I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

candy

Slow Cooker Almond Joy Chocolate Clusters

Slow Cooker Almond Joy Chocolate Clusters are great to whip up for homemade holiday gifts. Making them is basically hands off as you use a slow cooker!

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

It’s time to get baking cooking, making candy, and decking halls. Fa la la la la, la la la la.

I’m sure that you are just as stuffed as we are from Thanksgiving, but I’m still ready to cook up a storm. I’m not running out looking for the best deals today. I don’t do all that Black Friday Hoopla. I’m just going to get cozy with some cookbooks and plan out all that baking I am going to be doing this Holiday Season.

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Brownie Bottom Candy Explosion Cheesecake

Brownie Bottom Candy Explosion Cheesecake is the perfect way to use up loads of Halloween candy. The brownie bottom and the candy too- oh my!

This post and recipe was created for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are 100% mine.

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

I am so ready for Halloween!!! This cheesecake is so ready for Halloween too!! It is just begging for you to cover it up with yummy Halloween candy.

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Rolo Monkey Bread

“If you can lean, you can clean”

Back when I was a college freshman, working retail, I had a boss who would say that. If he caught anyone leaning against a wall or the column next to the register zoning out he would say that so that they got back to work. And if he caught you, he usually made you clean.

I feel that is my life now.

But I am catching myself and I then mentally freak the fuck out and then try to do 10 things to make up for that ‘clacking off’. I never feel like I can just sit and relax. Even if I am on FB, it’s generally to do something related to the blog account, some side hustle stuff, or the account for the dogs I am trying to figure out how I am going to build.

Or if I am on instagram, I am scrolling through and engaging with people that are niche related and I am

The trifecta of getting ‘ish done is when I am pumping, while sitting at the computer so I can write a blog post and search using a specific platform, earning me extra spending money. Extra points if I am listening to a pod cast and I remembered to plug my phone into the fast charger at the desk.

Life just never feels like it ever slows down.

And, in someways, we aren’t doing that much either. Autumn goes to gymnastics 1x a week and that’s it, but the general life maintenance makes things chaotic. From prepping clothes and bottles for the next day, laundry, walking dogs, cooking dinner and dishes, the week night quickly speeds by and before we know it, it’s time for bed and another day of madness until the weekend comes when we try to tackle bigger projects, hang with friends and family, and maybe even get in a nap.

It just feels that I need a month of no distractions and crap to get really caught up on life, with the things I need to do and just want to do.

But that’s why I am always looking for short cuts for things.

I certainly like to make monkey bread or pies or pizza by scratch, but there are times when it’s just easier to grab some biscuits or a pre-made crust or order take out.

And when you add some chocolate candy to the dough… dessert perfection!!!

I love that the Rolo candy, hidden inside the dough ball, gets all melty and gooey. The cinnamon glaze that envelopes each dough ball is perfect with that sweet caramel and chocolate filling too.

Serve this with some ice cream and you are in for a great dessert treat.

Some people might just think that monkey bread is for breakfast,but I think that you will convince them pretty quickly that it’s great for dessert as well when you serve up this sticky sweet caramel and chocolate treat!!

Rolo Monkey Bread

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 rolls of biscuit dough, 16.3 ounces each (8 biscuits per roll)
  • 32 Rolos
  • 2/3 Cup brown sugar
  • 2/3 Cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 Cup butter, melted

Process

  1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Cut each biscuit into 2 equal pieces.Stretch each biscuit out
  3. Combine the sugars and cinnamon in a bowl.
  4. Dip each dough ball into the melted butter, then into the sugar mixture.
  5. Place each coated dough ball into the bundt pan. Pour any remaining butter over the dough balls.
  6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown and the top pieces are firm.
  7. Let cool for 5 minute before inverting on a serving plate.

 

How To Make Adorable and Affordable Mini Easter Baskets

Mini Easter Baskets

I really love the daycare that Autumn goes to. The teachers and kids are the best. Plus, it’s about a minute’s walk from our house.

It’s an family daycare so it’s a nice small group of kids that love to be around each other. They play hard and love hard. When we bring Autumn the kids greet her loudly. And when she goes they say “BYE AUTUMN!!!!!”. Everything is loud and filled with the best kind of enthusiasm. I love it.

I also love baking up special treats for the kids. It’s fun to give them sweet treats every now and then. And if it’s something that is too rich or tart, like the Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake I recently made, I share with the 2 teachers there.

I have some super cute Easter cupcakes planned for this week but I wanted to give the kids little Easter baskets too.

My goal was so make something that was unisex, functional, tasty, healthy, fun, and affordable. Thankfully, I found everything I needed at a recent trip to Target. I needed to make 9 baskets for 3-4 year olds so I hit up their Dollar Spot section as it’s the bees knees.

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I grabbed 5 packs of mini storage bins. I thought they were cute and functional as they could have a life after being an Easter basket. 2 for $1 (I could have put in some grass but I figured the parents would kill me when it got all over their cars on the way home!)

I saw card games that were age appropriate for the kids so I grabbed them. $1 each

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Kids love crafts so I grabbed some pens for their baskets as well. 4 pens $1

And what’s a basket without some treats?!? So I moved on to the grocery section and found a box of yummy strawberry fruit rope. $2.99 for 10 treats.

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As well, Rice Krispie treats are kid favorites. $4.19 for 16 treats.

Lastly, I filled some plastic eggs with some M&M’s to finish it off. $.89 for 12 eggs and $2.89 for the bag of M&M’s

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And that’s how I made 9 adorable Mini Easter Baskets for the kids at Autumn’s daycare for just $2.61 each. I only spent about $28 for everything and I have some extra goodies leftover to incorporate into the Easter Basket I’m making for Autumn. Woohoo!

Hop over to Target or your favorite stores to make some great Easter baskets for the kiddos in your life. xoxo

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What are your favorite things to include in Easter Baskets?

Copy Cat Almond Joy’s- SRC

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Yay! Today is Memorial Day!

We are sticking home today to hang out, cross some things off the to do list, and grill. We made steak last night so I think some hot dogs for lunch and chicken for dinner. Autumn even had her own piece of steak (not seasoned, well done) that she sucked on and then dropped for the dog. I swear I try to grab what she is about to do but she is sneaky. And when she isn’t dropping him food she hangs a hand over the edge for him to lick. Those two are going to be trouble as she grows up. It’s going to be too cute! And a bit awful!!

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Anyway, we did some crafty stuff for our room yesterday and we’re going to do some stuff for her room today. I have most of the elements together for a gallery wall for her so I am going to put it up while mapping out some place holders for the 2 little canvases I am going to order. I just love to be able to create something new for our house. I only wish we did it more often.

Anyway, May has sped by and it’s now time for this month’s Secret Recipe Club post I was given the blog Sew You Think You Can Cook. Lauren shares recipes on her blog that she makes when she is not busy with quilting scrapbooking, and cross stitch. When she is not cooking and crafting she is an aerospace engineer… hello smarty! Sounds like a cool profession says the person who pulls out a calculator to figure out a tip. ha! 

While I was eyeing a few of her savory recipes, like the Vineyard Chicken, her homemade Almond Joy bars jumped out to me. I hadn’t made candy in the awhile and never a candy bar like this. I was up for the little challenge!

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I really suggest using a stand mixer to make these Almond Joy’s. The mixture is sticky and would require a bit of muscle so I think it’s best to use the stand mixer so you knew you evenly mixed everything together. If you need a workout then be sure to just a greased bowl and a wooden spoon. Assembling the bars is a breeze. The trickest part is the chocolate part. I never have much luck coating candy evenly, and neither did Lauren, so I decided just to coat the tops. If you are a pro at coating candy then feel free to do that instead, you’ll just need more chocolate.

So a big thanks to Lauren for such a wonderful recipe. As well, a very special thanks on this Memorial Day to her and her husband, who is in the Air Force!!!

Copy Cat Almond Joy's-2

Copy Cat Almond Joy’s

Makes 24 candy bars

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 1/2 Cup powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • 3 Cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 48 whole salted almonds
  • 8 ounces of milk chocolate

Process

  1. Line an 8″ x 8″ baking pan with aluminum foil. Then spray the lined pan with cooking spray.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, pour the condensed milk and half of the sugar. Using the paddle attachment, beat until combined. Then add the remaining sugar and beat.
  3. Add in the vanilla extract and salt then beat for another minute until really whipped.
  4. In one large batch, add in shredded coconut and beat together until the coconut evenly coated with the condensed milk mixture
  5. Using greased hands, press the coconut mixture into an even layer in the lined baking pan. Score the candy bars by dividing the pan in 3 pieces in one direction. Then rotate the pan and score it into 8 equal pieces in that direction. Place 2 almonds onto each candy bar.
  6. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.
  7. While the bars are still in the pan, completely cut through where you had previously scored the candy bars.
  8. Melt the chocolate and then evenly pour it over the bars. Let cool complete prior to removing the liner from the pan. Gently flip the candy over onto a cutting board. Cut out each candy bar by cutting through the chocolate at each location where you had cut through the candy previously.

Adaped from Sew You Think You Can Cook

 

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Secret Recipe Club

Check out my 2 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!

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Snickers Chocolate Chip Cookies

Snickers Chocolate Chip Cookies- mix in chopped up Snickers bars into chocolate chip cookie dough to make some epic candy loaded cookies.

Post from 12/30/13, pictures updated 8/24/18

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE 

Candy and cookies are pretty cool. But candy inside cookies are ever better.

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Peppermint Fudge

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What happens when you have to stop by someone’s house last minute on Christmas Eve or on Christmas? What makes a great hostess gift? It should be festive! Something easy for you is the best. Hmm, do you rip the centerpiece off your own table to bring? You can’t re-gift an opened box of chocolates. So you make this last minute Peppermint Fudge to have on hand to gift, or just eat yourself.

Family Fun Magazine has some really cute holiday baking ideas that will have both you and everyone you are celebrating with so merry! The peppermint fudge sounded too good to pass up. Plus it had peppermint candies in there so I had to end my holiday baking season with peppermint as I’ve been addicted with the mint and chocolate combo this year.

If you can use a microwave and mix things in a bowl you can make this fudge. This is the perfect recipe to whip up yourself or to make with your kids.

Peppermint Fudge

Ingredients

  • 24 ounces of while chocolate chips
  • 14 ounce can of condensed milk
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups coursly crushed peppermint candies, such as candy canes

Process

  1. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper. There should be excess parchment hanging out of the pan, which provides handles for removal.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, combined the white chocolate chips, condensed milk, and salt. Microwave for 2-3 minutes, stiring at 30 second intervals. Add the peppermint candies and mix to combine.
  3. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan.
  4. Chill for firm and set, about 2 hours. Remove from the pan and then cut into 1″- square pieces.

HARRY POTTER!!!!!!

I had never been to a midnight movie, until now.

Emily, Price and I went to see the 12.01am show at Lowe’s. Emily and I counted down all day until 12am. Price was scared. As excited as we were we did not get that into it. I just can’t rationalize dressing up to see a movie. It was quite entertaining to watch all the wizards crowd into the theatre. If I was a comedian I would have gotten so much great material just from the night’s experiences.

We met at Parish Cafe for some food  (no beers- Emily and I have bad luck when it comes to falling asleep and throwing up at shows so we did not want to risk it) . Ran over to  CVS for candy. HOLY CRAP! they had strawberry peanut butter M&M’s. Then walked over to Loews. It was crazy town there. Some guy from Lowe’s was on a bullhorn directing people. And then we finally got to see the movie. The movie was fantastic!! But I would like to thank the theater for stating a movie over 20 minutes late. And the annoying guy behind us who banged into our seats every time he left  to use the bathroom.

All in all, great night! great movie! great candy! I loved the fact that it was my first midnight movie, that Price was a good sport about they whole night even though I dumped a packet of pop rocks into my mouth, got an inch away from his ear and opened my mouth while we were waiting for the movie to start and kept nudging him when he was starting to fall asleep, and that I managed to get through my day on 3 hours of sleep.

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