Truffles are one of my favorite treats to make. They’re easier to make than most people think, so everyone is in awe when you bring some over. They don’t have to know that the truffles weren’t that hard to make. Recently, I made dark chocolate lime truffles.

Many lime truffle recipes will specify key lime, because people expect that in lime recipes. I did not use key limes. I could have, but those things are tiny! It’s much easier to use a larger lime. I picked some up at a local store for this recipe.

I generally prefer molded chocolates to rolling truffles. It’s just so much easier, in my opinion. Plus you get that lovely gloss with very little effort. You also don’t have to wait for the filling to solidify. In fact, it’s better if you don’t. It’s much easier to fill a mold with a runny filling than one that is solid.

It all starts with a lime.

Roll the lime back and forth on the counter, putting a little pressure on it. This loosens up the insides so that you get more juice from it. I wash it after, then zest the lime. I suggest using a microplane or the very fine shred holes on a box grater to get the zest. You do not want the white pith, just the green part of the peel.

Once I have enough zest, I cut the lime in half and juice it.

Remember, these are not tiny little key limes. If you’re using key limes, you will need more of them. A single key lime will not give you enough zest or juice. They do have a stronger flavor, and can be worth the effort, but that wasn’t the mood I was in.

Stir the lime zest into a half cup of cream in a small saucepan. Put it over medium heat until the edges start to bubble. Put a lid on the saucepan and remove from heat. Allow to steep for 20 minutes.

While you wait for the cream to steep, soften white chocolate and butter together with just a little salt. They don’t need to be fully melted yet. 45 seconds in the microwave and a good stir should be enough at this point.

After the cream has finished steeping, reheat it to a simmer, with an occasional stir. Decide if you want to remove the zest or not. I don’t. I like a more tart flavor when I do lime, and my zest is fine enough that the truffles are still smooth. If your zest is a little bit, you may want to remove it by straining the cream through a fine strainer.

Whisk the cream and chocolate together until the chocolate is smooth. If you’re going to roll truffles, this mixture will need to be refrigerated for about 4 hours to solidify enough for rolling. I don’t do that, so we can head over to molding right away.

Melt 12 oz of dark chocolate, at least 60% cacao, but more if you like darker. I use the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between rounds. Do not overheat the chocolate, or the coatings won’t turn out right. When the chocolate is close to fully melted, you should be able to stir it a little extra and complete the melting process without heating it more.

I used my triangle molds for this one. It’s a very simple design, and it’s easy to remove the finished chocolates from the mold.

That’s a part of what I love about silicone molds. You can just push the chocolates out once they’re firm. It takes a little more work to get chocolate out of plastic molds. When it comes down to it, however, I choose my molds by the shape and size rather than the material they’re made of.

Spoon the melted dark chocolate into the molds. Tap the molds on the counter to work the bubbles out, then pour the excess chocolate back in with the rest. If you want a thicker layer of chocolate, let it sit for a minute or two first. I like thin coatings for most of mine. This keeps the focus on the flavor of the filling.

This is another point where silicone is nice. It’s flexible, so I can bend the molds and take better aim at the bowl as I pour the excess chocolate out. I gently shake the molds as I do this. Scrape the excess chocolate off the tops of the molds to help things along.

Spoon the lime truffle filling into the molds. You want this as close as possible to the top while leaving room for some chocolate at the top. Refrigerate for about 20-30 minutes to partially solidify the filling.

Top off with chocolate. Tap the molds on the counter to smooth off the tops, then fill in any gaps. Scrape off the excess chocolate, and refrigerate again for about a half hour.

When the chocolates are fully solidified you can remove them from the molds. Check one first to make sure that it comes out smoothly. If it gives you trouble, the truffles are not solid enough and need more time in the refrigerator.

I keep these dark chocolate lime truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator when they aren’t out for people to eat. They shouldn’t last long after that. I found that the flavor developed a little over the first day or two. They were a bit sweet at first, but the lime flavor really came through after they sat for a while.

My absolute favorite truffles are still my pomegranate truffles, but these are very good too.

4.17 from 417 votes

Print

Easy Indulgent Dark Chocolate Lime Truffles

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 regular lime, juiced and zested
• 10 oz white chocolate
• 1/4 cup butter, chopped into pieces
• dash salt
• 12 oz dark chocolate

Instructions

1. Combine lime zest and heavy cream in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until cream just starts to simmer. Cover and remove from heat. Allow to steep for 20 minutes.

2. While cream and lime zest steep, combine white chocolate and butter. Melt in microwave for 45 seconds to get things started. Stir and add salt.

3. Return cream and zest to medium heat and back to a slight simmer. If you want to remove the zest, pour the cream through a fine strainer onto the white chocolate. If you want the added flavor of the zest, pour the cream directly onto the white chocolate.

4. Stir until white chocolate is fully melted and the mixture is smooth.

5. If you want to roll truffles, refrigerate for at least 4 hours before you roll them. Refrigerate or freeze after molding, then melt dark chocolate in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between rounds, until fully melted but not too hot. Quickly dip truffles in dark chocolate.

6. If making molded truffles, do not refrigerate truffle filling. Melt dark chocolate in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between rounds, until fully melted. Fill molds with dark chocolate. Tap molds on counter to get the air out, then pour chocolate out of the molds.

7. Carefully spoon truffle filling into molds. Keep the level just a little below the top. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes to start solidifying the filling. Top with more dark chocolate after the filling is sufficiently solid. Tap the molds on the counter to smooth things out, and scrape off excess chocolate if possible.

8. Refrigerate truffles until the chocolate has fully solidified. They should come out of the molds fairly easily. If they break or leave pieces behind, they need more time in the fridge.

How much do you love Cadbury Creme Eggs? They’re super popular around here. We get a few before Easter, but the rest get bought on Half Price Candy Day. Well, more like 30% off at some stores, but you do what you have to do.

But rather than wait for Cadbury Creme Eggs to come out each year, how about making your own version? Homemade creme eggs are pretty easy to make. They aren’t exactly like the Cadbury version, but they’re pretty good.

These are easiest done in candy molds, although you can hand shape and dip them if that’s the way you roll. I like using molds for the pretty designs.

Because I made these for Easter, I made these in egg shaped candy molds. They aren’t totally 3D, but that’s because I didn’t want to deal with trying to put the two sides together. I certainly could have filled two sides and used a little chocolate to make it more egg-shaped all the way around if I wanted.

Keeping the halves apart has another advantage – portion control! They’re a nice size for eating without getting too large this way.

Easter is such a hazardous time if you’re trying to behave about candy. These creme eggs and my chocolate dipped Peeps aren’t the only things I’ve made for the holiday, just the only ones I’ve posted about in the past few days. I also made my pomegranate truffles and crunchy raspberry chocolate chunks. We usually skip the chocolate bunnies you can get from the store because there’s so much homemade stuff.

Combine light corn syrup, room temperature butter, salt, and vanilla using your mixer. This part is super easy. Beat until smooth.

Adding the powdered sugar takes some extra effort. You don’t want a cloud of powdered sugar going everywhere. Add it a bit at a time, and start the mixing by hand. You can use the mixer more as the powdered sugar gets mixed in, but that stuff gets everywhere if you aren’t careful. And sometimes even if you are.

My oldest daughter was shocked by how much powdered sugar this recipe takes. The look on her face was pretty classic. Kids don’t always realize how much this stuff shrinks into the rest of the ingredients.

By the time all of the powdered sugar is in there, the mix is getting stiff. My poor little handheld mixer really struggled with it at the end. You may want to do all of this mixing by hand. This may have to do with my house being pretty cold the day I made these. Room temperature for the butter was maybe a little on the cool side still.

Take about a third of the mix and add yellow food coloring if you’re sticking to the egg look. It only takes 2-3 drops.

If your mix is a little runny, you can refrigerate the mix before trying to form it. This isn’t necessary if you’re using mold – the more flexible the mix is, the easier it is to put into molds.

Melt your chocolate (I chose semi-sweet this time, but milk chocolate is closer to the originals). Milk chocolate may need a little coconut oil so that it flows better into the molds. I didn’t use that for my semi-sweet chocolate, however.

Fill the molds and let the chocolate sit for 1-2 minutes. This will give a thicker shell than pouring it out right away. After pouring out the chocolate, refrigerate the molds for a few minutes to partially harden the chocolate.

If the filling is stiff enough, you can fill the eggs and put the chocolate over the backs right away. I found it a little difficult to get the yellow parts to stay kind of round, as half eggs don’t have a lot of depth. Try to get the filling in as neatly as possible, so that there aren’t too many holes. This is easier if the filling isn’t totally solid. Keep the filling just below the top of the mold so that there is room for the chocolate.

Drop the molds short distances to the countertop after putting the chocolate on the backs to smooth the chocolate out. This gives a nice, fairly smooth look.

Refrigerate for about a half hour to set the chocolate. If the chocolate is firm enough, it should come out of the molds easily. If it’s not ready, refrigerate for longer.

I had a slight problem with some of the excess chocolate on the backs of the eggs. I broke it off, and accidentally exposed some of the insides of the egg. If that happens, there are two things you can do.

1. Eat the egg.
2. Dab a little chocolate over the exposed filling and chill the egg for a little while.

I mostly did the second option, but there’s always the sacrificial/sample candy option in there. You’re doing all this work; you get to have a little fun too. Now that you know how to make homemade creme eggs, you don’t have to wait for the stores to get them.

3.33 from 1680 votes

Print

Homemade Creme Eggs

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup butter room temperature
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1-2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 3 drops yellow food coloring optional
• 12 oz milk chocolate
• 1 tsp coconut oil

Instructions

1. Combine light corn syrup, room temperature butter, salt, and vanilla using your mixer. Beat until smooth.
   

2. Add powdered sugar slowly, maybe a half cup at a time. Mix by hand to avoid a mess. As the powdered sugar combines with the other ingredients, you can start using your mixer again. Mix until smooth.

3. Optional: Take about a third of the mixture and place into another bowl. Mix in yellow food coloring until desired color is achieved.

4. Melt chocolate and coconut oil in 30 second increments in microwave. Stir between rounds. Chocolate will become smooth after a few rounds.

5. Spoon chocolate into candy molds. Tap to get the bubbles out. Allow to sit for 1-2 minutes to make a slightly thicker shell. Pour out excess chocolate.

6. Refrigerate molds for a few minutes to slightly firm up the chocolates.

7. Add in filling. Start with the white part, then put a ball of yellow "yolk" in the middle. Cover with more white.

8. Refrigerate if necessary to firm up the filling. If filling is already firm or after refrigeration, cover the backs of the molds with chocolate. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to solidify the chocolate in the mold.

9. Remove chocolates from molds when they come out of the molds easily. If the chocolate sticks too much, place back in the refrigerator and cool longer. You may want to place these back in the refrigerator after removing from molds to ensure that chocolate solidifies completely.

10. Serve when you can't keep the ravening hordes away any longer.

Peeps. You love them or you hate them. My kids love them, especially microwaved. They also go wild for the chocolate dipped Peeps. While the ones in the store are on the pricey side for what you get, they’re easy to make at home.

My local dollar store carries Peeps for Easter, and the price is generally better than what I can get them for at Target or Walmart. That’s always nice.

You don’t want to make these too much in advance. Slightly stale Peeps are still pretty good if you already like Peeps, but completely stale and crunchy Peeps… not so much.

I prefer to just dip the bottoms of the Peeps. I’m sure it’s easy enough to chocolate coat the whole thing, but I think it’s enough to just dip the bottoms. This way there’s also less fuss about getting every nook and cranny covered. You also get to keep the pretty colors this way.

Melt your chocolate in the microwave with some coconut oil. Use 30 second increments and stir between rounds.

Separate the individual Peeps from their rows. Dip each one in chocolate. You may want to get a little extra on the sides to cover where the marshmallows were torn apart.

Place the chocolate dipped Peeps on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Keep a little space between so the chocolate doesn’t make them stick together as it solidifies. If you have excess chocolate, you can drizzle some across the tops just for fun. It’s not pretty, but it’s more chocolate. More chocolate is good.

Refrigerate for about an hour to solidify.

To keep the Peeps from going completely stale too fast, I keep them in a Ziploc bag. It’s not the prettiest storage solution, but it helps. They don’t usually last long enough to become excessively stale anyhow.

3.47 from 1107 votes

Print

Chocolate Dipped Peeps

Ingredients

• 8 oz chocolate chips
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 package marshmallow Peeps

Instructions

1. Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil together in microwave, using 30 second increments. Stir between rounds until chocolate is smooth.

2. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Separate the Peeps and dip each one into the chocolate. Try to cover the marshmallows to where they were separated.

3. Place the chocolate dipped Peeps onto the parchment paper with a little space between so the chocolate doesn't have to be broken apart later.

4. If you have excess chocolate, drizzle a little over the Peeps, just for fun.

5. Refrigerate for one hour or until chocolate is solid. Store in a Ziploc bag or airtight container so the Peeps don't get too stale... if they last that long.

Caramel popcorn is a great treat, but when you want to take it to the next level, you add chocolate. This takes it from a fun treat to something wonderfully decadent. This dark and white chocolate drizzled caramel popcorn takes some time to make, but your family will love it.

The part that takes the longest is making the caramel popcorn. It’s not really all that difficult, but it is time consuming. If you want an easy cleanup, you may want to get one or two of those disposable aluminum roasting pans. The high edges will help when you need to stir the popcorn. Any roasting pan will do the job if you have one.

Start by making the popcorn. I used my Stir Crazy popcorn popper. It took two rounds to make as much as I wanted. Put the popcorn into your roasting pan as you make it so that you can see when you have enough. This way it’s ready to go when your caramel is hot. Do not line it with aluminum foil… the caramel will stick too much to it and make stirring very difficult. It’s not worth the trouble.

Once the popcorn is made, start on the caramel and preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.

Melt one cup of butter in a saucepan. Add two cups of brown sugar, half a cup of corn syrup, and a teaspoon of salt. Bring this whole thing to a boil. Stir constantly so that it mixes well as it comes to a boil.

Once all of this is boiling, stop stirring and allow to boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla extract.

Pour the hot caramel all over the popcorn. Quickly stir the popcorn and caramel together. The caramel will not perfectly coat the popcorn at this time – that’s a part of what happens while you cook this in the oven.

Place the caramel popcorn in the oven and bake for one hour, removing from the oven every 15 minutes to give it a good stir. This will help coat the popcorn more thoroughly.

Allow the popcorn to cool. Break apart the chunks once it has cooled.

Now you get to add the chocolate! Spread the popcorn out in a single layer. You can spread it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper at this point, and cleanup will be easier. I kept some of my popcorn as plain caramel corn, which made it easier to spread out. Besides, caramel popcorn without chocolate is yummy too!

Melt a half cup of white chocolate with a teaspoon of coconut oil in 30 second increments in your microwave, stirring between rounds until smooth. Drizzle the white chocolate back and forth across the popcorn.

Do the same with the dark chocolate. I used a spoon to make it easier to drizzle the chocolate.

The chocolate will harden if leave it out, but if you want to speed things up, pop the baking sheet into the refrigerator for a half hour or so. It’s not a good place to store popcorn, though. Not that your family is likely to give you a chance to store the popcorn once they see it.

4.85 from 137 votes

Print

Dark And White Chocolate Drizzled Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup popcorn kernels
• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup white chocolate
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate
• 2 tsp coconut oil, divided

Instructions

1. Pop the popcorn. This may take more than one round, depending on how you make it. Place popped popcorn in a roasting pan and put aside. You may need two pans to make stirring easier.

2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

3. Make the caramel. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Stir constantly until this mixture comes to a boil.

4. Allow mixture to boil for 4 minutes without stirring.

5. Remove from heat and add in baking soda and vanilla extract. Stir well, then pour over the popcorn. Stir the popcorn well to start coating. Coating will not be complete at this stage.

6. Place popcorn in oven and bake for one hour. Remove from oven every 15 minutes and give the popcorn a good stir. This will help coat the popcorn more evenly.

7. Remove from oven and allow popcorn to cool. Break up the large chunks of caramel popcorn when it is cool.

8. Spread the caramel popcorn out in a single layer on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.

9. Melt the white chocolate with 1 tsp of coconut oil in a bowl. Use the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between rounds. Drizzle melted white chocolate across the caramel popcorn using a spoon.

10. Melt the dark chocolate with 1 tsp of coconut oil in a bowl. Use the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between rounds. Drizzle melted dark chocolate across the caramel popcorn using a spoon.
    

11. Allow chocolate to solidify. You can speed this up with about 30 minutes in the refrigerator, but do not store the popcorn in the fridge. Move into a serving bowl or storage container when the chocolate is solid.

I’ve been spending some time thinking about what treats to make for my family for Valentine’s Day. My kids are a little spoiled when it comes to decent quality chocolate – they can’t stand the cheap stuff sold in heart boxes by most companies this time of year. I can’t say I blame them – most of that is pretty awful.

This year I decided to start out with some strawberry lemonade bark. I like the color combination that white chocolate and freeze dried strawberries bring for a Valentine treat. Like any other chocolate bark, it’s also very easy to make. I used white chocolate chips because they work well enough for this kind of treat.

I chose a combination of lemon extract and citric acid for the lemonade flavoring in the white chocolate. The lemon extract gives the flavor a good start, and the citric acid brings a nice tartness to the chocolate.

Amounts don’t have to be precise. Taste the white chocolate as you add in the lemon extract and citric acid so that you get the right tartness for your preferences. I like thinks pretty tart, but my youngest daughter hates anything sour so I have to be careful.

Mix the lemon extract and citric acid into the melted white chocolate thoroughly. The citric acid takes some work to mix in smoothly, but it’s worth it.

Once the white chocolate is sufficiently lemony for your tastes, spread it in a thin layer on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. This doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth – chocolate bark looks good with a little roughness. Make sure no sections are too thick.

Sprinkle the freeze dried strawberries all over the white chocolate. The large pieces can be moved around so they aren’t too thick in any one area. Tap them lightly into the chocolate so that they stay in place.

There will be strawberry powder in the bottom of the bag. I did what I could to sprinkle the powder over as much of the chocolate as possible. It gives a nice color and flavor to those areas not covered by larger pieces.

Refrigerate for one hour, then break into serving size chunks.

You could also do this in molds, but I like the rough look of broken bark. Amazon carries a nice selection of heart shaped silicone molds for chocolate.

4.96 from 480 votes

Print

Strawberry Lemonade Bark

Ingredients

• 11 oz white chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp lemon extract
• 1/2 tsp citric acid or to taste
• 0.52 oz bag freeze dried strawberries

Instructions

1. Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with parchment paper.

2. Melt white chocolate chips in microwave using 30 second increments and stirring between rounds. Chocolate should become smooth.

3. Mix lemon extract into melted white chocolate and stir thoroughly to combine. Add citric acid to taste.

4. Spread white chocolate in a thin layer over the baking sheet.

5. Sprinkle freeze dried strawberries over the white chocolate, moving large pieces as needed for a good distribution. Use strawberry dust in package as well. Tap large strawberry pieces lightly into chocolate.

6. Refrigerate for one hour to solidify chocolate. Break into chunks and serve.

Ever have one of those days where you just look at an ingredient in your pantry and wonder what to do with it? That happened to me the other day. I bought some marshmallow fluff on a whim a few weeks ago, and nothing had happened with it yet. It was time. I looked around the pantry for a little, and settled on chocolate covered marshmallow pretzels.

As with any chocolate dipped treat, these are pretty easy to make. The most important thing to do is make sure that you freeze the pretzels well after dipping them in the marshmallow fluff. The whole thing goes a lot better if the fluff is frozen solid.

The other thing to remember is that it is very easy to break pretzel rods. Marshmallow fluff is stiff enough to do that if you aren’t careful during the dipping process.

I chose pretzel rods because they’re easy to hold after dipping. If you want to do this with pretzels in the traditional knot, I’d suggest spooning the fluff onto them and coating the whole thing.

The first few pretzel rods were simple to dip. Poke them into the fluff, pull them back out, and they’re nicely coated. Allow a generous portion of marshmallow fluff to remain on the pretzel, or the other flavors will overwhelm the marshmallow.

After those first few, however, the fluff needs a good stir, and you’ll probably need to use a spoon to get the fluff onto enough of the pretzel rod.

Place each fluff dipped pretzel rod onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Work quickly, as the marshmallow fluff will slowly puddle to the sides of the pretzels. Freeze as soon as possible for at least an hour.

Prepare a second baking sheet by covering it with parchment paper. You can’t reuse the one that the pretzel rods covered in marshmallow fluff are on in the freezer right now – the fluff will sometimes remain behind as you pick up the rods to dip in chocolate. It’s much neater to use a second baking sheet instead.

Melt your chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments with some coconut oil to help it run more smoothly. Stir between rounds until the chocolate is smooth.

Check on the frozen pretzel rods. If the marshmallow fluff pulls smoothly off the parchment paper, they’re ready for dipping. If it sticks, they need more time.

Working quickly, dip each pretzel rod in the chocolate and place on the second baking sheet. Cover the marshmallow fluff section completely. Add sprinkles if desired. If the marshmallow fluff starts sticking, they need to go back into the freezer for at least 10-15 minutes before you continue dipping. Place all the rods into the refrigerator or freezer once you’re done dipping them to solidify the chocolate.

Eating these chocolate covered marshmallow pretzels frozen is the most fun. The marshmallow fluff is nicely chewy when frozen. They taste great at room temperature too. Marshmallow fluff will try to escape out of any gaps in the chocolate if you keep these at room temperature.

3.4 from 1243 votes

Print

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pretzels

Ingredients

• 10 pretzel rods
• 1 container marshmallow fluff
• 8 oz chocolate chips
• 2 tsp coconut oil

Instructions

1. Prepare two baking sheets by covering them with parchment paper. You will need one for the first part of this recipe, and the second later on.

2. Dip each pretzel rod in the marshmallow fluff. The fluff will need to be stirred regularly with a spoon, and you may need to use a spoon to spread the fluff further onto the pretzel rods. Place each one on the first baking sheet, making sure the fluff covered portions do not touch.

3. Freeze them for at least one hour, or until the marshmallow fluff pulls cleanly off the parchment paper when the pretzel is picked up.

4. Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil together in the microwave in 30 second increments, giving a quick stir between rounds, until smooth.

5. Working quickly, dip the frozen fluff covered pretzel rods in the chocolate. Cover the marshmallow fluff completely. Add sprinkles if desired. If the fluff starts to stick to the parchment paper, put them back into the freezer for 10-15 minutes, then continue dipping.

6. Refrigerate or freeze the chocolate covered marshmallow pretzels to solidify the chocolate. These can be served frozen or at room temperature.

Popcorn can be a nice, healthy treat. Well, healthy until you coat it with chocolate and add in a bunch of Nerds candy. Then, maybe not so healthy. But healthy isn’t the point of making chocolate covered popcorn with Nerds. Fun is.

This was made as a fun surprise for my kids. They had no idea that I had made it until I pulled it out of the cabinet. That’s one of the fun parts of having kids in school – they’re easy to surprise because they aren’t always home with you. They already know I like Nerds with chocolate ever since I made the Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Monsters, which also had Nerds as a topping.

I used dark chocolate for this recipe because it’s my favorite. If you want to go for looks, try it with white chocolate. The Nerds should show up better that way too.

I made a bunch of popcorn with my Stir Crazy popcorn popper. That leaves a little oil on the popcorn, but really not enough to notice. I wouldn’t recommend using store bought microwave popcorn for this recipe as I’m not at all sure what the butter flavoring would do to the taste.

If you really want to microwave your popcorn, you can prepare plain popcorn for the microwave. Pour about a quarter cup of popcorn kernels into a lunch size paper bag. Fold the end over a time or two and place in the microwave. Cook about as long as you would store bought microwave popcorn – maybe two minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the popping slows down enough.

Don’t burn popcorn in the microwave. My daughter has a friend who prefers it that way and did it once at my house. We had to open all the windows on a cool day because it smelled so awful. She was happy, though. I tried some, and it tasted as bad as it smelled.

When you have enough popcorn made, it’s time to prepare the chocolate. Place the popcorn in a large bowl, bigger than it looks like the popcorn needs. You’ll be doing a lot of stirring.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between rounds, until it’s completely melted. Pour over the popcorn and stir a few times.

Add in the Nerds candy after those first few stirs. Now you really want to stir things up, so that the popcorn is thoroughly coated.

If you’re using dark chocolate, you won’t be able to see the Nerds in there very well. That’s okay – you’ll still taste them, and that’s all you need.

Spread the chocolate popcorn out on a baking sheet that has been covered in parchment paper. The better you spread it out, the easier it will be to break into chunks later. Refrigerate until the chocolate has solidified, perhaps 15-30 minutes.

Break up the clumps and put into a container. I used an old gallon pickle jar I had around the house. They’re pretty useful sometimes, so I keep a few.

The chocolate covered popcorn with Nerds was a big hit with the kids. We adults liked it too.

3.2 from 2083 votes

Print

Chocolate Covered Popcorn With Nerds

Ingredients

• 5 cups popped popcorn
• 8 oz dark chocolate chips or chopped into small pieces
• 2 oz Nerds candy

Instructions

1. Place popcorn in large bowl with plenty of room for mixing. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Place chocolate in small bowl and melt in 30 second increments until completely melted. Stir between rounds.

3. Pour melted chocolate over popcorn and give a quick stir to lightly coat popcorn.

4. Add in Nerds and keep stirring popcorn until thoroughly coated.

5. Spread chocolate popcorn on covered baking sheet as well as possible. Refrigerate 15-30 minutes, or until chocolate has solidified.

6. Break up large chunks of popcorn and place in storage container or serving bowl. Enjoy.

Recipe Notes

You can be very approximate with measurements in this recipe. It's very flexible.

My husband loves to get peppermint candy canes for Christmas. He doesn’t usually eat them, but they’re the traditional type, and so he really wants them in the house. The only problem is that I’m not that fond of them, and neither are the kids. They’d rather have the various flavored candy canes. And so I have to find something to do with the peppermint ones. The first thing I decided to make with them this year was some chocolate dipped marshmallows with peppermint.

These are extremely easy to make. The marshmallow size doesn’t matter. I used giant ones because I had them on hand, but regular marshmallows would work fine too. Miniature marshmallows might be a bit tedious to use.

This would also work well with white chocolate. More of a peppermint in snow kind of look maybe as well. Personally, I like dark chocolate, so that’s where I went with this.

Unwrap the peppermint candy canes and place inside a ziploc bag. Crush them with a rolling pin or mallet. Don’t crush them too fine – you want small chunks, not just powder. Pour into a bowl.

Melt your chocolate and some coconut oil in the microwave, using 30 second increments. Stir between rounds until chocolate is smooth.

Dip one end of the marshmallows in the chocolate, then dip it into the crushed peppermint candy canes. I just did the tops and a little along the sides. You can dip the whole thing if you want, but I like the look of it this way.

Refrigerate for a half hour to an hour or until the chocolate has solidified.

The last few marshmallows probably won’t look as cute as the first ones, as you get more into the peppermint dust rather than the peppermint chunks. Don’t worry – they’ll still taste fine. If you’re going for presentation, give the ones that don’t look as good to the kids or eat them yourself. You know kids only care so much about how a treat looks, so long as it tastes good.

If you want to get a little extra fancy with the flavor, you can add some peppermint extract to the chocolate to intensify the whole peppermint flavor. This would make more of a peppermint bark on marshmallow kind of thing.

2.99 from 270 votes

Print

Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows With Peppermint

Ingredients

• 6 peppermint candy canes
• 10 oz chocolate chips white, milk or dark
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 bag large marshmallows (you won't use all of them)

Instructions

1. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Unwrap peppermint candy canes and place in ziplock bag. Lightly crush with a rolling pin or mallet. Pour into bowl.

3. Combine chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl. Melt in 30 second increments. Stir between rounds until smooth.

4. Dip marshmallows in chocolate, then in crushed peppermint candy canes. Place peppermint side down on parchment paper.

5. Refrigerate until chocolate is solid.

Recipe Notes

It may help to let chocolate partially solidify before dipping the marshmallows in peppermint. Don't let it get too hard.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. You have every excuse to indulge in some candy at Halloween. My focus, of course, is on things I can do with chocolate. But why limit yourself to what comes home in the trick or treat bags, when there are so many great ideas for fun and spooky chocolate treats out there.

I’ve shared a few ideas here. Just to remind you, they’re:

Mint Chocolate Monster Milkshake

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Monsters

Eye Scream Sundae

Chocolate Popping Frogs – Strictly speaking, I don’t make these guys for Halloween. I make them because my kids love Harry Potter, which makes chocolate popping frogs an awesome idea. But they work very well for Halloween too.

I have so many more ideas, but not enough time to do them before Halloween. They’ll have to wait until next year. For now, I’d like to share some ideas I’ve found across the internet.

Cookies and Brownies

Halloween cookies are a tradition for many families. They’re easy to make, and a few simple add-ins make them perfect for Halloween.

Halloween Spider Cookies

Halloween Witch Hat Treats

Halloween Brownie Bites

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – not scary, but they look good.

Chocolate Dipped Treats

When you don’t have time to bake, dipping pretzels or fruit in chocolate may be easier. You can get pretty fancy if you want, but many of these look super easy.

Halloween Pretzels

Chocolate Pear Ghosts

Halloween Chocolate Apples

Monster Munch – this one isn’t so much chocolate dipped as it is chocolate coated, but near enough. Variations to suit whatever you have on hand should be easy enough.

Pudding

Witches Brew Pudding

Graveyard Dirt Cups

Candy and Fudge

Halloween Fudge

Oreo Bat Truffles

Cakes

Spider Web Cupcakes

Halloween Kitty S’more Trifles

I hope these ideas get you going to have a little fun making spooky chocolate treats for your family this Halloween. It’s so much fun surprising everyone with an unexpected treat. Other times it’s more fun making them together. Get creative with your use of ingredients and see how you can change these up for your family.

Kids love marshmallows. They especially love giant marshmallows, which is why I chose giant marshmallows for this Halloween treat. The size also goes better with the gummy eyes I used to make my chocolate covered marshmallow monsters.

These are easy and fun to make. You can use just about any small topping to make the monsters look interesting. I used Nerds and Pop Rocks for these, along with a little candy corn for decorations. The ones made with Pop Rocks have to be eaten fairly quickly – the Pop Rocks will lose their pop and get soggy after several hours.

Cake sprinkles would work well too. Sugar sprinkles don’t work too well, as they soak quickly into the chocolate. If the chocolate is close to solid they may work out better.

Lightly crushed pretzels are another option I considered but didn’t try. I think the bit of salt would go well with all the sweet this treat has.

You could also use colored candy melts rather than chocolate to give your monsters an interesting color. I prefer chocolate, so I didn’t.

I make these over a baking sheet for easy cleanup. It keeps most of the drips off the counter. When I’m done, the whole mess can be cleaned in the sink. It’s much faster than scrubbing countertops.

When you’re dipping the marshmallows, it’s easiest to have them on a popsicle stick. You can keep them on the stick for serving as well if you like. Dip the marshmallow into your melted chocolate. Use a spoon to pour a little chocolate around any areas that don’t go all the way in. I left the bottoms undipped – just a style choice.

It took some work to figure out how to let these dry for a little before dipping into the toppings. If you dip the marshmallows into the topping when the chocolate is too melty, everything drips off.

I placed a bowl on my baking sheet, and used it to balance the freshly dipped marshmallows, with the popsicle sticks against the edge of the baking sheet. You can’t fit a lot of them using this method, but you can get a few. If the sticks won’t stay down, a bag clip attached to the baking sheet above the stick will help.

Refrigerate the freshly dipped marshmallows for just a few minutes before rolling in the toppings. You don’t want the chocolate to completely solidify, but you want it solid enough to hold the toppings well. 2-5 minutes, depending on how warm your chocolate is, should be plenty. Carry the baking sheet carefully, or the marshmallows will fall over. No big deal, just prop them up again.

Pour your chosen toppings into a bowl, and roll the chocolate coated marshmallows in them. Coat them completely, but leave a bit of space for the eye or eyes.

If you cover the space where the eyes with toppings, take a clean popsicle stick and move them out of the way. Add a little chocolate if necessary before placing the eye.

You will probably need to lay the chocolate covered marshmallow monster down on its back after adding the eye, so it doesn’t fall off. Depending on the toppings, you may get a slight flat spot back there, but it’s usually not too bad.

To add candy corn decorations or anything else that sticks out, stab the appropriate spot with a skewer or butter knife, then stick the item in.

Refrigerate your chocolate covered marshmallow monsters until solid. Give at least 20 minutes to an hour.

At this point you can remove the popsicle stick if you want to display the monsters sitting up. Then again, kids may like them better on a stick – food tastes better on a stick, right? These probably won’t last long either way once the kids see them.

4.46 from 357 votes

Print

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Monsters

Ingredients

• 10 oz chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 bag giant marshmallows you won't use all of these
• popsicle sticks
• assorted toppings Nerds, sprinkles, etc.
• 1 package gummy or candy eyes

Instructions

1. Place chocolate chips and coconut oil in microwave safe bowl. Melt in 30 second increments, stirring between rounds.

2. Place giant marshmallows on popsicle sticks.

3. Dip marshmallows into chocolate. Use a spoon to pour chocolate over the marshmallow if the chocolate is not deep enough.

4. Balance dipped marshmallows and give time for chocolate to partially solidify. This will help the toppings stay on. Refrigerate for 2-5 minutes to speed this up.

5. Roll dipped marshmallows in selected toppings. Lay the marshmallow flat.

6. Clear a space for the candy eye or eyes, then place eye. The marshmallow will need to remain flat so that the eye does not fall off as the chocolate solidifies.

7. Cool finished marshmallows for at least 20 minutes or until the chocolate has completely solidified.

8. Remove popsicle sticks if you want to stand the chocolate covered marshmallow monsters up, or keep on sticks if you want to serve them lollipop style. Kids won't care.