Easy Holiday Candy Recipes

Making Christmas candy doesn't have to be a daunting. You don't have to be Betty Crocker or even own a candy thermometer to make some great holiday treats that you will be proud to give as gifts. My favorite Christmas candy recipes are also the easiest. Here are a few of my super lazy cook's best Christmas candy stand-bys:

English Toffee Candy

1 c. granulated sugar
1/2 lb. butter (real butter: no substitutes)
3 tbsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. pecans
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix sugar, butter, water and vanilla in a non-stick skillet, preferably with a heavy bottom, and cook (stirring constantly) until brown. The mixture will start out a light creamy color, but after about ten minutes changes to a caramel brown color. When it turns the right color it's finished. In case you're unsure this should be hard crack stage, but the color change is a reliable indicator. Put in 3/4 cup of chopped pecans. Pour onto a buttered sheet pan (the kind with raised sides). Hint: If you have a non-stick pan you needn't butter it. Sprinkle semi-sweet chocolate chips across the hot surface. When they melt spread them evenly. Sprinkle nuts on top, if desired. Cool and break into pieces. I have also used walnuts and almonds.

English toffee is wonderful and super easy, but perhaps even easier is making candied pecans. I like to save glass jars, removing the labels, and refill them with the candied pecans. You can decorate the lid with a simple ribbon, or if you're craftier, you can hot-glue some small holiday ornaments to the lid. These also are great on salads.

Candied Pecans

2 cups pecans
1 egg white
1 Tbsp water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat your oven to 300°F. Combine sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves and salt in a plastic container with a snap-on lid then shake to mix. In a bowl combine egg, water and vanilla. Beat until slightly foamy. Add the pecans to the egg mixture and then remove them with a slotted spoon and put them in the dry mixture and shake to coat them thoroughly. Place the pecans (not touching one another) on a lightly buttered piece of aluminum foil inside a baking sheet then bake for 30 minutes. About half way through the baking process stir the pecans around a bit to prevent sticking. This recipe is also great with walnuts and probably many other types of nuts, but since I have six pecan trees I tend to use those.

I've been making these for several years and people love recieving them. They're so simple they are sure to become a holiday tradition. Making holiday candy can't get any easier. Or can it? Super Quick Microwave Fudge is certainly just as easy. And what would Christmas be without fudge? I've made this the last few years and have always been pleased with the results.

Super Quick Microwave Fudge

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Without mixing place everything but the nuts in a microwave proof bowl. (You will add the nuts later.) Microwave on high about 2 minutes, or until the butter is melted. With an electric mixer beat on high until the mixture is smooth, then stir in the nuts. Pour into a buttered 8x8 dish. Refrigerate 15-20 minutes until solidified.

Another ridiculously easy Christmas candy is a recipe my grandmother passed to my mother. It's Chocolate No-Bake Candy Cookies. They really are more candy than cookie, though.

Chocolate No-Bake Candy Cookies

3 cups uncooked quick oats
½ cup coconut
½ cup nuts (your choice)
½ tsp vanilla
½ cup butter
2 cups sugar
½ cocoa
½ evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)

Before you begin lay out a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet. This is where you will place spoonfuls of the finished cookie mixture to cool. Mix oats, coconut and nuts in a large bowl. Combine butter sugar, cocoa and milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan and cook over medium heat stirring constantly until the mixture reaches a full boil. Boil one minute stirring continuously, then add vanilla. Pour over the cereal-nut mixture and stir together. Drop spoonfuls onto the wax paper and let cool. That's it.

I use the inexpensive charger plates (decorative under-plates) that cost a couple of dollars to present an assortment of my deceptively easy sweets then cover with plastic wrap and top with a ribbon. Alternatively, a wax paper lined gift box is nice.

The great thing about rediculously easy Christmas candy is that people are very impressed you actually made candy, and you don't have to tell them how easy it was. Happy holidays!