CANDY STOVE RECIPES

Steps:

• Put ingredients into a 4 or 5-quart crockpot in EXACT order as listed. Cover and cook on LOWEST setting [on your appliance] for 3 hours. DO NOT remove lid! Turn off and allow to cool slightly. Mixture will not be melted but will be soft. Mix thoroughly and drop by teaspoon size cookie dropper or a teaspoon onto wax paper. Let cool thoroughly. Makes approximately 150 - 170 pieces, depending, of course, on how large you make the pieces. NOTE: This candy is made best by following the recipe to the letter. Make other variations and changes at your own risk, [for example, using pecans or almonds in place of peanuts; white chocolate chips instead of almond bark, etc.] as this is the voice of experience speaking. Please take into consideration that it may alter the quality of the finished product. Thank you and LOL! **NOTE: There seems to be discrepencies in the terms crockpot and slow cooker. This recipe is for a crockpot which, when on low, will only melt the ingredients. A slow cooker will get hotter and start to cook the ingredients, thus resulting in an inferior product. Please be aware of what kind of appliance you have. It seems the older "crockpot" works best. There have been some who have burned their ingredients because their appliance is too hot. The makers and manufacturers of these appliances seem to interchange the description of their appliances calling slow cookers crockpots. It seems that Rival owns the name crockpot, therefore, others can't use the name crockpot, they are slow cookers. It's very confusing, but slow cookers, indeed, cook hotter, which could result in burning of this recipe. There are many discussions and explanations of this subject within the comments.
• ***NOTE I've been asked to add this note. If your crockpot appliance is below 275 watts, you should not have any problem with the candy burning if you follow the ingredients and the directions, however, all crockpots are different, so please pay attention to your cooking process. Look on the bottom of your appliance to see the wattage. The new crockpots get hotter than the older crockpots and the slow cookers get even hotter.
• DISCLAIMER: I have not made 1/2 a recipe, used peanut butter chips, mint chips, almonds, pecans, coconut or any other ingredients other than what the recipe calls for,(except for caramel and it was a disaster and I threw it away), I have not made it in the microwave nor have I made it on top of the stove, as this is a crockpot recipe, therefore, if you want to use any other ingredients or make it any other way, please do so, but it may not have the same consistency, texture, taste, nor gloss that this one has and the end results may not be the quality you are hoping for.

Steps:

• soften cream cheese in microwave -- don't melt, simply soften -- about 30 seconds
• begin to add powdered sugar by cup fulls -- work into cream cheese until it gets to be like a firm batter -- play dough would be a good example of the consistency you are looking for -- and you will end up having to do it with your hands
• separate the ball into as many different flavors as you would like to make -- I used to make at least 4 or 5 at a time. (Suggested flavors that people liked: vanilla, almond, mint, anise, chocolate, rum, cherry, orange, lemon, etc -- whatever you have in your cupboard or desire to purchase for this project.)
• To Flavor: make a deep thumb print in one of the balls and put in a drop or 2 of coloring and a tsp of flavoring -- begin working the ball with your hands until the color is smoothly distributed -- add more powdered sugar to bring back to workable dough that is not sticky. (I liked the colors to be pastel which I always thought were more appetizing so I never added more than 1 or 2 drops of food coloring -- you may do as much as you want.)
• After each ball is colored and flavored I used to decide on a different shape for each flavor so I could tell which ones were which after they were all coated with chocolate. Such as: tiny balls for one flavor, little squares for another, oblong balls for another, rectangles for another, flattened balls for another, etc.
• Slowly & carefully melt chocolate on low heat on stove top (or in microwave if you are comfortable with that -- I like the stove top because I have more control over the process) -- then dip each ball or shape into the chocolate and place on waxed paper covered cookie sheets. They will harden very quickly. I did not like to get my hands all chocolate covered so I always used a spoon to dip, and roll in the chocolate, then scoop out and place on waxed paper.
• After I had made these over the years, I also began to experiment with chocolate coating things that were already made (I was getting lazy LOL). One of my most favorite things was to chocolate coat gum drops. Candy manufacturers used to make chocolate covered "jellies" which I always loved... but they began to disappear over the years... gum drops were a perfect solution for someone who missed them!!
• I also found that I could chocolate coat dried pineapple, or mix peanuts with the chocolate to make little peanut heaps. We used to make "hay stacks" by dumping those hard canned Chinese noodles into chocolate and making little stacks. My sister used to like a Chunky candy bar and we made our own with peanuts and raisins in chocolate dropped by spoonfulls on waxed paper.
• Other people like to coat pretzels and crackers and cookies... once you get started with chocolate coating things you will find lots of individual and unique ways to make Christmas gifts that your friends will get from no other source. They will be clamoring for your home made creations. Enjoy!