Halloween Candy

This year I've been working on some special treats for my boys that they will enjoy on Halloween. We will have candy bars and taffy, made without any refined sugar. They've already sampled the goods, but the bulk of it is packed away until Halloween.

For the candy bars, I used the Legally Raw Bar recipe from The Daily Raw Cafe. I had to make a few changes, the biggest being that I used peanuts instead of the mixture of cashews and almonds, since my son is severely allergic to cashews. I used agave instead of honey, and I didn't put any sweetener in the caramel part, since I thought it was already sweet enough with the dates. These bars taste like a cross between a Mounds bar and a Reese's peanut butter cup. They're great! I think if I made them again, though, I would melt grain sweetened chocolate chips mixed with some coconut oil and use that for the chocolate coating. The coating in this recipe is very tasty, but it doesn't harden up even after being in the freezer. If you want your bar to have a solid, non-messy coating, you might want to do the same.

For the taffy, I used a really neat recipe using brown rice syrup found at HeidiLogic. Some friends joined us and we had our very own Taffy Pull. It was so much fun. We made three different flavors - peppermint, almond, and orange. I recommend using a lot of flavoring if you really want to taste it. We did small amounts of each and wished we'd added more. I'd say a tablespoon would be a good amount.

I'm storing the candy bars in the freezer and the taffy in a glass jar on the counter. It will be fun to give the boys some special candy on Halloween!

Mock Toffee

Mock Toffee was my comfort food of choice during the final month of pregnancy, and has also proven to be my comfort food of choice in the postpartum period! I can't get enough of it, especially when I spread cream cheese on in. So delicious! Lately I have been making it without nuts due to some nut allergies in our family, and it's just as tasty without the nuts. Here's the recipe:

Mock Toffee

1 c. brown rice syrup
1/2 c. butter
Midel graham crackers (or homemade)
grain-sweetened chocolate chips
pecan pieces (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375. Line large cookie sheet with foil, butter heavily; Place crackers side by side to cover cookie sheet.

2. Combine butter and brown rice syrup in a saucepan and heat until they boil and bubble. Pour immediately over crackers; Bake 10-12 minutes.

3. Remove from oven and sprinkle surface with chocolate chips. Allow to sit for about one minute, then spread chocolate around with a spatula until all the crackers are coated. If using nuts, sprinkle over chocolate and press into chocolate with spatula.

4. Allow to cool and harden in refrigerator.

5. When cool, break into pieces and enjoy!

PB (&J!) Cookies

My friend Leah gave me this great natural peanut butter cookie recipe. I made them last night when we had company and they were a hit, as usual!

Peanut Butter Jam Jams

3/4 c. natural sweetener (brown rice syrup, agave nectar, or honey, or a combination - I did 1/2 c. agave and 1/4 c. brown rice syrup)
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. natural sugar free peanut butter (preferably organic)
1 T. milk or cream
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 c. unbleached flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
Fruit jam or jelly (100% fruit, no sugar added)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine butter, peanut butter and sweetener in saucepan and heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat and mix well, adding milk and vanilla. Whisk in egg.

In separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Pour butter mixture into flour mixture and stir until smooth and combined.

Drop heaping tablespoons full of cookie dough onto ungreased cookie sheet or stone. Using your thumb, make a gentle impression in the center of each cookie. (If the dough is sticking, try wetting your thumb.) Fill each impression with a small amount of jam or jelly, using a small spoon.

Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Yum Yum!