Tootsie Roll fudge

I mentioned in one of my recent posts that I have many favorite types of candy. Candy, candy, candy, oh how I love my candy. If you peek inside my mouth you will go, "Ahh, yes, you do, indeed!" I had a dentist growing up who (I believed) took pleasure in my constant need for fillings. I'm sure my memory of him is distorted, but I remember him grinning as he poked giant needles into my mouth. My dad and I still share grim stories about him, so maybe I'm not far off.

Anyhow, back to my favorite candies! I have a lot of them. Among them is one of the most classic candies, the good ol' Tootsie Roll. Can I tell one more quick story? A post with two stories?! Tootsie Rolls will forever remind me of high school and my friend BJ. She shared my love for candy, and often I would see her chewing discreetly on something during our morning study hall. When I would ask her what she was eating, she would almost always tell me, "Tootsie Rolls!" I'm not sure why I remember that. Perhaps my love for TRs is that strong? Or did I love the idea of early morning candy-eating?

I spotted this recipe in a holiday edition of Taste of Home magazine and marked the page. Tootsie Roll fudge? Why didn't I think of this? These are insanely easy to make, and so Christmassy and divine. Every time my husband takes a bite, he shoots me a dirty look, implying that I need to stop making irresistable treats. Can you believe him? 

You will need Tootsie Rolls, obviously, for this fudge recipe. A 12-ounce bag, to be exact.

Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with aluminum foil. Grease the foil generously with cooking spray and set aside.

In a heavy saucepan, melt together over low heat:

12-oz. package Tootsie Rolls, unwrapped

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

2 tablespoons butter

Stir constantly. This will take a few minutes. Once the mixture is smooth, gradually stir in:

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Stir until smooth. The mixture will be thick!

Quickly spread into prepared pan. 

Did I mention you will need M&Ms, as well? Wooo, more candy!

Using a sharp knife, score the surface into 1-inch squares. Press green and red M&Ms onto the center of each square.

Allow the fudge to cool completely. Lift the foil from the pan and set on a flat surface. Cut the fudge into squares. Then go call your dentist. Or better yet, proactively brush your teeth.

I'm a sugar junkie! Someone please help!

Click here for a printable recipe!

Monster cupcakes

My 4-year-old has a very hard time being patient, as I'm sure most 4-year-olds do. We have learned not to tell him we are going to the park, to Grandma's house, to the zoo, to the mall (all places he loves), until two minutes before we are ready to leave. If we break this rule, the whining for "paa-aa-aaaaa-aaaaark" or "Gwaaa-aaaaa-maaaa's hooo-ooouse" gets ridiculous. I gambled big time by showing him my new cupcake cookbook (What's New, Cupcake?) and telling him to pick out which cupcakes he would like me to make for his birthday....TWO WEEKS in advance. "I want my moooo-oooo-ooooonster cuuu-uuuup-caaa-aaaa-aakes!" Ugh! So, by the time I finally got around to making these, I felt a little bit of tension between myself and these little colorful monsters. Once they were done, though, they were so stinkin' cute! I fell in love. And most importantly, my birthday boy adored them.

First, bake 12 cupcakes, whatever flavor(s) you desire, according to package directions. Also, bake 12 mini cupcakes according to package directions. Since I was making these for a birthday party, I made three different flavors: yellow, chocolate and confetti. Kids like options.

While the cupcakes are baking and cooling, prepare the monster eyes. Push the stick of a dum-dum lollipop through an apple or peach ring and pull the ring around the lollipop. This is super slick. They wrap right around each other like they were meant to be together.

Do this 24 times. It doesn't take long, I promise.

I used canned vanilla frosting, but feel free to make your own. Place a few spoonfuls of vanilla frosting into a large Ziploc bag and cut a teeny hole in the corner. By "teeny," I mean around 1/8 of an inch.

Squeeze the bag so frosting comes out of the tip. Dab a small circle of frosting in the center of each dum-dum. Before the frosting hardens, place a brown mini-M&M directly in the center. Allow the monster eyes to sit for a few minutes in order to fully harden.

Prepare the frosting that you will be using to cover the cupcakes with. I used a total of 2 jars of store-bought vanilla frosting and divided it between three small bowls. Using neon food coloring, I made one of the bowls bright orange, one bright green and one bright purple.

Grab a cupcake and a like-flavored mini cupcake.

Remove the wrapper from the mini cupcake and turn it upside down. Place it on top of the regular-sized cupcake. If you'd like, squirt some frosting between the two to help keep them in place.

Spoon the colored frostings into three separate large Ziploc bags and cut an 1/8 to 1/4 inch off the corners. Squeeze the frosting over the surface of the cupcake, in "strings," completely covering it. This was my favorite part! Get crazy!

Push the sticks of the dum-dum eyes into the cupcakes. Give the monster a fun M&M nose, if you'd like.

Aren't they adorable? They were an absolute hit for my boy and his cousins.

I had leftover cupcakes, so I made a few different kinds of monsters.

And I made a special plate for the birthday boy.

Have you ever seen a happier face?