This gigantic chocolate turkey from Bissinger’s is touted as a “centerpiece” decoration for your Thanksgiving table. The semi-solid piece is made from milk chocolate with some nice darker chocolate accents, and stands at nine inches tall by 8.5 inches wide. It’s also gluten-free!

Though the real turkey and sides are the stars of the meal, I have to admit I’d be eyeballing the chocolate version if it were on my table!

Bissinger’s also has a lot of other Thanksgiving-related chocolate and candies, such as chocolate-covered Oreos with cute little Thanksgiving decorations piped on them, a smaller solid chocolate turkey, a box of assorted autumn chocolates, buttercream candy corns and pumpkins, and some beautiful foil-wrapped fall leaf chocolates (they kind of remind me of the See’s leaves).

Whether you’re planning to decorate with them, give them as gifts or just have some on hand, get your chocolate orders in quickly — Thanksgiving is only three weeks away!

[image: bissingers.com]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

If peanuts are a no-go, you can substitue chopped pretzels or even Rice Krispies.

Rocky Road Halloween Treats

1 (12 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp. butter
2 cup dry roasted peanuts
1 (10 1/2 oz.) package white mini marshmallows
Assorted Halloween candy pieces such as candy corn, M&M’s, gummies, etc.
Wax paper or Halloween decorated paper cupcake or candy cups
13″ x 9″ Pan

~ In top of double boiler melt chocolate, condensed milk and butter.

~ Remove from heat.

~ In a large bowl, combine nuts and marshmallows. Combine with chocolate mixture.

~ Line a 13×9 inch pan with the waxed paper.

~ Pour the entire mixture in and press it down or scoop into prepared cups.

~ Top with candy pieces.

~ Chill until firm and cut into squares. Store at room temperature.

[image: flickr]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

The cute chocolate pops pictured above are available at The Chocolate Vault, and the mold designs range from cute to creepy, with spiders, spiderwebs, ghosts and even haunted houses cast in milk, dark and white chocolate.

If you don’t feel like purchasing the pops, you can make some yourself with cute molds like this brain (use pink tinted white chocolate!), mouse and rat molds (all three chocolates would work well), witches, skulls and Frankenstein, or check out this selection of molds that work with pretzel rods. Wilton also has an entire kit complete with molds, sticks and candy melts.

[images: chocolatevault.com]

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The only problem was that we had no large marshmallows, just the little mini ones left over from when I last made fudge. Those obviously wouldn’t work so well over any kind of flame, so the girls helped me brainstorm.

We decided to use graham crackers as usual, and on one half we put nine or so mini marshmallows. We then put that into the microwave for about ten seconds to warm up, and quickly put some chocolate on it when it came out and topped it with the other half of the graham cracker.

My girls got a little creative with it as well, and whipped out the leftover package of York Peppermint Patties and used that in place of regular chocolate. I didn’t try one because, honestly, the thought of the peppermint patties was a bit too much flavor for me, but they loved them.

What “desperation snacks” have you come up with on the fly?

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My friend Sherry sent me the link to this decorated cake several months ago, and I printed it out immediately and have had it stashed in my recipe folder since. I’ve been so excited to try it out but couldn’t really do a test run because that obviously would have given it away!

Luckily it was easy enough that I didn’t need one, and the cake turned out perfectly. My daughter decided she didn’t want the licorice hair sticking out the top (which was good because I couldn’t find chocolate Twizzlers anywhere), but other than that it turned out exactly as it should. She loved helping out with making the actual cake, and then with the sprinkles and smile.

My other twin had fun decorating her cake as well even though it wasn’t as involved as the monkey cake. She chose a strawberry cake with chocolate frosting, and fresh cut strawberries on top. She got to do the frosting, the strawberries and the gel. The strawberries were still a bit wet when we place them on the frosting so they slid a bit, but that didn’t affect the taste!

She adores our cupcake cake pan and was excited that it was finally her turn to get to use it (her older sister had a giant cupcake for her birthday last November).

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Happy Halloween from Chocolate Bytes!

Remember some Halloween candy and chocolate safety:
~ Chocolate coins recalled
~ How often does Halloween candy tampering really happen?

And check out some fun chocolatey Halloween treats:
~ Crunchy Spiders
~ Green chocolate dip
~ Make your own candybars
~ Halloween horror chocolate

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With the rush of folks coming in for the Blogtoberfest fun, I thought I’d post a list of links you might find interesting if you decide to poke around a bit here!

As you can imagine, there’s never a shortage of things to talk about when it comes to chocolate, and some of my most popular posts are a testament to that!

Make sure you check out:

~ Make Your Own Oreos: Yes, it’s true! Though there’s a bit more work involved than just picking up a package at the store, without all the fillers and preservatives, homemade always tastes better anyway. Not to mention, you’ve now got the recipe for the filling!

~ Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies: These get rave reviews from people who aren’t able to have flour and gluten.

~ 50 Easy Chocolate Snacks to Make: I put this list together because I figured I can’t be the only one who just wants a quick chocolate treat now and then without having to fire up the oven or wait hours for something to bake, freeze or harden!

~ Grilled Chocolate Bananas: Bananas, chocolate chips and marshmallows. You don’t have to wait for summer to come back around – try them in the oven too!

~ Chocolate No-Bake Cookies: I’ve been making these since I was a kid and was pleased to find that my kids love them too. We usually have everything on hand to make them and the best part (aside from the chocolate) is that you don’t have to turn on the oven.

~ Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies: One of my most favorite cookies of all time. In fact, I just made a batch over the weekend! Even though they have pumpkin in them, these cookies are perfect year-round.

[image: flickr]

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This is a Blogtoberfest Sponsored Post. If you would like to enter for a chance to win the surprise gift behind this blog post, please leave a comment. Prize and Winner will be announced within a week. Check back to see if you’re the lucky winner and what you’ve won!

You also have lots of chances to win great Blogtoberfest prizes! Today, October 8, your chances (and prizes) are hiding at the following blogs: Blog Fabulous; Drinks After Dark; Inside Motherhood; Mother Earths Garden; Offbeat Homes; Simply Thrifty; Thrifty Mommy; Tree Hugging Family; Chocolate Bytes; Foodie Obsessed; Keeping the Castle; Our One Heart.

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Not much says “fall” more than caramel and candy apples. And they’ve really come a long way over the last few years – there weren’t cookie coated or chocolate drizzled apples when I was a kid!

They really couldn’t be easier to make, too. If you want to go basic just coat an apple with melted caramel and roll in some chopped chocolate or crushed chocolate cookies and enjoy. But you if you’ve got some time to kill, try making some of the candy apples below!

To make:
~ Caramel and Chocolate Apples
~ Nutty Chocolate Caramel Apples
~ Double Chocolate Caramel Apples
~ Chocolate-Dipped Slices
~ White Chocolate Apples
~ The Ultimate Chocolate Covered Apples

To buy:
~ Amy’s Gourmet Apples
~ A Bountiful Harvest
~ Richland Gourmet Apples
~ Miss Debbie’s Specialty Apples

[image: flickr]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

The guys at Pimp That Snack have one again outdone themselves with a gigantic Arnott’s Mint Slice!

I’m not a huge fan of peppermint on its own (I don’t mind it, just don’t care for it) but pair it with chocolate and I’m a goner. They made the gigantic patty using their usual huge amounts of chocolate, a lot of peppermint extract, and a homemade fondant.

Now I need to plan a trip down to Cost Plus to see if they have the (regular sized) Mint Slices!

[image: flickr]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Everyone know how to make s’mores – roast a marshmallow, slap it on a graham cracker with a bit of chocolate and smoosh another graham cracker on top.

However, the variations are really pretty endless and can be tailored to fit anyone’s tastes. You can try:

• S’mores bars
• Ditch the graham crackers altogether
• Turn it into a cake
• Add bananas, raspberries, or even cherries
• S’mores cheesecake!
• Minty s’mores
• Use Peeps!
• Make the whole thing from scratch

And check this out – Mexican s’mores!

Post from: Chocolate Bytes