However, on days (usually weekends) where I do have the chance to spend the extra time, I like to make it from scratch. And though we don’t mind our hot chocolate plain, there are a lot of other yummy things you can add — or even make it from — to it to give it a bit of a boost, like peanut butter candy bars.

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

2 cups milk
4 oz. Butterfinger or Crispy Crunch (Canada) bar, broken into small pieces (add more to taste, if desired)
Vanilla syrup to taste
Top with whipped cream and nut chips for mini marshmallows

~ Heat milk gently over medium-high heat in a medium size pan to scalding — do not boil.

~ In a separate pan or heat-proof bowl, slowly pour milk over chopped chocolate bar, whisking to a froth. Pour into mugs and top with whipped cream or marshmallows, if desired.

[image: flickr]

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But now they’ve gone and done it with Peanut Butter Dove. I was sent a bag this week and I’m not ashamed to say that it doesn’t seem to be lasting very long. The Dove chocolate is as rich and smooth as it always is, and the creamy peanut butter center is absolutely perfect.

One of the complaints I have with other peanut butter-filled chocolates (even See’s) is that there isn’t enough salt in the peanut butter. Reese’s seems to be the only one who’s gotten it right over the years, but I’ve noticed that even they seem to be cutting back, and that distinctive little bite from the salt in the peanut butter isn’t as noticeable anymore.

It’s a weird thing to complain about — not enough salt in my chocolate — but without it the peanut butter usually tends to fade into the background, which is just sad.

However, this is not the case with the Dove Peanut Butter chocolates. The amount of salt in the peanut butter is perfect — in fact, when I tried the first one I looked at my husband and said “They got it right!” and he agreed.

Each 8.5oz bag contains individually wrapped little squares wrapped in foil with the trademark Promises inspirations printed on the inside. Though they’re technically not set to be released until May, I’ve already seen them on the shelves at my local WalMart and a grocery store for about $3 a bag.

Check back over the next few days — I’ve got a few bags to give away!

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I was sent some king-sized packs to try out, and each pack has two separate bars in it, each bar about 3 inches long. It’s been a long time since I bought a king-sized Butterfinger, but I do know the last time I did it was one gigantic bar, which I could never finish in one sitting. Having two separate bars was pretty nice since each serving (1 piece) was the perfect size.

I didn’t hesitate when I opened the first pack — I love Butterfingers and really wanted to see if there was a difference between these caffeinated bars and the originals! And I actually couldn’t tell any difference in taste. Sometimes the hyped-up versions will have almost a vitamin-y aftertaste and be somewhat bitter, I didn’t notice it with these. There was a lingering aftertaste but to me it wasn’t unpleasant.

Really the only difference I saw — and unfortunately I don’t have a regular bar on hand to tell for sure — is that the crispy peanut butter inside of the Buzz seems to be a bit of a darker orange than the original. Butterfingers always seem to be a bit battered right out of the package, so that didn’t bother me, though these looked like they’d been through a cement mixer.

The chocolate tastes the same, melting on my fingers before I finished and not impressive overall (though let’s face it, Butterfinger is probably one of the few candy bars I don’t buy for the chocolate), and the “crispety, crunchety” peanut butter inside was perfect, getting stuck in my teeth just like always.

Now what sets the Buzz apart is that it’s supposedly loaded with as much caffeine as “the leading energy drink,” which I take to mean a Red Bull or Monster or whatever. Each individual bar contains 40 mg of caffeine and, as the package says, is “not recommended for pregnant women, children or persons sensitive to caffeine.” I’ve never had an energy drink so I can’t compare and I really didn’t notice an energy boost. If I ate both bars I probably would have, but I can’t down two candy bars in one sitting so I have yet to see!

Overall, a good candy bar but I’m going to have to take Nestle’s word about the energy boost.

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The balls are hand-rolled fresh and then hand-dipped in chocolate from a recipe passed down from grandma. The balls come with six to a bag tied with a pretty ribbon.

Two lucky winners will win one bag each!

To Enter:

Leave a comment here telling me what your favorite handmade treat is. That’s it!

* Contest closes at 5:00pm PST on Thursday, January 29. Winner will be notified by email and will have 24 hours to respond with mailing information before a new winner is chosen.

* Open to U.S. residents only.

* One entry per household. Multiple entries will all be discarded.

* Two winners will win one bag each.

* All current Bloggy Giveaways at Chocolate Bytes may be entered one time each. Good luck!

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Landies Candies of Buffalo, N.Y., and Wegmans Supermarkets are recalling a number of products that contain chocolate and peanut butter because they could be contaminated with salmonella. No incidents have been reported. The recalled products are:

- 11-ounce bags of Landies Premium Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

- Wegmans Swiss Recipe Ultimate Peanut Butter Cups sold in 8-ounce tubs, bulk food bins and other packages

- Wegmans Swiss Recipe Medium Chocolate Holiday Platter

- Wegmans Swiss Recipe Large Chocolate Holiday Platter

- Wegmans Swiss Recipe Large Chocolate Holiday Platter with Sponge Candy

The Landies Premium Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups were sold at Wilson Farms stores under the Landies brand name. The various Wegmans brand products were sold at Wegmans stores. All were sold between October 2008 and January 2009. The recalled candies were available in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.

Details about the Landies brand candies are available at 800-955-2634. Details about the Wegmans brand candies are available at 800-934-6267, extension 4760.

[image: flickr]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Snack giants Keebler, Little Debbie, General Mills and Austin are recalling peanut butter treats in the wake of the salmonella-tainted peanut butter scare from last week.

Though there have been no complaints about illnesses from the Little Debbie snacks specifically, the company is still recalling peanut butter toasty sandwich crackers and peanut butter cheese sandwich crackers made since July 1.

General Mills is recalling their popular LARABAR Peanut Butter Cookie and JamFrakas Peanut Butter Blisscrisp snack bars.

The Hy-Vee supermarket chain is recalling bakery products that contain peanut butter, and Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products, which sells through Wal-Mart has recalled several brands of peanut butter cookies. ZonePerfect Chocolate Peanut Butter bars and Peanut toffee bars have also been added to the list.

South Bend Chocolate Co. has also issued a voluntary recall of certain candies manufactured with possibly tainted peanut butter.

Many other snack and candy companies are coming forward to say their treats are safe, such as Mars, Tastykake, and Hershey.

There have been nearly 500 cases of illness and six deaths linked to the salmonella outbreak.

Basically, steer clear of ready-made peanut butter snacks for a while (jarred peanut butter is not affected by any recalls — yet).

[image: flickr]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

We were given a large bag of mini candy bars last weekend and instead of letting them sit on the counter for the next month (it was a big bag and Halloween’s just a week away!) I decided to dig around and see what else I could do with them.

I came upon the recipe below and found a hit! It calls for Mini Snickers but I also tried a few with Mini Milky Ways.

This makes a lot of dough, so I ended up doing a couple of batches of regular peanut butter cookies while I was at it. I couldn’t use up all the mini Snickers, I’d have had a riot on my hands!

Candy Bar Peanut Butter Cookies

1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. softened butter
1 c. peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3 c. flour
1 (16 oz.) pkg. Mini Snickers bars, cut in half

Cream together sugar, brown sugar, butter and peanut butter. Add vanilla and beaten eggs and mix. Add baking powder, baking soda and flour; mix well. Wrap dough around each Snickers bar half, forming a ball.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Cookies will flatten as they bake so don’t press them. Bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes or until light golden brown.

The recipe says it makes 2-1/2 dozen, but I easily got over 50 cookies out of it.
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The cookies with the Milky Way Minis turned out pretty good, but the nougat hardened up to the point where the texture suffered for it. I thought they were a little tastier than the Snickers ones, though!

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Spiders aren’t usually a tasty snack, except when they’re made with peanut butter and chocolate chips! Amy Bevins walks you through the steps to make these cute (and pretty healthy!) little snacks.

I usually like to let my kids help me out when I make fun treats, but I think this is one that would be fun to have already made and waiting for them when they get home from school on Halloween!

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

It’s National Chocolate Milkshake Day! There are so many ways to make a good milkshake and you pretty much can’t go wrong. Here are a few that should have you busy for a few days!

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Basic Chocolate Milkshake

Place 3/4 cup milk, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 3 tbs chocolate syrup, 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream and 1 tsp sugar in a blender and mix until smooth.

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Double Chocolate Malted

Place 1 cup cold milk, 2 tablespoon chocolate syrup, 1 tablespoon malted milk powder and 2 large scoops of chocolate ice cream in a blender and process on high until smooth and creamy.

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Chocolate Covered Cherry Milkshake

Blend 1 cup chocolate milk, 1 cup vanilla ice cream, 1/2 cup maraschino cherries (drained) until almost smooth.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake

Blend 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/4 cup chocolate syrup, 1/4 cup milk, 12 cubes ice until smooth.

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Chocolate Banana Smash (adults only!)

Place 1 scoop ice cream, 1 scoop crushed ice, 1/4 cup cream, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 peeled banana, 1 shot of Irish Cream in a blender and process on high until smooth and creamy.

[image: flickr]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

I love experimenting with unusual recipes and techniques, and found this one fit the bill! These peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are made without flour and are really pretty tasty!

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup super chunky peanut butter
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (about 6 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix first five ingredients in medium bowl then mix in chocolate chips. Using moistened hands or small ice cream scoop, form generous 1 tablespoon dough for each cookie into ball. Arrange on two ungreased baking sheets, spacing two inches apart.

Bake cookies until puffed, golden on bottom and still soft to touch in center, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets for five minutes. Transfer to racks and cool completely.

[image: flickr]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes