Time: 1+ hours Difficulty: Medium
These are fun to make, fun to eat, and fun to give! A great gift for Teachers, Co-workers, or Friends. Keep it simple with one or two flavor options, use mine below, or get creative and make up your own. My kids, ages 3, 5, and 7 all helped with this project, and had just as much fun making them as eating them when we were done!
Supplies:
Chocolate/white chocolate or almond bark
Sprinkles
Flavoring
Spoons
Other items depending on recipe/flavor desired
I’ve listed the flavors I made, and what I used in each. If you’ve never done it before, start with Chocolate and Vanilla. Make them fancy by adding sprinkles and changing the name to something like “Chocolate fudge truffle.”
Almond bark is usually easier to work with than real chocolate, but real chocolate tastes better, so you choose! Also, a VERY important tip is: when you add liquid to chocolate or almond bark (like flavoring or coloring) it will get thick. To thin it out again, add shortening. DO NOT add water or milk.
Most of the steps are the same, only the flavorings are different. I’ll explain all the steps with ‘Candy Cane,’ and then just list the ingredients for the rest.
Candy-Cane: 1. Melt 2-3 oz of Vanilla Almond bark or white chocolate. 2. Add 1/4-1/2 tsp peppermint flavoring (depending on taste, but remember, these will be diluted in the hot chocolate). 3. Add 2 tsp shortening to thin chocolate. 4. Dip spoon into chocolate and then into crushed candy canes. Makes 5-6 spoons.
Chocolate Fudge: Chocolate (chips or bark), sprinkles of choice. no flavoring
Snowflake Vanilla: Vanilla (Chips or bark), Sprinkles of choice, no flavoring
Butterscotch: Butterscotch chips, crushed butterscotch candies or sprinkles
Peanut Butter: Peanut butter chips, chocolate sprinkles
Butter Pecan: Vanilla (chips or bark), butter flavoring, chopped pecans
Cinnamon bear: Vanilla bark, red dye, cinnamon flavoring, red sprinkles
Egg nog: Vanilla bark, nutmeg, sprinkles of choice
Coconut: Vanilla bark, coconut flavoring, shredded coconut
Mint Chocolate: Andes mint chips, sprinkles of choice
Pumpkin pie: Vanilla bark, orange dye, pumpkin pie spice, chopped pecans
Almond Roca: Chocolate bark, almond flavoring, toffee bits
Strawberry truffle: Chocolate bark, strawberry flavoring, sprinkles
Raspberry truffle: Vanilla bark, raspberry flavoring, sprinkles
Gingerbread: Vanilla bark, molasses, cloves, allspice, ginger, sprinkles (This one got VERY think, so I had to spread it with my fingers, but it tasted good)
Finish nicely by putting into bags. You can buy candy bags at a craft store, but I just use sandwich bags. Tie twine or curling ribbon around to hold the bag on, then label with a small tag. If you want, include a direction sheet. This is what mine says:
Hot Chocolate Dippers!
1. Make your favorite Hot Chocolate Mix (Plain, non-flavored works best)
2. Place your pick of flavored ‘dipper’ into cup and stir until melted
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 as often as wanted!
Time: 30+ min
Start with a simple ‘X’ then add a straight ‘I.’ Then add 3 dots with the end of a toothpick. After the snowflakes are all painted and dry, paint over the top of the all with a clear base coat.
