Holiday Treats!

Thinking back on the fondest of my Christmas memories, it is no surprise that I tend to land on the treats! Homemade treats! Candy, fudge, divinity, cookies...all perfectly packaged in the most idyllic of holiday containers, decorative tins!

Oh, how I loved it when those tins started rolling in! Not only were they beautiful, but they contained the most marvelous little treasures! Some were old favorites, some were kinda scary at first but turned out to be rather tasty! Others...well...you win some you lose some...but that is not the point! Point is that good or bad, it was a treat! It may have been taken for granted at the time, the hours of effort seemingly unappreciated, but looking back, it is the little things, like the tins of homemade candy that I so loved and miss.

This year I decided to embark on my very own candy making adventure!

I started slow, as you have to ease into these kind of things.

My first thought, colored by my love of most things vintage, was rum balls.

I never really remember eating a rum ball but they were a staple in my Grandmother's Holiday tins!

I found a recipe at: www.joyofbaking.com and altered it a bit by using amaretto rather than rum!

I know, I know, rum was kind of a key ingredient in making rum balls...but amaretto just sounded better! (I didn't toast the pecans either). They turned out pretty good, garnering rave reviews in the "test kitchen".

So, with the glowing reviews and dwindling stack of amaretto balls prodding me along, I started to feel brave. So brave in fact, that I concocted a little recipe of my own! Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Graham Balls

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2 1/2 cup........ Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter (I used Peter Pan)

1 1/2 cup........ Confectioners Sugar

2 1/2-3 cups... Crushed Graham Crackers (I used 2 of the packages in a box of Keebler brand)

1/4 cup............ Mini Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (use your own judgement here)

16 oz............... Semi Sweet Chocolate

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Directions:

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1. Mix together peanut butter, confectioners sugar, crushed graham crackers and chocolate chips. Blend together really well to form a dough. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place balls in the fridge to chill while you prepare the chocolate.

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2. Melt 16 oz of chocolate (I used Bakers chocolate squares 8 oz. at a time in the microwave for no longer than 30 seconds at a time as the chocolate will burn...trust me.)

Use two forks to dip the balls into the melted chocolate, rolling the ball from one fork to the other to remove excess chocolate. Place chocolate covered balls on parchment paper until the chocolate has set and the balls are cool.

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3. Store cooled balls in the fridge. (They keep longer this way!)

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Makes about 70 balls.