Candy Time!

As the holiday season is just around the corner (thanksgiving is just a few days away!) I am getting in the mood to make some Crack! Now get your minds out of the gutter people its Christmas Crack! OK so its really just a cracker toffee but Christmas Crack sounds better don't you think?! The true name is Chocolate Brittle Surprise but that name was lost to me the instant my family started calling it Christmas Crack as its just so addictive you cant have it just once. My family has a very sick since of humor.

Last year I shared my recipe for Hot Chocolate Mix so this year I thought I would pass on the Christmas Crack recipe as a Thanksgiving thank you for visiting the blog!



Chocolate Brittle Surprise (AKA: Christmas Crack!)

35 Unsalted or Low Salt Saltine Crackers

1c. Butter

1c. Firm Packed Brown Sugar

2c. Milk Chocolate Chips (any chips will work really!)

1c. Chopped Pecans (or the nut of your choice)

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- Cover a 10”x15” jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and spray lightly with non stick spray

- place the crackers on foil in 5x7 rows

- in a large bowl microwave the butter for two minutes

- add in the Brown Sugar and stir

- microwave on high for 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds

- immediately pour mix over the crackers*

- bake in your oven for 17 minutes. (should bubble but not burn! I put the sheet on the top rack farthest away from the heat)

- remove from the oven and sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Wait a minute or two and the chips will have melted then spread the chips with the back of a spoon.

- sprinkle the nuts over the melted chips

- place in the refrigerator for 1 hour, then break into pieces

* if you need to spread the mix around over the crackers very lightly spray the back of a spoon with non stick spray to keep it from sticking to the spoon.

* i like to use the back of a spoon and press the nuts into the chocolate to help hold them in place! 

And there you have it, Christmas Crack! 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! 

It's that time again!

Hot Chocolate time that is!
Every year around this time I start remembering the yummy hot chocolate mix that my Grammy would always make. So many memory's, so simple, so yummy! For of years after Grammy's death the recipe went unknown until I finally gave in to the cravings and started working on a recipe. I could remember some of the ingredients but as for how much to use I was at a total loss.

I could remember powdered milk, confectioners sugar, and chocolate of course. So I started mixing little bits of everything and adding it to some hot water but no matter what I did it just didn't taste just right.

It took set down with my Uncle to figure out to what I was missing, Coffee Creamer! Duh! The smallest addition of a spoon full of coffee creamer was like hitting a bullseye!

So here it is, as close I could get to my Grammy's Hot Chocolate Mix!

First off let me remind you homemade doesn't always stand for the cheapest way! Back when Grammy made her hot Chocolate mix she would use the big old box of powdered milk that was handed out by the government once a month. now we have to buy that same powdered milk, and for anyone that hasn't made a purchase of that item let me just say be ready, it ain't cheep! Grammy always, ALWAYS used Hershey's cocoa so out of respect I stuck with that in this recipe but that doesn't go to say I only use Hershey's! So experiment with different brands or types of cocoa for added flavor!

Hot Chocolate Mix

10c. Dry Milk
4 3/4c. Powdered Sugar
1 3/4c. Hershey's Cocoa (the powdered baking coco!)
1 3/4c. Dry Coffee Creamer



-Measure and Sift all ingredients into a large bowl
- once ingredients are well mixed store in air tight containers. (plastic bags are OK just make sure they seal tight)

To make a cup of hot chocolate use very hot (not boiling) water, add enough mix for your own taste. I normally use a 16oz. cup and in that cup i use about 1/2 cup of mix. i know it sounds like a lot but when you compare the packaged mix at the store that only use 6oz. of water per packet its not so bad! Top with some Mini Marshmallows or some Whipped Topping and enjoy! Another great addition is to add a little of but of Starbucks Peppermint flavoring!