Guest Post- Cherry Chocolate Blossoms

Another great recipe from my littlest sister, Katie. She has made these with chocolate kisses and also with Hershey's "cherry jubilee" chocolate kisses. Both are wonderful.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Makes 30-35 cookies.

1 c powdered sugar
2 sticks of butter softened (=1 cup)
2 tsp maraschino cherry liquid
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 c white flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c maraschino cherries chopped
35 or so milk chocolate kisses

Combine: powdered sugar, butter, cherry liquid, and almond extract. Blend together well.

Mix in: flour and salt.
then stir in cherries.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Immediately top each cookie with chocolate kiss. Press down firmly till set in cookie. Let cool completely.

Guest Post- White Chip Orange Cookies with Cranberries

One of my sisters, Katie, is sharing two cookie recipes with us and let me tell you, these are scrumptious! I love ORANGE flavor. I get tired of the same old traditional Christmas cookies which make these a welcome and fabulous change!

2 1/4 c white flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks of butter softened (=1 cup)
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c packed light brown sugar
1 egg
3 tsp grated orange zest
12 oz package white vanilla chips or white chocolate chips
1/2 c dried cranberries

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. Next, cream together butter and both sugars in a large bowl until well mixed and smooth. Add egg and orange zest to butter mixture and mix until incorporated. Then, gradually mix in dry ingredients until batter is smooth. Stir in white morsels and dried cranberries. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 until golden around the edges, about 8 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake them.

You can make an optional glaze using powdered sugar and orange juice and drizzle on the cookies after they have cooled.

English Toffee

I've been trying last night and this morning to get this post up but my computer is being difficult. I think it wants to crash. I'm posting it without all the pictures because it won't load anymore for me. But, since I promised you this recipe....here it is. I'll add the rest of the pictures later when my computer decides to cooperate! Here's hoping this will finally post. OH, and I'm going to try and get some cookie recipes up this weekend from my sister. They were going to be my guest posts for the week of Christmas but then I realized that you'd probably want them as far ahead of Christmas as possible....I'll be taking a blogging break during Christmas....so I'll get those guest post up this weekend.

INSTRUCTIONS

butter a cookie sheet and set aside

melt in a sauce pan
2 1/2 sticks of butter (unsalted)
3 tbsp ice water

add 1 cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
dash (small pinch) of salt
3/4 c nuts (optional- I used sliced almonds for 1 batch and left the other batch plain.)

attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan

stir continually while cooking on high heat. Keep stirring while the candy goes through stages until it reaches 300-310 (hard crack stage).

At about 240 degrees the candy gets a marshmallow texture to it.

Then it goes from a yellowish color to a brown caramel color....


When it reaches 300 it starts to pull away from the pan (sometimes the butter starts to separate but keep stirring) and it starts to look like peanut butter.

Once the temp gets between 300-310 degrees pour the mixture onto the buttered cookie sheet. Let it cool for about 1-2 minutes and then sprinkle it with chocolate chips or broken up chocolate bars.

Let the chocolate melt and then use a spatula to spread the chocolate evenly over the candy. Let the candy now cool completely (I set mine in my cold garage for an hour and it was ready to break.)




Use a metal spatula to lift the candy and break it into chunks. Store in an airtight container or package up in cellophane bags as gifts.

Christmas Clutter

I love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday with the 4th of July as a close second. Christmas is the whole purpose of life wrapped into a holiday. That's worth celebrating.

Every Christmas I make Biscotti. There is nothing like fresh biscotti. The texture and taste doesn't even compair to the prepackaged stuff at the coffee shop. Nope, totally different. Of everything I make this is the one that I most often get asked how to make. People don't want just the recipe. They want me to "show" them and "teach" them to make biscotti. It's like making tamales or perogies, it's just one of those "show me the recipe" kind of things. If you already know how to make it or want to give it a try with just the recipe and no one "showing" you how, then be sure to check out all my biscotti posts.

Some other Christmas posts to be reminded about:
Sugar Cookies from Scratch
Royal Icing for your Sugar Cookies
Homemade gift ideas (this list is jam packed with ideas!)
Baby Jesus in the Manger Cookies
Easy Gingerbread Houses
Ornament storage containers
Homemade Cinnamon Ornaments
Homemade Dough Ornaments

I'm going to attempt to make English Toffee this year...never got around to it last year. It's my ultimate favorite candy. I'll post it if it's successful.

AND, my sister has some cookie recipes to guest post that I'll be posting here the week of Christmas.

Don't forget to try Jelly Bean's fudge...that stuff is incredible! I'm so impressed with how creamy it still is so many days later! Yum.

Oh, and my poll! Do humor me and take my silly poll! I must know! Real or fake? All you fakers out there better confess!!! Um, oh ya, I recently became a faker. Speaking of fakers.....I have a friend giving away her previous fake so if you are in this area and looking for a fake she may still have it on her hands.

Flubber

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups white elmer's glue (not washable or school glue...just all purpose)
food coloring (optional) use one drop till desired color

mix together in a bowl and set aside

1 1/3 cups warm water
2 level tsp borax

mix together in a different bowl until borax is dissolved

Pour the borax solution into the glue solution while stirring. Flubber will instantly form leaving excess water. Pour excess water out and kneed flubber with hands till smooth. Store in a class jar.

I have THREE fun ideas for this stuff:

1. This fun project makes flubber for kids to just play with like they would playdough or clay. It makes a great stocking stuffer and can be made into pretty colors.

2. For the magician in the family, you can place it in a glass jar as a magic trick. "Unspillable milk" in a jar can trick even the smartest adult if it's left white and no food coloring is added. Let the flubber settle into the glass for a day and it will look just like shiny liquid milk.

3. If you aren't too strict when it comes to laughing about gas (I've had to learn to pick my battles) then you can make your own "toots in a jar". I'm sure you've seen this stuff before where you stick your finger into the can and it makes wonderful toot noises. Ya, boys get a kick out of these silly things. Be sure to tint your toot flubber green. I don't know why, that's just the color it comes in at the store. This is another great stocking stuffer. Tie a little tag on it saying what it is with instructions to push your finger into the jar.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you don't like whole wheat cookies, you frankly have not tried this one. Need I say more?

Cream together:
2 c softened butter (room temp)
2 c organic sugar
2 c organic brown sugar

Add:
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Grind 5 cups of old fashioned oats in a food processor or blender.

Combine in a bowl:
the ground oats
4 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda

Slowly start combining the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. This makes a lot so I recommend using a large mixer (mine usually ends up overflowing a bit) or mixing with your hands in a very large bowl.

Add in 2 bags of chocolate chips (I used Ghiradeli milk chocolate in the pictures). Place on ungreased cookie sheet in golf ball sizes about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 min. Makes 92 cookies!

The oatmeal in these give them a great flavor I can't describe. I often make these at Christmas but they are great any time of year.

Kitchen Tip- apple containers

This is really a Christmas tip....
I buy some of my organic apples at Costco in those nifty plastic containers that are a huge trash waste. But, here is a way to recycle them. I use them to store my Christmas tree ornaments. They are wonderful for this and protect them without any paper or packing. I've done this for years! If you like this idea, start saving them now instead of tossing them and next year when you take down your tree you can fill the containers with your glass ornaments.

I'm trying to come up with other ways to use these containers...
-transporting popcorn balls to a party
-transporting caramel dipped apples
-storing baseballs?
-storing round candles
-they would make great craft trays for art projects
-store styrofoam balls in for crafts

Anyone have any other ideas for recycling these?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

AND, for the last post of the year- somehow this got posted yesterday accidentally as a rough draft...to my neglect...but it was supposed to come AFTER the post below. So, be sure you don't miss the Gingerbread House post.... and re-read this one in case you read it before it was fully edited.

I've been working hard to simplify our Christmas this year which has included cutting down the Christmas budget, cutting down the number of gifts the kids get (big time), and cutting down the amount of cooking I'm doing during the holidays. I'm also going to cut down on blogging for the next two weeks as a way to better enjoy our time and to take a break, in honor of Jesus' birthday and mine.

You can see some of the things we usually make for Christmas here though....

~like Great-Grandma Clara's Coleslaw that she served in her restaurant
~or the Prime Rib I usually make every year that my husband looks forward to
~the homemade biscotti that I make to give away every year

and just so you don't miss everything else Christmas you can click on the Christmas link...

Our family also makes Rogies (aka. Perogies) every year for my birthday (Dec. 24th) since it's one of my favorite dishes and my mom is German so she has a wonderful recipe for them. I'll post that recipe eventually. =0) It's tough though, it's one of those "you-have-to-learn-from-someone-showing-you-how-to-make-them" sort of recipes... like Tamales.... But I need to get the recipe on here for my daughter! =0) Oh and this year we are changing things up a bit and my sweet husband is hosting my family at our house for my birthday on the 24th and he's doing tamales in the crock-pot which I can hardly wait for! I'll post that later too.

I also want to make English Toffee this year and if I do I'll eventually post that recipe as well.

Meantime, keep Christmas simple and keep it focused on the One that we're celebrating....Christ, Emmanuel...God with us....come to rescue the world and give us hope.

I'll be back here January 5th with lots of new recipes that I've been trying and working on. I have so many things I want to make and perfect..... can't wait to get back to it! See you then!

Gingerbread Houses

Okay, this was yesterday's post...goodness things have been a bit crazy around here this week!

I have a friend who makes homemade gingerbread houses in a mold and then constructs them with icing for each cousin in the family to decorate. They are the full size ones and she makes them one at a time in this mold she has. That's love! It's really impressive but I'm not that good. So, here is my version. I can do flat! =0)

I baked up gingerbread cookies using this recipe from my friend (but I changed it up a little). I used a house shaped cookie cutter for them. Then I iced them with this royal icing recipe that I love and quickly passed them to the kids at the table for them to decorate before the icing hardened. They turned out wonderful and tasty! Once they were dry they were easy to stack up and store.

Here are the recipes again:

Gingerbread Cookies
½ c butter
½ c sugar
½ c molasses
¼ c water
2 ½ c all purpose flour
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp ginger
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp all spice

Cream butter and sugar together.
Blend in molasses, water, flour, salt, soda, ginger, nutmeg, and all spice.
Cover and chill 2-3 hours.
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Roll dough ¼ inch thick on lightly floured cutting board. (Wood works best if you have it.)
Cut with gingerbread boy cutter.
Place on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes.
Immediately remove from baking sheet. Let cool completely before frosting.


Royal Icing
2 egg whites
2 tsp lemon juice
2 c sifted powder sugar


Give the egg whites a good beating with your mixer for about 30 seconds with the lemon juice and then add the sifted powdered sugar. Mix till smooth and shiny. Start frosting. You want to frost right away because this frosting will not keep and will begin to harden. Let cookies dry completely and then store in an airtight container.


And don't forget to buy lots of fun little candies and sprinkles to decorate them with.

Baby Jesus in the Manger Cookies

These no bake cookies are right up every kid's alley (or at least the ones that are NOT allergic to peanuts!). I made these years ago when my little ones were just toddlers and it was so much fun to do with them. It was even more fun this time since they are older and could really help more. The key to these is to work quickly. It's the perfect cookie to make with little helpers who can place the little baby Jesus marshmallows into the mangers as you drop the haystacks.

2 12oz bags of dry chow mein noodles
1 jar (16 oz) peanut butter (I use creamy but you can use chunky if you want)
2 bags (12 oz) butterscotch chips

Prepare 4 cookie sheets (or lots of plates) covered with foil or parchment paper or wax paper. Pour noodles into a large bowl. Melt the peanut butter and butterscotch chips together in a pot on the stove. Stir continually as to not burn it (like I did with the first batch!). Pour the melted pb/butterscotch mixture over the noodles and toss with salad tongs till WELL mixed and coated. Working quickly, use two spoons to drop the coated noodles onto the cookies sheets in little mounds. Using the back of a spoon, press down the center a bit. Have kids quickly place mini marshmallows end to end to look like baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. Let the cookies sit out till dry.

NO- these are not healthy! =0)

Variations:
- these are really yummy and can be made for a more sophisticated group (i.e. instead of children) by omitting the marshmallows.
- make a chocolate version by either dipping halfway in chocolate after they have hardened OR drizzle chocolate on them OR use one package butterscotch chips and 1 package chocolate chips when melting the peanut butter mixture.
- make these as bird nests for a bird nest themed baby shower by using candy coated almonds as eggs instead of the marshmallows.

Recipe for a Simmer Pot

I saw this idea on several other blogs and I thought it was wonderful so I made some for our Sunday School teachers as a THANK YOU for all they do. =0)

I tested it out before giving them away as little gifts and I was really impressed with how good it made the house smell. Yum! I just had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't a drink!

My version per jar:
1/2 sliced lemon
1/2 sliced orange
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp whole cloves
1 tsp Italian herbs (dried)

Tip: you can buy spices and herbs much cheaper in the Hispanic cooking aisle of your grocery store usually than in the regular spice aisle.

Fill a jar with the above ingredients and then fill with water. Tie with a ribbon or raffia. Use an address label to stick on directions:

Simmer Pot
Empty this jar into a pot on your stove (or crock-pot on high) and add another full jar of water and simmer on low for aroma for several hours. After it has reduced back down, place contents back into jar and store in refrigerator till ready to use again.

Recipe for a homemade Christmas

I was putting this list together for some friends and thought I'd post it here as well. If you need some ideas for homemade Christmas gifts....here's a great list to start with. If you have ideas to share, please comment on this post! I should mention that most of these are really easy because I only do easy!

wood serving tray
gift in a jar recipes
dough ornaments
dough hand print plaque
apple cinnamon ornaments
hand print towels
stone coasters and trivets
pot birdbath
other birdbath ideas
child's coloring book from their own pictures
matching gardening gloves and apron
fleece kid's hats
fleece kid's hat and matching scarf
tea towel apron with matching bread basket made out of same tea towels but I couldn't find a tutorial for it
or a half size apron
baby bath apron
baby hooded towel
picture gifts from snapfish
dryer balls
embroidered hand print
pillow case dresses
another pillow case dresses
one more pillow case dress
homemade hot pack (I just fold a pretty washcloth in half, sew the edges, fill with barley)
child's size dish towel apron this goes well with a gift basket of mini cooking tools
pillow case apron
no sew pillow case apron
home made cloth napkins or table runners (personalize them with embroidery)
sew a Christmas tree skirt but put pockets all the way around it for someone without a fireplace to hang stockings

kits for kids:
tackle box- filled with fishing gear
cooking basket- filled with mini cooking tools and tiny jiffy cake mixes and apron
sewing basket- filled with a few yards of matching fabric, threads, scissors and other sewing accessories
art basket- filled with art supplies
tool apron- found at Home Depot or Lowe's filled with a tiny hammer, tiny screw driver, mini measuring tape, and child sized work gloves

Check these great sites for craft ideas:
Skip to my Lou
Crafty Crow
Bella Dia

Prime Rib

I've been making Prime Rib for Christmas dinner as a tradition for the past 5 or 6 years. I was so intimidated by it the first time but was pleasantly surprised how easy it is to cook. Now my husband insist that we have it every Christmas.




Prime Rib Roast comes with either the ribs still attached or with no rib bones. The one in the picture is without the rib bones. If you buy a prime rib roast with the ribs you cook it in the same position with the rib side down and the fat side up. I prefer to buy the no bone roast for simplicity.

All you do is season it the way you like. I prefer to use Montreal Steak Seasoning but you can use just about any rub that you like or just sea salt and crushed peppercorns. You also want to cook it fat side up.

You'll need a thermometer to gage when it's done to your liking. Stick the thermometer in the center but not all the way to the other side. Be sure that if you are using a roast with rib bones in that the thermometer is not touching any bones. Use a cook book to determine the right amount of time or my chart below. When it reaches the desired doneness, push the thermometer into the meat a little farther. If the temperature drops, continue cooking. If the temperatures stays the same, remove the roast. Cover the meat and let stand about 15 minutes before carving (this is called "resting") which will help to stabilize the juices so that they don't all run out when you cut it. The meat will continue to cook slightly while standing. If you like, remove the roast when the thermometer registers 5 degrees below the desired doneness. The one in the picture was being served medium-well so it might look a little more done on the outside than it would if you were cooking it medium-rare or rare. Here is a general guide:


Rare
140 degrees

Medium
160 degrees

Well
170 degrees

I always cook mine in a 325 degree oven.

The one in the picture is quite small because it was going to serve 4-6. You can purchase different sized cuts to fit your guest list size or prepare two at the same time for a large party. Cutting it in at least 1 inch thick cuts, this roast served 6. They do shrink up quite a bit so you want to figure that about a 12 inch long roast will feed about 6-7 adults once it's cooked.

A roasting pan is really helpful if you'd like to catch the drippings. You can use the drippings for au jue, to make gravy for mashed potatoes (strain the drippings first), or in our case- to cook the roasted potatoes and carrots in.

It's common to serve prime rib with horseradish mixed with sour cream or just plain sour cream. But it's perfectly fine to eat it plain or dip it in au jue.

Recipe for au jue:
Strain drippings and set aside. Pour 2 cups boiling water into the original drippings pan and stir and scrap all the crusty browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Stir in the pan drippings and then cook and stir till bubbly.

If cooking a prime rib has been intimidating to you before, I hope you've been inspired to give it a try until you've perfected it for yourself.

Sugar Cookies from Scratch

2/3 c butter

2 c white flour

1 egg

3/4 c sugar

1 tbsp milk

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

dash of salt

Beat butter with electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add about half of the flour, the egg, sugar, milk, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Beat till thoroughly combined. Beat in remaining flour. Divide dough in half. Cover, chill for 3 hours. (If you are in a hurry and want to make these right away, just add a little more flour until the dough is easy to handle instead of refrigerating.) Refrigerate one half while working with the first half.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about a 1/4 of an inch thick. Most recipes tell you even thinner but I like thick sugar cookies otherwise they are falling apart too easily especially in little hands. Dipping cookie cutters first into flour cut out desired shapes. Use a BBQ spatula to transport them to cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 375 for 7-8 min till the centers have puffed up and the edges are firm. If you cook them till lightly browned they will be too hard....you want them to stay the same color and not change color. Cool on a rack. Cool completely before frosting (a few hours).

If using medium to large cutters, this recipe makes approx. 2 doz.

Royal Icing

Sorry these pictures aren't so great. They don't do the cookies justice. I've always wanted to get that glossy finish that professional cookies have with their frosting but I've never had success with the many frostings I've tried. In fact, I've painfully piped frostings giving me a cramp in my hand just to have that neat look and still it doesn't look glossy when it dries. Maybe I'm just clueless and never thought to ask anyone but I finally discovered royal icing. It dries all the way with a nice glossy finish and it's so easy to spread. I spread these cookies with just a butter knife. No piping! Hurray! They dried beautifully with a nice glossy finish. So, the next time you are making Christmas cookies, cookies for a baby shower, cookies for a birthday party, or cookies on a rainy day, give this recipe a try.

2 egg whites
2 tsp lemon juice
2 c sifted powder sugar


Give the egg whites a good beating with your mixer for about 30 seconds with the lemon juice and then add the sifted powdered sugar. Mix till smooth and shiny. Start frosting. You want to frost right away because this frosting will not keep and will begin to harden. Let cookies dry completely and then store in an airtight container.

Notes:
-You can add food coloring to tint the frosting if you like.
-The best thing about frosting with this frosting is that once it's completely dry you can stack the cookies without them smearing or sticking! =0)

Biscotti - Nutty Biscotti

My last biscotti recipe for this series. Hope you enjoyed it!

1/4 c softened butter
2 large eggs
1 egg white
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 slivered or ground almonds
3/4 c milk chocolate chips

Cream first 5 ingredients together in large bowl until smooth. Add flour, baking soda, salt and nuts. Mix well. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead 6 times. Place on greased baking sheet. Shape into 16 inch long log, 1 inch thick. Bake 350 degrees for 30 min. Cool on wire rack for 10-15 min. Reduce oven temp to 275 degrees. Cut in 1/2 inch long slices. Arrange cut side down on same baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 min. Turn slices over. Turn off oven. Let stand in oven for 30 min. until crisp. Once cooled, dip in 3/4 c melted milk chocolate chips. Place on waxed paper. Makes about 24 biscotti.

Biscotti - Flavor Combinations

As part of the biscotti series I want to give you a list of combination ideas for the cake mix method. I'll be posting a biscotti recipe from scratch next...but I might take the next two days off. =0)

Cake Mix Flavors (these are all Pillsbury and Betty Crocker flavors)
Devils Food
Spice
Vanilla
Chocolate Fudge
Triple Chocolate Fudge
Milk Chocolate
Red Velvet
German Chocolate
Banana
Dark Chocolate
Golden Butter
Chocolate Butter
Pineapple
Strawberry
Butter Pecan

Batter Mix Ins
Crushed Heath Bar
Chopped nuts of any type
Semi sweet chocolate chips
Milk chocolate chips
Peanut butter chips
Butterscotch chips
Mint chips
Chopped peppermint or candy cane
Chopped candy bar
Shredded coconut
Mini marshmallows
Mini M&Ms
Chopped chocolate bar
Chopped toffee bits
Chopped chocolate covered coffee beans
Instant coffee (dissolve it in a few tbsp of warm water first)
Imitation Flavors (like almond extract, orange extract, mint extract, lemon extract, etc.)
Cinnamon

Dip Ins
Shaved chocolate bar
Chopped dried fruit
Chopped dried candied fruits
Crushed Heath Bar
Chopped nuts of any type
Semi sweet chocolate chips
Milk chocolate chips
Peanut butter chips
Butterscotch chips
Mint chips
Chopped peppermint or candy cane
Chopped candy bar
Shredded coconut
Mini marshmallows
Mini M&Ms
Chopped chocolate bar
Chopped toffee bits
Chopped chocolate covered coffee beans

A Few Combinations to try:

Hot Chocolate - milk chocolate cake mix, chocolate chips and marshmallows mixed in, dipped in milk chocolate and dipped in marshmallows.

Christmas Peppermint - red velvet cake mix, 1 tsp mint extract mixed in, dipped in white chocolate and dipped in chopped candy cane.

Java Mocha - Triple chocolate fudge cake mix, 2 tbsp instant coffee (or 1 tbsp instant espresso) and chocolate chips mixed in, dipped in dark chocolate and chopped chocolate covered coffee beans.

Hawaiian Island - Pineapple cake mix, 1/2 c shredded coconut mixed in, dipped in milk chocolate and toasted shredded coconut. (If you are thinking that pineapple and chocolate don't go together, then you've never had the chocolate dipped pineapple at the Dole Plantation in Hawaii. Just trust me on this one)

The ones in this picture are triple chocolate dipped in milk chocolate dipped in chopped chocolate chips and the other ones are yellow cake mixed with shredded coconut and almond extract dipped in white chocolate dipped in toasted coconut.

Biscotti - Chocolate Dipping

I love to chocolate dip things and biscotti would be one of my favorites to do. The best technique I have found is to use Candy Melts by Wilton. They have an incredible high temp level for melting...meaning they will stay melted even at high temperatures instead of turning chalky like chocolate chips. You don't have to mix anything into them to get the right consistency, they stay melted for a longggggggggg period of time without re-heating allowing you to work slowly if you need to, and they have a GREAT taste. They are a rich, yet smooth tasting chocolate. I buy mine at Walmart in the craft section...at my store they are by the wedding cake and candy making stuff. They come in several colors with coordinating flavors.

As you can see in this picture, these candy melts have been in my pantry awhile or were exposed to cold weather while in route to the store and yet they still melt beautifully! (in the picture I used a mix of dark chocolate and milk chocolate).

You can melt the candy melts in your microwave a little at a time and stirring regularly. OR for biscotti, I like to melt them over the burner on low heat in a wide skillet so that I can dip the whole biscotti in flat sides down. As soon as it's melted take the chocolate off the heat and it will stay melted.

Then start dipping. Like I said above, I like to dip the cut sides down so that you get some chocolate with every dip and bite. But you could certainly dip just the ends or drizzle chocolate across the tops.

Lay them chocolate side down on wax paper. This will give your chocolate sides a nice flat/pressed look.

Once they've cooled completely, peel them off of the wax paper and store them in a sealed container or ziplock bag.

If you want to add a step to the process, after dipping them in chocolate, dip them in a plate of your favorite chopped nuts or candy.