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Homemade Twix Stix
We are not very sure if they were in love or simply good friends, but when Valentine signed his note to his jailor's blind daughter, "from your Valentine," a very significant Holiday in our history began. St. Valentine's Day is a sweet day for love, friendship, and chocolate! I am very happy to be over here on Angelyn's blog today sharing a sweet treat that is not only great for Valentine's Day, but any holiday with a bit of change up in candy colors. If you have ever read my blog Big Red Kitchen, you will know that I love to create goodies for my family using a shortcut or two here and there. I spotted these Bread Sticks and thought they would be perfect for making Twix Bars without the trouble of baking cookies.
I put my efforts into making homemade caramel the easiest way possible, in the oven! While cooking dinner one night I let my oven do the work for me by pouring a can of sweetened condenced milk in a small baking dish, covering it, and placingthat dish in another larger dish with hot water to let her rip for 2 hours producing a deliciously, thick caramel.
After a time of cooling, that delicious caramel got piped on to the cookies.
Following a time in the freezer, these cookies got a dip in chocolate.
Then for a little decoration such a sea salt or any color M&Ms.
And a little love too!
Twix Stix
Ingredients for Caramel:
14 ounce can sweetened condenced milk
1 tsp. vanilla
Instructions for Caramel:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In an 11x7 inch baking dish (which is what I used) or 9 inch pie plate, pour can of sweetened condenced milk. Cover very tightly with foil. Place dish down inside a larger baking dish ( I used a 9x3 inch dish). Pull oven rack out part way and place your baking dish on the center, pour boiling water 3/4 of the way up the side of the smaller dish. This is called using a bain marie or a baño maría. Carefully slide rack in and bake caramel for 2 hours or until thick and caramel colored. I watched my water level every 30 minutes and kept the kettle on to pour in more hot water when needed- Do Not Alow the Water To Boil Away! Once the caramel is done. Remove from oven and pour into a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Add vanilla and beat more. Mine never got completely smooth but what a delicious caramel! Pour into a disposible pastry bag and refrigerate until completely cool. About 90 minutes. I let mine cool overnight.
Ingredients for the Twix Stix:
2 packages crispy bread sticks, like Stella D'oro
24 ounce bag, plus 2 more cups milk chocolate chips
one recipe Caramel- recipe above
sea salt for sprinkling
M&M's for decoration
food markers for decoration
Instructions for Twix Stix:
Cut 25 bread sticks in half by placing a serrated knife in the center and giving it a quick bang with the palm of your hand. Pipe caramel on each stick leaving 1/2 inch free on the rounded uncut end of each stick. Place each stick on parchment lined cookie sheets and place in the freezer to firm up. I put a small dot of caramel on the bottom of each cookie to keep them from rolling over. While those are chilling- give them at least 30 minutes, melt your chocolate chips in a small glass bowl. I like to melt 2 cups very slowly in the microwave in 20 second increments and stirring each time. Once melted, stir in another handful of chips and continue melting until you can fill and 8 ounce drinking cup with chocolate. Removing about 8 sticks at a time from the freezer, dip each stick, gently shaking off excess chocolate. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt or decorate with M&Ms (M side down). Continue this process until all the cookies are coated in chocolate. Let set in a cool place but not the refrigerator- tends to mess up the M&Ms. Melt chocolate through this process as needed. **I accidentally tried to do too many cookies at once and the caramel got too soft and dropped in the melted chocolate and the chocolate got some granulation- no worries, I kept going. Only worry about granulation if you are trying to win a contest. This granulation is called seizing.** I liked writing little notes on the M&M's by using food markers which can be purchased at places like Michael's. If you keep them in the refrigerator, they will last for years. Store Stix in an airtight container in a cool place. This recipe makes 50 Twix Stix.
Note: I took my time with this recipe, making the caramel the night before, and then dipping the cookies the following morning, small batches at a time while I piddled around doing other things in the kitchen. Take your time and enjoy yourself, these are great fun to make with a friend's help, and very delicious- even better than the real deal!
Happy Valentine's Day from Robin Sue at Big Red Kitchen!
9 comments:
So cute! I did not expect the bread sticks. Nice blog :-)
These look so yummy! Will have to try making these for my son!
Who would have thought - breadsticks! I'd just like to dip a big spoon into that pan of caramel :) Going to take a look around the rest of your blog, Angelyn!
ummmmmm Angelyn, these do look delicious, and in fact your Whole blog looks delicious. Keep cooking and good luck at culinary school!
Twix are one of my FAV's! These look delish!
nom.nom.
came by way of the big red kitchen.
awesome blog!!
These looks great! Can not wait to try them soon.
Congratulations and best wishes!
You have my admiration. :)
Triple thumbs up! Er, double thumbs up! YUM!
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