Chocolate covered Cherries or mint

Chocolate covered cherries or mint are delightful sweets perfect for Christmas. The recipe is shared with the hope of learning and improving candy-making skills for the following holiday season. The author’s daughter and her friends had a great time making these candies, emphasizing the enjoyable and communal aspect of the process.

To create the candies, a mixture of softened butter, light corn syrup, and powdered sugar is used. This mixture is kneaded until it forms a solid and smooth dough. If the dough is not firm enough, it can be refrigerated for 15 minutes to achieve the desired consistency. For the mint filling, a portion of the dough is combined with mint extract and green food coloring, allowing for customization of the flavor and appearance.

For the cherry filling, store-bought cherries in a jar with stems can be used, making it easy to dip them in chocolate. The process involves wrapping the filling with the dough, then flattening a small amount of dough in the palm of the hand and wrapping it around the cherry to cover it. This is repeated for all the cherries. The same method is applied for the mint filling, ensuring the dough is sized appropriately for easy wrapping.

To dip the candies in chocolate, a double boiler is set up on the stove over low heat. Approximately 1 pound of white or dark chocolate coating is melted and used for dipping each filling. The dipped candies are then laid on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper to prevent sticking. After allowing the chocolate to set for a few hours or overnight, the candies can be wrapped and presented as gifts. For those interested in colored coatings, specialized color coating chocolates can be found at craft stores like Michael’s.

This recipe not only provides a guide to creating delicious chocolate-covered cherries or mint, but also encourages a sense of togetherness and experimentation in the kitchen, making it a wonderful activity to share with loved ones during the holiday season.

Ingredients

Directions to make Chocolate covered Cherries or mint

1. For the chocolate covered you can use any melts chocolate in the store.
2. In a medium size bowl mix the butter and corn syrup until smooth then add powder sugar until it hard enough to knead.
3. Knead until the dough is solid and smooth.
4. If the dough is not stiff enough keep cover and refrigerated for 15 minutes.

For the mint filling

1. I use part of the dough and add few drops of mint extract and green food coloring to it then mix it until the dough turn light or dark green up to you.
2. For the Cherry filling you can buy any cherries in a jar at the grocery store if you get the one with stem on is easy to dip in chocolate.
3. You need to wrap all the filling with the dough first and lay in on a tray not touching.
4. Take out 1 t of the dough and flat it on the palm of your hand put the cherry with stem up and wrap the flat dough around it to cover the cherry. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling.
5. I did the same for the mint make sure you make it small enough so the white dough can cover it easily.
6. I did it with pistachio nut and peanut butter except for peanut butter I form into a small ball and refrigerated for 30 minutes until it is hard.

To dip the dough in chocolate

1. Over low heat on the stove(use double boiler with water underneat) melt 1 lb of any white, or dark chocolate coating, dip each filling in and lay on the baking sheet with waxed paper to keep the candy from sticking to the tray. Repeat the remaining until all gone.
2. Let the chocolate sit for few hours or overnight is best then wrap it as gift. If you want color coating go to Michael Craft store they have all kind of color coating chocolate.

Thank you and enjoy it.

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