 cup shortening (I use butter) 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt (I only use 1) 1 large egg (from a happy hen if you can find one-mine aren't laying right now) 3/4 cup molasses 3 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder Directions: Cream together the first six ingredients. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Add the molasses and mix again. Set aside. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add to molasses mixture and mix until dough forms. Divide the dough into two balls (flattened), wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least three hours. (I chilled it overnight) This dough is hard to work with unless it's chilled. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out one ball of dough to a thickness of 1/8 to 1/4 inch. The original recipe calls for rolling the dough out between two sheets of lightly floured wax paper or a floured pastry cloth. I didn't have those so I just checked my dough frequently to make sure it wasn't sticking to my surface. (Flour is your friend, here.) Cut out desired shapes. Gather scraps into a ball and put in the freezer while you repeat with the rest of your dough. Transfer cookies to parchment covered (or greased) baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, making sure edges don't burn. Cool completely on a rack before frosting. (recipe below) For me this recipe made about 4 dozen small cookies. Royal Icing In a large bowl, mix together 1 pound of confectioners sugar, 3 tablespoons meringue powder (I used Wilton) and a scant 1/2 cup water. (Reserve several spoonfuls of the water-wait and see if you need it. Royal frosting is kind of tricky in that it depends on the humidity as to exactly how much water you'll need.) Mix until soft peaks form. (I did mine about 8 minutes.) Put some frosting in a piping bag fitted with a small basketweave tip and pipe on the mummy wrappings. You could also use a ziploc baggie with the corner cut off!

"Wormy" Cider Spiced Apple Pie Bars

     Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms. Do you remember that song? It came to mind as I scattered the topping over these wormy apple pie bars. Well not real worms anyway. I have an aversion to the real ones. What you see here is just a batch of squiggly cinnamon sugar covered wrigglers decking out a tender apple filling with an apple cider spiced cookie crust underneath. Throw a couple of cute little gummy worms on top and you've got a spook-tacular Halloween treat that's just gruesome enough. (But not too gruesome.)

     I spiced mine up with some instant cider mix, but plain cinnamon and sugar would work just as well. I know some people have issues with the ready made refrigerated pie crusts, but they really work here. (And I have issues with making pie crust.) Make your own crust if you wish, but the rolled dough makes it really easy to produce many worms in short order. And those wormy things on top? They bake up nice and crispy and add a cinnamon-sugar crunch to each bite. And trust me, it's the only way I'll be eating worms. :)


Wormy Cider Spiced Apple Pie Bars (Printable recipe here)
adapted from this Betty Crocker Recipe

Ingredients:
Cookie Crust
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 packet instant apple cider or 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Filling
7-8 medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup light brown sugar (or to taste, depending on the sweetness of your apples)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 packet instant apple cider (optional)
pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Wormy Topping
1 box refrigerated rolled pie crusts (or your favorite homemade pie crust)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 packet instant apple cider

Instructions:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. (400 for dark or nonstick pan) 
• Cream together 1/2 cup softened butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Stir in 1 1/4 cups flour and packet of cider mix or cinnamon until mixed. 
• Press mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 baking pan. 
• Mix together all filling ingredients and pour into the crust. Bake for 10 minutes. While this bakes, prepare the wormy topping.
• Mix together 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, cinnamon and apple cider mix. Cut one cold pie crust (still rolled) lengthwise in half, and then into thin (1/4 inch or less) slices. 
• Separate the pieces and toss to coat in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat with the remaining pie crust.
• Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar coated "worms" over the partially baked filling and bake 18-22 minutes more until crust is golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into bars. For a spookier effect, try using colored sugar (red for earthworms?) for the topping.

Skeleton Cookies

Skeleton Parade

The Skeletons are out tonight,

they march about the street

with bony bodies, bony heads and

bony hands and feet.

Bony, bony, bony bones

with nothing in between

Up and down and all around

They march on Hallowe'en!

Jack Prelutsky

 Skeleton Cookie Rewind! I could hardly wait for October to roll around so I could make these spooky cute little skeletons again. I posted them last year but I thought their little bones deserved another rattle.

 I made these little guys with my favorite Iced Spice Cookie recipe, but your favorite gingerbread man recipe would work just as well. Pipe on their bones and features with some royal icing and you've got yourself some cute little skeletons all ready for a skeleton parade. Are you scared yet?

Candy Corn Cookie Crunch

 Need a festive snack for Halloween? This sweet and salty one is cute, quick and easy. Just mix together some pretzels, chopped up Oreos, peanuts and candy. Bind the mixture together with some melted white chocolate, break into chunks and enjoy!

  This yummy treat would be cute in little bags for your goblin visitors later this month. I found the original recipe on Your Home Based Mom- she has a version for every holiday, I think! Could this snack be the reason for the jack-o-lantern's toothless grin?

Candy Corn Cookie Crunch

adapted slightly from Your Home Based Mom. She has detailed instructions here.

Ingredients

1 lb. almond bark candy coating or white chocolate

14 Oreos, broken into pieces- I used the Halloween ones with orange filling

1 and 1/2 cups pretzels, broken- I used the thin straight ones

1 cup candy corn

1/2 cup peanuts

1/4 cup Reeses Pieces

1/2 cup Peanut M&Ms (fall colors)

Halloween sprinkles

Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper or foil. Spread the broken pretzels, broken cookies, peanuts, and about 3/4 of the candy corn on the prepared cookie sheet. Melt the white chocolate or candy coating until smooth, according to package directions. 

Drizzle the melted white chocolate over the pretzel mixture, spreading with a spatula if needed. Before it sets, sprinkle on the remaining candy corn, M&Ms, Reeses Pieces, and sprinkles. Place the tray into the refrigerator until set. Break into pieces and enjoy! 

This post is linked to Foodie Friday @ Designs by Gollum.

Too Much Time on My Hands?

Skellingtons! These were so much fun to make. I'd post the recipe, but it was a new one I was just trying out and I really wasn't that impressed with it.

I thought they looked better than they tasted, although they weren't bad. (They couldn't have been so bad...they're already gone.) It could have been that they were chocolate, and I kept expecting gingerbread. (I'm thinking now that gingerbread is really the only appropriate flavor for cookie men of any kind.)

If I make them again, I'll probably use this recipe which is an old standby from a Good Housekeeping cookbook. The frosting was a packet of ready made Betty Crocker Cookie Frosting right out of the tube.


Gingerbread Men (or Skeletons)
2 and 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg from a happy hen
1 and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Cream together butter and sugar. Add molasses and egg. Sift dry ingredients together and add to the mixture. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to handle. Roll on lightly floured surface, 1/4 inch thick. Cut with your favorite "man shaped" cookie cutter. Place 1/2 inch apart on parchment covered baking sheet. (I love parchment.) Bake 8 minutes at 350 degrees.

Happy Halloween!