easiest, cheapest, fastest (and yummiest!) stocking stuffers! *picture added*

[ryepie]

my friend karen learned about my homemade christmas and offered this awesome little recipe up for me to use! 



you will need:

-a bag of melting chocolate pieces from the store. i bought mine in bulk. i imagine you could use any kind of chocolate, really.
-a box of candy canes
-skewers or stir sticks
-a hammer 
-mini-marshmallows
-a double boiler

unfortunately none of the little tips came along with the recipe because she hadn't tried it yet, but that's okay, i learned!
(***means i discovered this through trial and error and am imparting my wisdom on you lucky craftsters so you don't have to waste a bunch of ingredients and time)

okay. so. this is what you do:

1. ***PUT YOUR MINI MARSHMALLOWS IN THE FREEZER.

2. break your candy canes up and fold them into a tea towel or piece of fabric or something. take them outside. smash them to bits with a hammer. you want fine little pieces of candy, not big chunks.

3. bring them inside. put them in a bowl.

4. start skewering your cold marshmallows. we put 8 to a skewer and then chopped them down later on (making sure to cut the sharp ends off so people don't stab themselves on accident)

5. ***get 2 plates. put one in the freezer and one on the counter.

6. melt your chocolate. ***milk and white chocolate CAN NOT be heated over 100 degrees F or the cocoa separates from the rest of it and it does NOT work. it gets grainy and messy. you can NOT reverse this by adding milk or water to it, it makes it lumpy and burns.  dark chocolate CAN NOT be heated over 115 degrees F or it does the same thing.

***after wasting a LOT of chocolate trying to figure out how to melt the damn stuff, i learned that you need to use a double boiler. i didn't have one, so i made one. i took a pot, filled it an inch full of water, and put a bowl in it. the chocolate can not be in the bowl that is touching the water, it needs to go in another bowl on top of the bowl already in the water. (does that make sense?) you can not use a lid! steam will ruin the chocolate. make sure the water does not reach a boil, it has to stay on pretty much the minimum stovetop temperature and just simmer. the top bowl might not feel warm enough but if the water is simmering then it is warm enough. put your chocolate in and stir it around, it will melt pretty fast. (don't melt too much at a time!)

7. when your chocolate is sticky and gooey, pour it over the marshmallows making sure to turn them over and over and over. put them over the plate on the counter and sprinkle candy cane bits over top. IMMEDIATELY TRANSFER THEM TO THE FREEZER! if you don't, the marshmallows melt and fall off and your kitchen will be ruined. trust me.

and there you go! hot chocolate stir sticks!
we made 24 tonight for my husbands family (4 each) and 3 testers for us...and they were great!

[eternallyeve]

Thanks for this great recipe!

[Caine]

this is terrific

[sweets4ever]

These sound great!

[I love needles]

Ha ha I love the warnings!
If you don't do this your kitchen will be ruined!
Awesome.
They sound delicious also.

[jenangelcat]

that sounds awesome.  note that you can melt chocolate chips in the microwave.  I nuke in 30 second intervals and stir in between.  Usually takes a minute.

[heathersy]

Poor ryepie, being our test kitchen. I wish you had my phone number; I would have told you about the double boiler. I am forever melting chocolate or clarifying butter. The main trick is that the bowl not touch the water and that the water is simmering (as opposed to boiling.) You should not need to use two bowls. But, if you have your method down, then all the better for you.

Thanks so much for sharing. These sound decadent. Just the thing my Pops would love.

[ryepie]

i couldn't figure out how to make the bowl not touch the water but still let steam out the sides :/

but thanks for the tips, a little late  hahahaha!

[bookstorebabe]

I'm going to make some of these! Thanks for doing all the trial and error first. Do they need to be kept cool after they set up? I'm thinking travel time to friend's house,them sitting around a while before we all go back home.I think I may have to decorate an empty pringle's can or something to put them in.
I've gotten more good treat ideas on this board-thanks,everyone!

[ryepie]

no, i don't think so. i kept mine in the freezer for like, half an hour, and then i packaged them in plastic bags (the ones without zip locks) and tied them up with ribbon and name tags.    i hope they keep well in the mail, i'm sending them 1000 km to my husbands family today...so yeah :/