Easy, No-Bake Holiday Treats

Chocolate clusters are basically a chopped-up chocolate-coated snacks that are heaped into little clusters and chilled. There are many variations.

You Will Need:

1 12 oz packaged of chocolate chips

1 to 2 cups of any tasty fillers

Wax or Parchment Paper

Baking tray or cookie sheet

Take your tasty treats and, if they're not in small pieces, chop them up on a carving board.

Place the chocolate chips into a microwave bowl and nuke it for about 1 minute. Stir. Put in at 30 second intervals, continuing to stir, until they are all melted.

Pour treats into chocolate a little at a time, stirring, until they are well coated. Only add as much as the chocolate will take- you don't want the mixture to be too dry. It won't ruin the taste, but it might make the clusters break up a little. If you feel you've made your mixture too dry, you can always add some extra melted chocolate.

Place your wax or parchment paper on your baking tray or cookie sheet. Spoon tablespoons of the mixture onto the paper, heaping the mixture on itself. Don't let the clusters touch.

Refrigerate until set. It is done. Pack it into a nice tin, serve at holiday parties or put a bow on it and give it as gifts. Store in the fridge, if they last that long.

Variations:

Dark chocolate chips with peanuts.

Dark chocolate chips with dried fruit.

Dark or Milk Chocolate with coconut flakes.

Milk chocolate with breakfast cereal.

White chocolate chips with crushed pretzles.

White chocolate chips with chopped almonds.

Sugared Nuts

1 ½ cups of your favorite nuts- almonds, pecans, cashews

1 cup of white granulated sugar

Parchment paper

Cookie sheet

Put a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Set aside.

Place nuts and sugar in a non-stick pan on medium heat. Stir frequently until sugar turns golden brown.

Spread on parchment paper, breaking up into small clusters. Allow to cool. Put in a bowl or decorative tin as a gift.

Candy Sleighs

Graham Crackers

2 long "hooked" candy canes

Ready-made Royal icing

Gumdrops or peppermint drops

Bag of small candies

Keep one Graham Cracker whole for the bottom of the sleigh.

Use a sharp knife do go down the center score line of the second Graham Cracker, length-wise. Snap it in half. If it breaks, discard and use another. You want two long rectangles.

Cut another Graham Cracker down the center, into two squares. Run the knife down the score line of one square and snap it in half. You now have one square, and two small rectangles. Discard one of the small rectangles.

Pipe royal icing around the edges of the whole graham cracker. Place the two long rectangles on the long sides. Press them into the icing and hold them for a minute or so to set. Place the small rectangle on what will be the front of the sled, and the square on what will be the back of the sled. Add more icing up the sides of the sled where the graham crackers edges connect. Allow to set.

If you like, you can pipe more icing on the top edges of the sled, to cover the Graham Cracker edge and look like snow.

Unwrap the candy canes. Carefully pick up the sled when all the icing has set. Make two lines down the bottom of the sled, starting at the front, ending in the middle. Attach the candy canes, hooks facing up and overlapping the front of the sled, to look like sleigh runners.

Hold for a few minutes and allow the icing to set.

Decorate the sled, if you like, with gum drops or peppermint drops. Use more icing to attach the candy.

When the icing is all set and hardened, fill the small sled with candy.

This makes a great gift for a child. Place it on a small red paper dish with powdered sugar and wrap with cellophane. Tie at the top with a bow. Or, leave it out on the coffee table for guests to pick on.

Caramel Popcorn

1 bag of freshly popped buttered microwave popcorn

5 tbsps light brown sugar

1/4 cup salted butter

Empty popcorn from bag into a bowl. Give the bowl a shake to allow the unpopped kernels to fall to the bottom. By hand, scoop out the popped popcorn and return it to the bag. Set aside.

Mix butter and sugar in a saucepan until sugar is melted.

Over the sink (in case of spillage), and using oven mitts, pour the caramel mixture it into the bag over the popcorn. Fold up the top of the bag and shake it well to coat. Allow to cool.

Serve in a festive bowl or put in a decorative tin for gifting.