TWO Last Minute HOMEMADE Yummy Gifts

How are your holiday preparations coming along?  Have you finished all your shopping, wrapped all your presents, sent out your cards and started to bake and cook for your holiday meals?  Goodness, that all sounds sounds overwhelming!!!  I may have about 1/2 of the above finished....one project at a time is all I can continue to say to myself  in an effort to keep my stress level down.  So in light of reducing stress I am here to offer you TWO simple and scrumptious recipes for HOMEMADE food gifts.  You are going to LOVE them!

I am going to start with a fabulous fudge recipe (a rich, smooth and decadent treat)...

 and then I will follow it up with a colorful and sweet popcorn treat (coated with white chocolate and studded with M n M's and Honey Roasted peanuts)....

Get your napkins ready....you will be drooling over both recipes I can tell you that. :-)

Nutella Fudge

(recipe from Let's Dish - also found on Cookin' Canuck)

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp butter - for buttering pan

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup Nutella - at room temperature

3 Tbsp unsalted butter - at room temperature, cut into 1/2" pieces

sprinkles or sparkled sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8x8 square baking pan with 1 Tbsp of butter.  Line pan with parchment paper...make sure 2" of overlap exist on the sides of pan from the parchment paper.

2. In a medium heat proof bowl combine sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, chocolate chips, Nutella and 3 Tbsp butter....

3. Set heat proof bowl over a simmering pan of water.  Make sure simmering water does not touch bottom of heat proof bowl - this will cause the chocolate mixture to burn if not watched carefully. 

4. Stir mixture occasionally until chocolate chips  are melted fully and the whole mixture is smooth.  This takes about 5-7 minutes....

5. Pour mixture into prepared pan.  Spread with a spatula to smooth over the top....

 Sprinkle with sprinkles or sparkling sugar if you wish.....

  Cover and refrigerate fudge until firm - at least 2 hours if not longer.

6. Lift fudge filled parchment paper out of pan and cut into small squares.  Package as you wish and giveaway with happiness!

Happy Nutella Fudge Making!

Now onto the yummy popcorn....

White Chocolate Popcorn

(recipe discovered on Jaime Cooks it Up! -one of my very favorite blogs!)

Ingredients:

  2 bags of microwave popcorn - (I air popped my popcorn and made about 10 cups of popcorn instead of using microwave popcorn)

2 (12oz) bags of white chocolate chips

1 Tbsp shortening

1 cup Holiday M and M's

1 cup Honey Roasted peanuts

Directions:

1. Pop your popcorn - microwave or air pop - into a large bowl.  Set aside.

2. Put white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.  Heat for 45 seconds then stir.  Continue to heat and stir every 30 seconds.  Heat chocolate slowly for you don't want to burn your chocolate by melting it too fast in the microwave.

3. Once chocolate is completely melted add in the 1 Tbsp of shortening.  Stir well to fully incorporate....

4. Slowly pour white chocolate over popcorn......

 and mix carefully.  (I poured a little over my popcorn and then stirred it through gently and then repeated until all the white chocolate was mixed into the popcorn) 

5.  Add in M and M's and peanuts....

  The peanuts and M and M's will stick nicely to the warm white chocolate popcorn as you stir them into mixture.

6. Line 2 cookie sheets with wax paper.  Divide popcorn between the two sheets and allow the chocolate to set onto popcorn (about 30 minutes).  Break popcorn into chunks and package up into pretty bags or tins.  SUPER yum!

Happy White Chocolate Popcorn Making!!!