Candied Pecans

Another sweet treat that I enjoy making around the Holidays is Candied Pecans. Another easy to make snack. This recipe uses basic ingredients,and the only time consuming part is baking them in the over for an hour.

Ingredients
Pecan halves-3 (6 oz) bags
Egg white-1
Water-2 tbsp
Vanilla extract-1 tsp
Sugar-1 cup
Salt-3/4 tsp
Ground Cinnamon-1/2 tsp
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Whisk the egg white and water till nice and frothy. To this add the vanilla extract and mix.
3. In a separate bowl mix together the sugar, salt and cinnamon.
4. Place the pecan halves in the egg white mixture and coat the pecans evenly.
5. Then coat the pecans with the sugar mixture.
6. Once coated, grease a baking sheet and place the pecan halves onto the sheet and bake for 1 hour making sure to stir them every 15 minutes.
7. Let them cool before storing.
Easy gift giving-Buy a Christmas themed coffee mug. Place some candied pecans in a treat bag tie with twist tie,decorate with ribbon and an ornament and you are ready!!!

Peppermint Bark

It's Christmas time which means it's a time for sharing and receiving. I love the "sharing" part in the Holidays the most. Every year for the past couple of year I make Peppermint Bark to give away as treats to the kid's teachers and friends. It's easy to make and if you love peppermint ,you'll definitely love this sweet treat. There are different variations of this recipe found online but I have found using candy melts easier than using white chocolate. The melting is so quick and you really can't go wrong with it. You can mix white and milk chocolate to make fancier looking peppermint bark. To me, simpler is better!

Ingredients
Wilton Candy Melts(white)-2 bags
You can find these at Walmart, Michaels or any other craft store
Peppermint extract- 1tsp
Bob's Candy Cane-1 box(12 candies)

Directions
1.Crush the candy canes in a Ziploc and keep them aside.
2. Using the double boiler method I melt the candy melts. (Boil water and place the candy melts in another bowl and place over the boiling water. Turn the flame low, and mix the candies till they are nice and smooth) The candy melts come with microwavable directions too, which can be followed as well.
3. Add the peppermint extract and mix well. Take the mixture off the heat.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour the mixture over and smooth it out evenly.
5. Immediately sprinkle the entire top with the crushed candy cane pieces. Cover evenly and then refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
6. Break them into pieces and store in an airtight container. When storing use parchment paper to remove any excess moisture.It's that simple!
I love using festive tins lined with parchment paper or even holiday themed treat bags to gift them in.
Can't wait for next week to share them with all our loved one. Happy Holidays !!! Happy Snacking !!!