Candy Cane Smile Pancakes!
Now that our Christmas festivities are done with family and friends I am trying to come up ways to use some of the extra goodies. Somehow throughout the various Holiday celebrations we accumulated a stack of candy canes and as we begin the first quarter of 2011 we are having fun finding ways to use up the remaining ones. Instead of sprinkles on the girls pancakes we decided to have candy cane smiles. They loved having minty pancakes for breakfast and the smiles added extra cheer for everyone, smiles really do spread cheer! Do you have a creative recipe or way of finishing up the last few candy canes around your house?
Recipe: Chocolate Pretzels, Snowmen, & Snowflakes
We were getting tired by the time we got to making the Chocolate Pretzels, Snowmen, and Snowflakes on our Christmas Baking Day. Despite being tired these turned out pretty well. Brina was determined to “help” us make them which slowed down the process but we got enough to share with our neighbors. The purple didn’t set right and the blue got a drop of water in it so it was done within a matter of minutes but we had plenty of the red, yellow, white and brown colors to make it look festival. We added crushed candy canes for a minty flavor and a Holiday flair. The neat part about these is the kids can pitch in and help. They enjoy making special candies for others as well, however, I do not recommend starting around 9:30 in the evening after baking for several hours.
Chocolate Pretzels, Snowmen, and Snowflakes
- White Chocolate
- Milk Chocolate
- Mix of Colored Chocolates
- Candy Molds – we had Flower Pretzel Sticks, Snowmen, and Snowflakes
Melt the chocolates over a double boiler or slowly in the microwave (microwave for 15 seconds, stir, microwave for 15 seconds, stir) because they can burn easily. Use the molds you have chosen to place the chocolates into. You can paint the chocolate into the mold using a toothpick then fill in the reminding amount with a solid color. When doing the pretzel molds paint the flowers, fill with solid color, then roll the pretzel stick to coat. We stick the chocolates into a pan of warm water on a griddle to keep the chocolates melted while decorating, just make sure to not get any water in the chocolates at it will ruin the entire bowl. Once the tray is complete freeze for about 10 minutes, turn the mold over and the items should pop out quickly. Repeat the steps as many times as you like or until you run out of chocolates.