Homemade Halloween Candy!

I have had this idea in my head for quite a while that things we take for granted like candy bars can be made so much better by the average cook or baker. I WAS RIGHT! Sure they might not come out as svelte as the brand names but darlings...would I ever steer you wrong? So after much digging I found that although there are plenty of recipes out there hardly any looked anything like a candy bar. Unfinished. That sort of thing ticks me off. If you are going to go through the effort of making one of these...candy is called candy for a reason. It should be eye candy too :P. The other problem with the recipes is the amount of sugar. Yes I know its supposed to be sweet...for instance in one recipe for mounds I saw corn syrup, sweetened coconut, powdered sugar and sweetened condensed milk. Then my old math teacher's voice suddenly popped into my head, "Keep it simple stupid". (He said that to everyone....for real he did...don't look at me that way!) I bought some Marzipan on a whim the other day and planned to make little pumpkins out of them...I did do that but I couldn't get Thanksgiving off my mind. Well....that's when Marvin made his entrance....he doesn't want to be eaten..I just couldn't because he is so cute! Just so you know this is my first time with Marzipan so I apologize if he is on the beginner's side. But I still love him!

So this is what I did...Ladies and gentleman:

Homemade Mounds Bars by Maman and Gourmand

Bag of sweetened coconut

1 cup of powered sugar

1 stick of unsalted butter

(the last two ingredients you can make your own adjustments just as long as you can form them still)

Lots of tempered chocolate. (this can easily be done in a microwavable bowl....just add a tablespoon of shortening or oil and heat the chocolate of your choosing slowly...20 to 30 seconds at a time.)

Toasted Almonds (if you like Almond Joy!)

Mix the first three ingredients until it comes together and is well mixed. Form into logs. Freeze for 30 minutes. Add almonds before you freeze them. Dip in chocolate. Shake off extra chocolate. Set on parchment paper. Tada! Don't worry about the butter so much...just think of it like over beaten whip cream :) Think Paula Deen! My family LOVED them. Yay!

Now for the Homemade Twix. For the sake of simplicity I made caramel a very easy way. Now while I LOVE caramel made from heavy cream I thought I would give something a try that I have learned through food blog scuttlebutt. You take a can of sweetened condensed milk and submerge in water in a large pot. I would say at least two inches. Then you let it simmer for 3 hours. At first it may seem like its too runny but as it cools it will thicken up. Two warnings: One make sure you keep the candy submerged with at least two inches of water at all times. We don't want any exploding cans do we? Two: Make sure you allow the can to cool down to where you can at least touch it without burning yourself before opening. There will be a bit of caramel that will come out when you use a can opener. If you simmer this for 5 hours it will be more like the caramel square you see in the supermarket. Yum either way!

That being said make your favorite shortbread recipe. (yes you can buy shortbread but that is only if you are short on time because it defeats the purpose of making things homemade!) Let the shortbread cool. Then cut into whatever shapes you want. Use a cake decorating bag and flat tip to pipe the cooled caramel onto the shortbread. Freeze for 30 minutes. Then dip in tempered chocolate.

For the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups you will need a mold or mini cupcake liners. Use a paint brush to paint the chocolate inside the mold. Freeze until solid.

For the peanut butter filling:

2 cups peanut butter (creamy)

1 cup powdered sugar

4 tbs cornmeal

Roll these into small balls. If they are too sticky to handle just put it in the freezer until its chilled. Place a the peanut butter balls into the chilled chocolate and then cover with more chocolate. Use a spatula knife to even out the chocolate and get rid of excess. Freeze again until hardened. Pop them out of mold and enjoy!