Christmas Candies You Should Make in December

Christmas is right around the corner, which means one thing around here: It’s time to plan out the candies we’re making!  Christmas candy is a must for holiday parties and a perfect gift to give to neighbors and coworkers, so now’s the time to choose a few candies to make during December.

One of our favorite Christmas candy options around here is traditional chocolate candies molded into holiday shapes. It’s great for candy making beginners and experts, and if you stock up on a few different types of candy molds, you can make all of your Christmas candy in a snap!

To make chocolate candies, choose a chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa butter to give the chocolate plenty of sheen and temper the chocolate (for an easy chocolate tempering tutorial, click here). Next, pour the chocolate into your different holiday candy molds — we recommend evergreen trees, stars and Santa’s face for a cute variety of chocolates to give to family and friends. Let the chocolate cool, and then your chocolate treats are ready to go!

Another classic holiday treat is fudge, which might be one of the quickest and most simple sweets to make.

For our super-simple fudge, you’ll need:

• 12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp water 
• ½ of a 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk 
• ¾ c. chopped walnuts
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Microwave the semisweet chocolate chips, water and condensed milk together on high, stopping each minute to stir until the chocolate is smooth. Once the chocolate is fully melted, add in the walnuts and vanilla and pour the mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Chill the fudge until firm, then cut and enjoy!

For a change from traditional Christmas candy, we love making peanut butter truffles! Better Homes and Gardens has a delicious recipe for this tasty dessert, and it only requires a few easy ingredients and a little bit of time. This recipe allows for a little customization, too: You can add in finely chopped peanuts and use whatever quality of dark or bittersweet chocolate you want!

What’s your favorite treat to make for friends, family, coworkers and neighbors this time of year? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook!

How to Decorate Holiday Cookies

Whether you are young or old, one of our favorite activities to do as a family around the holidays is to sit around the table laughing, sharing stories, and decorating holiday cookies. However, thinking about the potential mess of smeared icing and scattered sprinkles can make some nervous. Today, we have compiled a helpful guide to icing and decorating your own holiday cookies to make a memorable and delicious treat for your family.

The first step to creating a fun collection of holiday cookies is assembling some festive cookie cutters. Some of our favorites for the holidays are the classic Gingerbread Boy, Candy Cane and the Snow Covered Tree. Kids will love rolling out the dough with a rolling pin and stamping their own shapes, but be sure that there is an adult around to put the cookies into the hot oven!

Next comes the sweetest part of the cookie making process: the icing! We love using the soft and fluffy CK Buttercream Frosting on our cookies. Delicious and easy to use, it is the perfect canvas for any cookie. You can apply it right from the can or whip it up in the mixer on low with any of our professional food colorings for a rainbow of frosting colors. Or, if you want to add more of a seasonal twist to your frosting, add in a few drops of candy flavoring oils: Peppermint and cinnamon are our favorites this time of year.

Your kids will love the last step, making their cookies truly unique by dusting on colored sugar or fun-shaped sprinkles. These Christmas Light Bulk Candy Sprinkles are perfect for any sugar cookie, or go the more classic route with White and Red Decorette sprinkles for a custom-designed candy cane look.

The options for holiday cookies are truly endless, and with the holiday season creeping up on us, it is the perfect time to start experimenting with decorations for your holiday party or just a snowy afternoon snuggled up inside with your family. For more ideas on how to decorate holiday cookies this year, check out one of our favorite guides, courtesy of Real Simple Magazine.

What are you favorite ways to decorate cookies this time of year? Leave a comment and let other readers know your secrets!

The Beginner’s Guide to Making Holiday Candy

No matter which holiday you are celebrating during the winter season, it is a great time of year to show your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers how much you appreciate everything that they have done for you this year with a little bag of sweet treats. With all of the peppermint and chocolate candy options, it can be overwhelming to know where to begin! Luckily, today we have assembled a handy beginner’s guide to making holiday candy to whip you into shape for the holiday season, including how you can use some of the tools you already have to make delicious delights that everyone will love!

Candy Molds

Whether you fill it with hard candies, mints or chocolate, everyone will love all of the fun festive shapes of our favorite holiday molds. At such affordable prices, candy molds are a great place to stock up with a variety of options to give your dessert tray personality. The cute mini Pine Cone Mold is ideal for chocolate, and the Tree Sucker Mold would be perfect to fill with bright colored candy melting wafers. When making lollipops, do not forget the most important part — the sucker sticks!

Fillings

While red, green and white candy melts are always safe and reliable options around the holidays, this is the time of year to be adventurous and make your candies as bright and colorful as the ornaments on your Christmas tree.  Or, try dipping your favorite crunchy snacks like pretzel sticks or twists into our premium chocolate melts and then dip in your favorite multi colored sprinkles, or even crush up candy canes and dip chocolate melts into the powder.

Packaging

The holiday season is no time to be shy with your candy packaging. Now more than ever is time to go over the top with bows, curled ribbon and bright colored packaging. From gold and silver doilies to red and green twist ties for cello bags, Sweet Treat Supply has you covered, whether you are bringing a tray of treats to a friend’s party or giving out small bags as favors. For a real blank canvas, try putting your candies inside one of our simple White Cake Boxes. If you have children who are eager to help with the candy preparations, but you are hesitant to have handling hot candy melts, they will love decorating the boxes!

We all know how easy it is for the holiday season to become jam packed with gift shopping, school activities and office holiday parties, and it is tempting to grab the first tray of holiday cookies at the grocery store as you dash out the door. However, with so many simple options in the candy making world, it is a fun way to add a personalized and handmade touch to your gifts and treats that everyone will love and appreciate!

Five Fall Treats You’ll Love

With the arrival of fall comes a wave of new flavors that will leave you tempted to clean out the pantry and make room for all of the delicious goodness that the season has to offer. However, with so many holidays to celebrate and football games to watch, there is hardly an extra minute of time to put toward concocting all of the sweet treats on your fall wish list! That’s why we’ve put together a list of five must-try simple dessert recipes for fall that you’ll absolutely love:

Candy Corn Cookies

It’s impossible to talk about fall without mentioning the spookiest, most sugary holiday of the year: Halloween. As a tribute to this fun holiday (and your secret candy corn addiction), spoil yourself with these decadent candy corn and white chocolate chip cookies. You haven’t experienced candy corn until you’ve had them like this: warm, gooey and surrounded by white chocolate chips and cookie. Is your mouth watering yet? Try this simple cookie recipe and your friends and family (and your taste buds) will thank you!

Mini Caramel Apples

These delicious caramel creations are the non-baker’s solution to a fantastic autumn-themed dessert. A twist on the standard-sized caramel apple, these minis are as easy to make but without the messy eating! These fruity sweets are the perfect treat for your Halloween happy hour or for the next big fall bake sale. Make your mini apples even more festive by rolling them in autumn-colored edible glitter!

Candied Pecans

One of the telltale signs of fall is seeing fallen pecans on the sidewalk and hearing the crunch of their shells as you pull up your driveway. If you don’t have time to prepare a full-fledged pecan pie for your in-laws visit this Thanksgiving, candied pecans are SO easy to whip up. Plus, they go with just about everything. Eat them by themselves, use them in your fall cookie recipes or even add them to a tossed salad! You can also spruce up any store-bought dessert with these tasty treats.

Snicker Apple Pie

This twist on a classic autumn apple pie recipe is so simple, you’ll feel bad taking too much credit for your sweet creation at the next holiday party. All you need is a pre-made pie crust and some chopped apples and snickers, and you’re practically ready to put it in the oven. Never underestimate simplicity when it comes to baking!

Ooey-Gooey Turtle Bars

These Ooey-Gooey Turtle Bars are a special treat that will have you feeling like a kid again waiting for them to come out of the oven. The combination of caramel, pecans, chocolate and heaven make these the pinnacle of all the great fall dessert recipes. The great thing about this recipe is that you can throw in just about any combination of extras you want. Butterscotch chips instead of chocolate? Easy. Heath bar crumbs for pecans? Done. These may take a little more time and effort to make than some of our other fall dessert recipes, but it will definitely be worth it!

We want to know how your recipes turn out! Which other delicious fall desserts do you love? Let us know, and visit the Sweet Treat Supply store for all of your baking and decorating needs!

Pumpkin Dessert Recipe Roundup

Fall is finally here, and that means one thing: It’s time for some delicious pumpkin desserts! Whether you’ve been craving pumpkin all year long or the fall weather is making you crave some comforting pumpkin flavor, a sweet pumpkin treat is a great way to celebrate this season. We’ve scoured Pinterest and a few of our favorite cooking blogs to find some of the most delicious pumpkin desserts so you can ring in this new season with great taste.

Check out our list of favorite recipes:

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies — With pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin puree and oatmeal, what’s not to love about these cookies? They’re the perfect amount of sweet, not too difficult to make, and you can convince yourself that they’re almost healthy with the pumpkin and oats.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls — Could anything scream “Fall!” more than pumpkin cinnamon rolls? Didn’t think so. These cinnamon rolls come with a buttermilk and pumpkin dough, fabulously buttery cinnamon sugar filling and a cream cheese glaze to die for. While they’re probably not the easiest pumpkin treat you’ll make this fall, they’re sure to be one of the tastiest.

Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting — Take a moment to take in that entire name for this dessert. Brown butter? Delicious. Pumpkin? Love it, obviously. Cupcakes? Of course. Cinnamon? Yes. Cream cheese frosting? Please. We’re not sure if there’s any way to make these cupcakes tastier. They have fall written all over them, so they’re a perfect indulgence for this time of year.

Pumpkin Mug Cake — Pressed for time, but still want a delicious pumpkin dessert? This mug cake has your back. It only needs four ingredients and 60 seconds in the microwave before you’re rewarded with something warm and sweet. You won’t find any hard-to-find ingredients in this recipe, either: cake mix (might we recommend one of these CK cake mixes?), pumpkin puree, water and pumpkin pie spice.

Fudgy Pumpkin Bars with Vanilla Bean Brown Butter Glaze — If you follow us on Facebook, you’ve probably noticed how much we like the Averie Cooks blog. Well, no pumpkin recipe roundup is complete without a recipe from her. In fact, Averie Sunshine just recently released a book called “Cooking with Pumpkin: Recipes That Go Beyond the Pie.” One of our favorite recent pumpkin recipes from her are these fudgy pumpkin bars. There is absolutely nothing that we don’t love about this recipe.

If you’re looking to make a favorite pumpkin recipe at home, one of our favorite products is the pumpkin spice bakery emulsion. It’s gluten-free and water-based so the flavor won’t bake out.

What are your favorite pumpkin recipes? Let us know in the comments below! If you’re looking for more pumpkin inspiration, check out our Halloween board on Pinterest with plenty of pumpkin deliciousness!

Make Popular Halloween Candies at Home for Halloween

In the weeks leading up to Halloween, we are inundated with Halloween candy everywhere we turn — the grocery, the pharmacy and on your co-workers desk. This year, instead of snatching a bag of mixed fun-size bars on your way to the cash register, why not try making homemade Halloween candy? Making imitations of your favorite Halloween treats is much easier than you might expect. We have chosen two of our favorites to share with you today!

Homemade Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

People have been enjoying Reese’s cups for almost 100 years! Using one of Sweet Treat Supply’s , melt some chocolate, and pour a small layer into the bottom of the mold cups to start making this delicious treat. Next, mix peanut butter with small amounts of butter and confectioner’s sugar. Although we know that a lot of you love natural peanut butter, you’re better off reaching for that jar of Skippy, as the oils in natural peanut butters will separate from the mixture and ruin your delicious center. Place a small spoonful of the peanut butter mixture in the mold, and cover with more melted chocolate. Be sure to keep these in the fridge so that they will maintain their nice snap!
Peanut Butter Cup Molds

Homemade Snickers Bars

This recipe should come with a danger warning, for it may have addicting properties. The How Sweet It Is blog took your favorite Snickers and shared instructions on how to easily make them at home. All you need for a Snickers is a layer of nougat and a layer of caramel sandwiched between two layers of decadent peanut buttery chocolate. Here are specific instructions:

1. Grease a baking pan.
2. For the bottom layer of chocolate, melt 1 ¼ cups of milk chocolate chips and ¼ cups of peanut butter in the microwave. Spread over the greased baking sheet and put in the fridge until it is completely hardened.
3. Next you are going to make the nougat layer. Melt ¼ unsalted butter over medium heat. Stir in 1 cup of granulated sugar and ¼ of evaporated milk until dissolved, and bring to a boil. Cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in 1 ½ cups marshmallow fluff, ¼ cups of peanut butter and 1 tsp of vanilla extract, stirring until smooth. Turn off the heat and drop in 1 ¼ cups of roughly chopped salted peanuts. 
4. For the caramel layer, combine a 14 oz bag of caramels and ¼ cups of whipping cream in a saucepan over low heat. Slowly stir until smooth, and pour over the nougat and let cool.
5. Repeat Step 2 for the top layer of chocolate.
6. Let cool in the fridge for an hour before cutting into small rectangles and serving.
7. If you want to give them out individually, try wrapping them in some of our Foil Candy Wrappers.

Have you ever tried making your own candy bars at home? Was it hard to resist eating the ingredients before actually cooking them? Or, do you have any other homemade versions of your favorite treats that you would like us to teach you how to make? Let us know in the comments!

Top Candy Molds for Halloween

Trick or treat! Here at Sweet Treat Supply, we love incorporating different holidays into our delicious goodies. What better time to enjoy some festive candy than at Halloween? With our large collection of fun and spooky Halloween candy molds, you are sure to find the perfect shape for your event this year. These are treats that you children, friends, and coworkers will all enjoy.

• Jack O Lantern Mold: What would Halloween be without a classic Jack O Lantern? If you aren’t so keen on making a pulpy mess with an actual pumpkin, try these fun Jack O Lantern molds. Simply add orange powder color to our white confectionary coating and make those pumpkins pop!
• Eyeball Chocolate Mold: One of our slightly more spine-tingling molds, these eyeball molds are the perfect way to shock your friends in a fun way. Drop some classic brown chocolate into the mold first and then fill with white chocolate. When dry, add some creepy red lines to achieve the full effect.
• Bat Sucker Chocolate Mold: If you are looking for slightly larger treats, try out the Bat Chocolate Molds. They are so simple to make with chocolate melts and our 4 1/2” sucker sticks. This is a fun treat to wrap in some orange cellophane, tie with a bit of festive ribbon, and bring to any school or office Halloween party. They are sure to fly from the table.
• Witch on Broom Sucker Mold: Double double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble! Few images are as iconically tied to Halloween as the witch. There is a reason why every year, it remains one of the most classic fallback costume choices, and Hocus Pocus is played on repeat. Make your own witch lollipops in a color of your choice with this popular mold.
• 3D Large Skull Front Chocolate Mold: We love our large statement chocolate molds, and this 3D skull is perfect for Halloween. These look great when placed in the middle of a large serving platter with smaller chocolate mold shapes positioned around it.
• Assorted Halloween with Hat Mold: Can’t choose just one shape for this Halloween? You are in luck! We have multiple candy molds with assorted Halloween shapes, so you can choose exactly the ones that you want for your party. We love this one with witches’ hats, but there are others with haunted houses, skeletons, bats, tombstones and every shape for your Halloween theme.

There are even more fun Halloween-themed molds at in our candy mold section, so check them out in time for the holidays! If you have other ideas for homemade Halloween candy or Halloween party ideas, share them below or on our Facebook page.