Showing posts with label for the kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label for the kids. Show all posts
Three of my grandsons are here this week. The excitement is tangible! This is something I have waited for for a very long time. I used to dream about being able to spend time with my grandchildren when I was living in the UK.
It hardly seemed possible that it would ever happen. I lived so far away. Life has a way of surprising you however and sometimes in the most unusual and amazing ways!
So here I am now, living back in Canada and all my dreams of spending time with my grandchildren are coming true. I have stocked on board games that we are going to have a lot of fun playing and I am preparing tasty treats for them to enjoy while we are here together!
These boys are my middle son's family. I call them the three "J's." Jon, Josh and Jake. I love spending time with them. They are great boys and yes, I know I am a bit more than biased! That is a grandmother's prerogative!
I can't really have a campfire where I am living, so no weenie roasts and s'mores around the campfire, but when I saw this recipe for Crescent Roll S'Mores the other day I thought they would be the perfect dessert for the boys!
I have adapted the recipe from a page called Lemon Tree Dwelling.
There is everything to love about these tasty treats! They are quick and easy to make, and oh-so-tasty!
I love the ease of making these. They are like little bundles of sweet, gooey, chocolaty joy. With little bits of crunch from the graham crackers. Oh boy . . . I just know they are going to love them. Good thing because I don't want to be tempted by having these around for too long!!
Yes, they are THAT good!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CRESCENT ROLL S'MORES
Not a lot of ingredients are needed. They are very much store cupboard ingredients for the most part.
- 1 can of refrigerated crescent rolls (8 count) (Pillsbury in North America, JusRol in the UK)
- 8 tsp chocolate hazelnut spread (I used Bonne Maman)
- 64 mini marshmallows (I used big marshmallows, cut into 6ths)
- 40 semi sweet chocolate chips
- 2 graham crackers (these break up into 4 smaller ones. In the UK use Digestive biscuits, crumbled, about 4, crumbling half into each croissant)
- additional chocolate hazelnut spread to drizzle
The crescent dough can be found in the chiller section of the grocery store. Here in Canada it is usually by the eggs and cheeses, creams, milks. In the UK it is called JustRol and is next to the butters and prepared pastry.
I actually think that the one in the UK is so much better than the North American one. It is very much like real croissant dough. Oh so tasty! I miss it!
I did not have mini marshmallows, but I did have big ones and so I just used a pair of scissors and cut each big marshmallow into six pieces. I was not going to let a lack of mini marshmallows stop me!
I used the Bonne Maman Chocolate Hazelnut spread. Use whatever kind you have. Nutella is a favorite I know. But the Bonne Maman is one I like even better.
Why is that stuff so darned good! I could just eat it with a spoon! Naughty!
I used Kirkland semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can buy them at Costco. I know in the UK you cannot get graham crackers, but you can use digestives.
I also think you could use Golden Grahams cereal. Now that would be very good! And nice and crunchy too!
The hardest part of these is rolling them up. Seriously, they could not be easier.
Preheat the oven to 375*F/ 190*C/ gas mark 5. Line a baking sheet with some baking paper.
Break open the can of crescent dough and unroll the dough. Separate into triangles.
Top each triangle (at the wide end) with 1 tsp of the hazelnut spread, 8 mini marshmallows, 5 chocolate chips and 1/4 graham cracker broken into pieces, and in that order.)
Carefully roll the dough into a crescent shape, working from the wide end up towards the point, and keeping everything enclosed.
Place on the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between for spreading.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, until golden brown.
Drizzle additional hazelnut spread over the top of the rolls. You may need to heat it a tiny bit.
I didn't need to heat my chocolate spread. I just gave it a good stir and it flicked over the crescents very easily. Yummy yummy!
I am thinking you could also add some toasted nuts to these or even chopped candied cherries. Technically not s'mores, but I bet it would be really tasty.
True confession here. I have never had a S'more. I have always wanted to try them, but the opportunity has just never presented it self.
I think I need to change that don't you???
Somehow though I think they would only be tasty when enjoyed sitting next to a bonfire where you have toasted the marshmallows in the flames until they catch fire and then you blow them out.
Those I have enjoyed, but just not s'mores. Darn, now I am wanting toasted marshmallows. I like them burnt. How do you like them??
Have you got children around your place this summer? Might I suggest a few of these treats for them to enjoy!
WORLD'S BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES - I don't make that claim lightly. These are the best chocolate chip cookies. I used to bake two batches every week when I worked at the Manor. The smell of them baking used to bring all of the staff into the kitchen wanting to steal one or two fresh from the oven! They really are fabulous.
NUTELL-OS - These fabulous squares are everything a good non-bake square should be. Crunchy and sweet. Creamy nutella melted together with marshmallows and butter with toasty oaty "O" shaped cereal stirred in. Pressed into a pan and then cut into squares. These are quite simply delicious!
Yield: 8
Crescent Roll S'Mores
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 15 Min
Your children are going to go crazy over these! Sweet and deliciously messy!
Ingredients
- 1 can of refrigerated crescent rolls (8 count) (Pillsbury in North America, JusRol in the UK)
- 8 tsp chocolate hazelnut spread (I used Bonne Maman)
- 64 mini marshmallows (I used big marshmallows, cut into 6ths)
- 40 semi sweet chocolate chips
- 2 graham crackers (these break up into 4 smaller ones. In the UK use Digestive biscuits, crumbled, about 4, crumbling half into each croissant)
- additional chocolate hazelnut spread to drizzle
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*F/ 190*C/ gas mark 5. Line a baking sheet with some baking paper.
- Break open the can of crescent dough and unroll the dough. Separate into triangles.
- Top each triangle (at the wide end) with 1 tsp of the hazelnut spread, 8 mini marshmallows, 5 chocolate chips and 1/4 graham cracker broken into pieces, and in that order.)
- Carefully roll the dough into a crescent shape, working from the wide end up towards the point, and keeping everything enclosed.
- Place on the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between for spreading.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, until golden brown.
- Drizzle additional hazelnut spread over the top of the rolls. You may need to heat it a tiny bit.
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!!
My son and his family are coming over from New Brunswick for Christmas this year. I am really looking forward to seeing them! It will be the first time I have had Christmas with my son in 24 years and the first time I have ever had a Christmas with grandchildren involved!
Lots to celebrate. This week I will be making up treats for the boys in anticipation! I have quite a few Christmases to make up for!
.JPG "Gingerbread Rocky Road")
Rocky Road is one of those things' children all love and is such a simple thing to make! It is known to be Prince Williams' favorite dessert. I have made it before on here and it is delicious.
When I saw this Gingerbread version the other day on Foodie Quine, I knew that I had to recreate it for my boys! It was just so darned cute!!
.JPG "Gingerbread Rocky Road")
Imagine a sea of little gingerbread men swimming in a sea of milk chocolate, along with a bundle of penguin eggs. (That's what I am calling the Christmas colored candy covered chocolate eggs.)
I wasn't able to get mini gingerbread men as cute as the ones on that other blog. I did get these red sprinkled ones from Voortman.
.JPG "Gingerbread Rocky Road")
I actually picked them up a week or so ago. The advert said they tasted like the old Windmill cookies. They do kind of taste like Speculaas. I love Speculaas.
I had no idea in mind that I would be able to use them in such a sweet creation! It must have been in the stars for these delicious bars to be made!
.JPG "Gingerbread Rocky Road")
One thing I really like about Rocky Road is that it is so easy to make, and another thing is that it keeps for quite a while. That makes it the ideal make-ahead treat for the holidays!
And if you are making up Cookie Trays, Rocky Road is the perfect addition! I guarantee nobody will be turning their noses up at it!
.JPG "Gingerbread Rocky Road")
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE GINGERBREAD ROCKY ROADS
A bit of this and a bit of that. A whole lotta chocolate! Yum!
- 1/3 cup (75g) Butter
- 18 ounces (500g) Milk Chocolate (split into 11 oz/ 300g and 7oz/200g)
- 4 Tbsp Golden Syrup
- 16 crisp Ginger Nut Biscuits
- 1 1/2 cups (75g) Mini Marshmallows (I used multicolored ones)
- Mini Gingerbread Men and Christmas Eggs to decorate the top
.JPG "Gingerbread Rocky Road")
You can use any milk chocolate that you can get your hands on. It doesn't have to be really special. I used a mix of bars that I had in the house.
There were some Green & Blacks, Cadbury's and a couple of Hershey bars. They all worked beautifully.
.JPG "Gingerbread Rocky Road")
Golden syrup is available at any British goods shop, or on Amazon, but don't worry if you can't get it. You can use golden corn syrup or light corn syrup.
I would not use maple syrup or honey. I don't think it would work the same way.
.JPG "Gingerbread Rocky Road")
The ginger biscuits that I used were a Newfoundland variety that I just happened to have in the cupboard by Purity. Just use any ginger biscuits you have on hand.
The only requirement is that they are crisp! You don't want to be using soft ones.
I used the multi-colored mini marshmallows, but you can use all white if that is all you can find!
.JPG "Gingerbread Rocky Road")
HOW TO MAKE GINGERBREAD ROCKY ROAD
When I say it couldn't be easier to make than this, I really mean it!
Have ready an 8-inch square baking tin that you have lined with baking paper.
Put the ginger biscuits into a plastic bag and give them a bash with a rolling pin to break them up a bit. You want some crumbs some small chunks and a few larger chunks, but no really big/huge bits.
Melt the larger amount of chocolate along with the golden syrup and the butter in a heavy based saucepan over medium low heat on top of the hob, whisking together until smoothly amalgamated. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
.JPG "Gingerbread Rocky Road")
Stir the broken biscuits into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the marshmallows. Press the mixture evenly into your prepared tin, pressing as compact as you can. (I just use my hands.)
Melt the remaining amount of chocolate and pour it over top of the mixture in the tin, spreading it out evenly to cover.
Break your gingerbread men cookies in half and place them haphazardly over top of the melted chocolate, pressing them down into it a bit. Add the chocolate eggs in between.
Place in the refrigerator to chill for several hours. Once cold, cut into squares with a sharp knife.
Store in a tightly covered container. This will keep for quite a while.
.JPG "Gingerbread Rocky Road")
These are just so darned cute! Even ugly gingerbread men aside! I think the boys will really like them. You know kids. If its sweet, they are on it!
I can promise you no gingerbread men were hurt in the making of this recipe, lol.
.JPG "Gingerbread Rocky Road")
JOLLY RICH FRUIT SNOWMEN TREATS - Cute little snowmen fruit cakes. Your kids will love these! From the people at Dr Oetker.
MELTING SNOWMEN & RUDOLPH BARKS - There is nothing cuter. Children love this. It's also a fun thing to make together. There are two kinds. Melting snowman using white chocolate and Rudolf using milk chocolate. This also makes fabulous gifts!
Yield: one 8-inch square pan
Gingerbread Rocky Road
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 2 HourTotal time: 2 H & 15 M
Oh so decadent, rich and delicious. This one is for the kids!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (75g) Butter
- 18 ounces (500g) Milk Chocolate (split into 11 oz/ 300g and 7oz/200g)
- 4 Tbsp Golden Syrup
- 16 crisp Ginger Nut Biscuits
- 1 1/2 cups (75g) Mini Marshmallows (I used multicolored ones)
- Mini Gingerbread Men and Christmas Eggs to decorate the top
Instructions
- Have ready an 8-inch square baking tin that you have lined with baking paper.
- Put the ginger biscuits into a plastic bag and give them a bash with a rolling pin to break them up a bit. You want some crumbs some small chunks and a few larger chunks, but no really big/huge bits.
- Melt the larger amount of chocolate along with the golden syrup and the butter in a heavy based saucepan over medium low heat on top of the hob, whisking together until smoothly amalgamated. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
- Stir the broken biscuits into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the marshmallows. Press the mixture evenly into your prepared tin, pressing as compact as you can. (I just use my hands.)
- Melt the remaining amount of chocolate and pour it over top of the mixture in the tin, spreading it out evenly to cover.
- Break your gingerbread men cookies in half and place them haphazardly over top of the melted chocolate, pressing them down into it a bit. Add the chocolate eggs in between.
- Place in the refrigerator to chill for several hours. Once cold, cut into squares with a sharp knife.
- Store in a tightly covered container. This will keep for quite a while.
Thank you so much for visiting! Do come again!
A month or so ago I was at Walmart with my sister and I got really excited because they had Candy Corn! Candy Corn was not something which I had readily available to me when I was over in the UK.
It just did not exist there at all. Candy Corn and Halloween are synonymous! One just goes with the other. That and Candy Pumpkins, which I have not seen here yet, but I do know they have it in America.
Anyways, I got really excited about it and I picked up a container of it with great plans in mind to do something tasty for Halloween on here.
Well you know how those kinds of plans go!! Before I knew it, we were a week before Halloween and I had done nothing with it. Zip! Nada! Zilch!
My daughter and son in law are going away to visit some friends for the weekend for Halloween. I thought I would make them something to take with them. A hostess gift of sorts.
It is not often they get to go away and so this is a really special occasion for them. I spied this snack mix on Six Sisters Stuff. White Chocolate Monster Munch.
Of all the Monster Munch recipes out there it appealed to me the most, plus I had pretty much everything I needed to make it. Having what you need to make something is the most important thing when it comes to choosing what to make!
I had to switch out a few things, but I will explain what I did and give you some examples of what you can use in the UK that would be quite similar.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE WHITE CHOCOLATE MONSTER MUNCH
There is nothing too complicated here. Simple things. It looks like quite a list, but trust me, it is a simple list, and there is nothing too out of the ordinary.
This is the North American list of ingredients:
- Candy corn
- M & M's
- Chex type of cereal (Cripex works well in Canada)
- Cheerios (She suggested honey nut, but I used multi-grain)
- Salted roasted peanuts
- Pretzels (I used small twists)
- White chocolate
- Canola oil
Here is the UK or European list of ingredients with things swapped out for what you can access over there.
- Dolly Mixture candies (Nothing is actually cooked so they are the right size, colors, and will work perfectly, The Children will love them!)
- M & M's chocolate candies
- Shreddies cereal or mini wheats
- Cheerios (She suggested honey nut, but I used multi-grain)
- Salted roasted peanuts
- Pretzels (I used small twists)
- White chocolate buttons
- Canola oil
Dolly Mixtures are a type of candy mix that is found in the UK. It is composed of small nougat types of candy, very similar to Candy corn, as well as little sugared jellies.
Candy Corn is a nougat type of candy which is small and shaped like corn kernels.
As you can see from the above photograph they are roughly the same size, and the colors totally work here. You don't have to use the jellies. You can easily remove them, but I think they add extra interest!
Chex is a type of corn/rice cereal that is shaped like little puffy pillows. Other than Bugles, there is no cereal in the UK exactly like it.
But I do think either Shreddies or mini wheats would work well and actually would get some fiber into the children, and be somewhat healthy! Just don't use the sugar coated ones.
There's plenty enough sugar in this mix!
HOW TO MAKE WHITE CHOCOLATE MONSTER MUNCH
This is so simple to make. You merely mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl to combine. The white chocolate chips are melted together with the canola oil in the microwave.
In my microwave this took about a minute and a half. I checked it every 30 seconds and gave it a good stir. That way it melted smooth and did not over cook.
Over-cooked white chocolate will seize and there is no coming back from that. So do be careful.
Once everything is mixed and melted, you just pour the white chocolate over top of the cereal/candy mix and toss everything together until it is evenly coated.
The best way, as with most things, to do this is with your hands. That way you can really get in there. Your hands are probably one of the best kitchen tools going!
I use my hands for all sorts. I have never minded getting my hands dirty. I know some people can't stand it.
Once you get everything mixed well together and evenly, just spread it all out onto a couple of baking sheets. I like to line them with some parchment paper first.
And that's it. Your White Chocolate Monster Munch is done. You just need to leave it to set for about an hour or so.
Once it has set you can break it up into clumps and its ready to put into snack sized bags for school Halloween Party handouts (I would not use Peanuts if I was sending it to school), snacks for the kiddos or into a large bag to give as a hostess gift.
This really is a snack for children, although I will admit it is incredibly tasty. As an adult, I quite enjoyed the cereal and the pretzel bits.
Even the chocolate M & M bits. The Candy Corn was really sweet, but there is enough savory going on with the cereal and pretzels to cut that and make it not as cloying.
Were I a child however, I would just gobble this up. Its bright. Its colorful.
Its a bit savory, a bit salty and a bit sweet.
In short, quite delicious. Oh, and then there is the crunchy element, which I quite love about any kind of snack. Combine that with chocolate and I am all in.
If you want to make a quick, easy and delicious snack for your children or grandchildren this Halloween, this really is one to consider! I think (personally) you could even get away with half the white chocolate mixture.
It wouldn't clump together as much, but there would be less sugar as well. And when it comes to snack foods, quite often less actually is more!
White Chocolate Monster Munch
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 3 Mininactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 18 M
Ingredients
- 1 cup (5 ounces) pretzels
- 2 ½ cups (75g)Cheerios
- 2 ½ cups (75g) basket type of cereal (Chex, Crispex, Shreddies)
- 1 cup (145g) salted roasted peanuts
- 1 cups (200g) M & M's chocolate candies
- 1 cup (200g)Candy Corn candy
- 2 cups (320g) white chocolate chips
- 1 ½ TBS vegetable oil
Instructions
- Measure all of your dry ingredients into a large bowl and toss together to mix.
- Measure the white chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Stir in the canola oil.
- Microwave on high at 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, until melted and smooth. (Mine took approximately 1 1/2 minutes.)
- Pour the melted chocolate mixture over top of the dry ingredients, tossing everything together to coat the dry ingredients evenly with the chocolate. The best way to do this is to use your hands.
- Spread out on a couple of lined baking sheets and allow to set before breaking into chunks.
- Store in an airtight container.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
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