White Chocolate Raspberry Bark - updated with pictures

This was originally posted for a recipe swap but now I have pictures so I decided to repost.

If you know me at all, you know how much I love love love the Christmas season and all it brings with it. I decided to let the fabulous dude decide which recipe I would share. So I asked him the question and let him fill in the blank. When I said "It wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't eat..." he said Chocolate Coated Almond Toffee and White Chocolate Raspberry Bark. Since I've already posted the Chocolate Coated Almond Toffee I decided to go with the Raspberry Bark.

Every year, I join together with my mom to do our holiday baking. As you might remember, I have an excellent reason for doing so. I like to put together tins of baking to give away to friends and family members as well as have enough sweet treats kicking around to help me gain 50 pounds enjoy. The recipes tend to stay the same from year to year but occasionally we try something new. The following recipe is one of our tried and true ones. It is very quick, simple and delicious.

White Chocolate Raspberry Bark - from Lucy and her Mumma
1 bag white chocolate chips (or you can use baker's squares)
1 tbsp Shortening
4 tbsp raspberry jam
Mint flavouring

1. Melt chocolate and shortening in a double boiler over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once smooth, add a few drops of mint flavouring (you can omit if you are not a fan of chocolate mint). Pour chocolate onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

2. Meanwhile, melt jam in a 1 cup measure for 30-45 seconds, or until runny. Pour jam over chocolate. Using a toothpick, drag jam to blend in with chocolate. Get creative here and make fun designs!

3. Refrigerate and cool for 5-6 hours, until chocolate is hardened. Break into small pieces and enjoy!

This recipe is being linked at the Ultimate Recipe Swap: Christmas in July Edition

Almond Bark

This is definitely the easiest and quickest yummy that we make. It takes about 10 minutes, not counting chilling time and it's one of my FIL's favourites.

Almond Bark
1 package semi sweet chocolate chips

2 T shortening

1 1/2 cups whole almonds

1/3 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 T shortening

Melt chocolate chips with shortening.

Stir in almonds.

Spread as thinly as possible on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.

Melt white chocolate with second amount of shortening, until runny. Drizzle over chocolate. Use a wooden skewer to blend white chocolate in with dark chocolate.

Chill until set. Break into irregular pieces.

Ting-a-lings

This is an old family favourite. While some of our Christmas baking recipes have been acquired over the past few years, I remember enjoying tingalings each year when I was a little girl. They are simple and delicious!

Tingalings
1 pkg butterscotch or peanut butter chips

1 pkg chocolate chips

1 can chow mein noodles

1 cup salted peanuts

1. Melt both chips, stirring constantly, then add noodles and peanuts. Stir to coat.

Drop by the spoonful on a cookie sheet and refrigerate until set.

Rice Krispie Roll

This recipe is my Grandma V's recipe. I grew up loving it. Since Grandma has been gone, my sweet cousin Em has carried on the tradition by making two logs each year for our family reunion. One for me and one for the rest of the family. It's the best!

Grandma's Rice Krispie Roll
3/4 cup corn syrup

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup peanut butter

4 1/2 cups Rice Krispies

1/3 cup butter

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

2/3 cup cocoa

1. Heat corn syrup, sugar and peanut butter over medium until smooth and runny. Stir into rice krispies. Spread as thinly as possible on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Chill.

2. Sift together icing sugar and cocoa.

3. Melt butter. Pour into icing sugar and cocoa mixture. Stir until well combined. Spread over rice krispies, as thinly and evenly as possible.

Roll into a log. Chill and cut into 1/2 inch slices.

**After writing this post, and hearing from Lisa, I realized that the directions for this step were not clear enough.

If you DO try to make it, I suggest cutting it in half before rolling it, to make two smaller rolls rather than one large roll. Cut it in half down the middle so you have two squares rather than one large rectangle. Then, roll from the inside toward the outside edge so the chocolate layer will be enclosed in the rice krispies. It will work out better and look nicer. In the picture below, half of the sheet has already been cut off and rolled and the part that is currently being rolled is just one half of the original sheet.

Also -- if possible, try to do the rolling when you have an extra set of hands around. It is helpful to have one person rolling and one person piecing the log together as you go, or else it might fall apart and look very patch-like.

If you are having trouble with the rice krispies sticking to your fingers, you might want to place a cup of cold water beside you, so that you can dip your hands into it occasionally as you roll.

Make an extra one, just in case you've got someone like me hanging around :)

Raspberry Chocolate Crumble Bars

This one is hubby's choice. My mom started making it a few years back and now it's a must have each holiday season.

Raspberry Chocolate Crumble Bars - Mom
Crumble:

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Filling:

1 can sweetened condensed milk (or make your own)

1 300g pkg semi sweet chocolate chips, divided

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup raspberry jam

1. Combine butter, flour and brown sugar, mixing until crumbly. Press 2 1/2 cups crumble mixture in a greased 9x13; reserve remaining crumble. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, until golden.

2. Heat sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup chips until smooth. Spread over crust.

3. Stir walnuts and remaining chips into reserved crumble.

Sprinkle over filling.

Heat jam for about 30 seconds and stir until smooth and runny.

Drizzle over top.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until set.

Let cool and cut into bars. Makes about 40 bars.

Peanut Butter Balls

Peanut Butter Balls

1 cup peanut butter

2 T butter

1 cup icing sugar (this is the Canadian term for powdered sugar or confectioners sugar)

1 6 oz bag semi sweet chocolate chips

2 T shortening

Mix peanut butter, butter and sugar. Place in freezer for 1-2 hours.

Once nearly frozen, form peanut butter mixture into small balls.
Put back in freezer for a few hours to harden.

Once your balls are hardened (um....why is balls such a funny word?), melt chocolate with shortening in a small pot over low heat on the stove.

Drop balls, a few at a time into chocolate. Use a fork to fully coat them. Pick up, allow excess chocolate to drip off and place on a tray of somesort.

Allow peanut butter balls to chill in the fridge or freezer for a few hours until chocolate is hardened.

Makes 2-3 dozen, depending on the size.

Shortbread

Shortbread is definitely my favourite Christmas treat. I have already eaten my quota for the entire holiday season!

Shortbread
1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup icing sugar (icing sugar is the Canadian term for powdered or confectioner's sugar)
1 cup flour
3/4 cup butter, softened

1. Mix together dry ingredients.

2. Blend butter in with your hands until dough forms loosely into a ball.

3. At this point, I usually pop the bowl in the fridge for 15-20 minutes for the dough to chill a bit. You don't want to leave it in there too long, though, or you will have hardened dough that is impossible to work with.

4. Sprinkle a surface lightly with flour. Take a small chunk of dough and roll/flatten to about 1/4-1/2 inch thickness. They are a fragile cookie, so thicker is better to prevent breakage.

5. Cut into desired shape. Decorate as you will. Try not to think about what those odd, edible metalish things are as you decorate your Christmas trees.

6. Bake at 300 for 10-15 minutes. In my mom's oven I have found that 12 minutes is too short, 15 minutes is too long and 13 minutes is exactly right.

7. Allow cookies to cool for 5-6 minutes on the baking sheet and transfer to wire cooling rack.

Makes about 2 dozen. I often double this recipe and it works great.

This recipe is being shared at Tasty Tuesday, Tuesday's at the Table and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Chocolate Coated Almond Toffee

I just finished making my second batch of Chocolate Coated Almond Toffee for this year. This is my absolute favourite Christmas treat. Sometimes it even makes an appearance at other times of the year. Yup, it's that good. I usually only make one batch per Christmas but this year, after putting together a number of gift baskets to give away, I realized I just did not have enough toffee left over for myself. It is a favourite of many family members so I knew I'd need more if I wanted a chance to have any.

I am going to divulge and give up this "secret" recipe (that is not really a secret because somewhere, long ago, I found it in a recipe book or magazine somewhere - if you created this recipe, I'm sorry. I would give credit if I knew who to give credit to).

I want the world to know about this toffee! Be warned, this recipe is not for the fainthearted. It is sweet, sugary and rich. Delightful.

So here's the recipe - along with some photos of the toffee making process because I love taking pictures of food. I've added a number of comments with tips and suggestions that I have discovered after many, many times making this.

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1/2 cup toasted almonds (I like to use slivered although I don't think that it would matter)
6 squares semi-sweet chocolate
1/3 cup toasted, finely chopped almonds

Directions:
1. Cook butter, sugar, water and corn syrup in a sauce pan over medium heat until mixture boils, stirring constantly. Do not try to melt the butter first. You need to add all ingredients together and wait patiently as they melt and dissolve. If you melt the butter first, the sugar will not dissolve properly and your toffee will be granuley - I know that's not a word.

2. Boil gently, stirring often, for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and thick. If you are not sure whether or not it's ready, put ice cold water in a cup and drop about 1 tsp of the mixture into the water. If it forms into a hard string, it is ready. I tried to take a picture to show you what this would look like but I was not very successful and I couldn't waste time fiddling with the camera since the toffee was boiling on the stove. There is a very small window of opportunity here. If you do not let the mixture thicken enough, it will not set properly. If you let it thicken to much the sugar begins to separate or something - I'm not exactly sure what goes on here - but it's not good. The toffee will end up tasting very granuley just like it does if you melt the butter first. Today I think I may have missed this window of opportunity - I don't know if the toffee is going to set because I may not have made it thick enough.

3. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup almonds.

4. Spread evenly onto well-buttered baking pan. DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT try to spread this on waxed paper, parchment paper or tin foil. One year I did this and I spent the entire Christmas holidays peeling waxed paper off the back of the toffee. I have experimented with many different ways of setting the toffee and the best thing is to just lather a flat surface (cookie sheet, baking pan, grill pan) with a disgusting amount of butter. Once it's set, you will need to put a knife under the toffee to loosen up one corner. Once you've done that, you should be able to peel it off the surface.

5. Let stand until almost cool. Meanwhile, melt chocolate in saucepan or microwave. Spread over toffee once it is almost cool. Sprinkle with almonds. Again, small window of opportunity for this step. I've found that if the chocolate goes on when the toffee is too hot it just melts into it. On the other hand, if the toffee is too cool the chocolate will not stick when you cut it. You can also skip this step if you'd like. Today I made the toffee without the chocolate coating for some family members who aren't chocolate lovers.

6. Let stand until chocolate is firm. I usually put it into the fridge or cool room for a few hours or overnight at this point. Chop into pieces. Enjoy!!

The finished product with chocolate.

The finished product without chocolate.

You can see what the toffee looks like after it's been chopped. It is in the left hand corner, beside the shortbread. As you may be able to see, some of the chocolate did not stick to the toffee when I cut it.

Head over to The Grocery Cart Challenge for more delicious Christmas recipes. By the way, you know I'm totally eating a chunk of this right now.