Peanut Butter Popcorn

This is a family recipe. Everyone loves this stuff. My mom likes to make it with plenty of peanuts. She would always make an extra batch just for my dad that he would stash in his room.

4 quarts popped corn (1/2 c. unpopped kernels)

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. light corn syrup

1/2 c. honey

1 c. peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. peanuts (I like to use lightly salted, dry roasted)

Combine sugar, corn syrup, and honey in a small saucepan. Boil for 2 minutes on medium high. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Pour over popcorn and peanuts. Stir with a long handled spoon until well coated. Spread out on a cookie sheet to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Buttons

So this is not a recipe that I invented, but for lack of a better name we chose to call them buttons. :) I have not found a person who doesn't love these little gems!

1 bag Snyder's Pretzel snaps

1 package Hershey's Hugs

1 package plain M&M's

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Arrange as many snaps on a cookie sheet as you can without letting them touch each other; discard any broken ones.

Unwrap all hugs and place them in a bowl. Put a hug in the center of each snap.

Put sheet into the the oven for about 3 minutes. This part is tricky because you don't want to melt the hugs to the point that they lose their shape, just enough to soften them.

Carefully remove from the oven and immediately press an M&M into the middle of each hug. Let the chocolate reset before serving (If you can wait that long :)

I am going to try caramel Hershey's and pecan halves next time. I will let you know how that goes. Stay tuned...

Scotcheroos

This is my mother's go-to treat recipe, I think she has a year's supply of these ingredients on hand at any given moment.

1 c. sugar

1 c. light corn syrup

1 c. peanut butter

5 c. crisp rice cereal

1 c. milk chocolate chips (If you are a chocoholic like my mother,

1 c. butterscotch chips you can add two cups of each ;)

Combine sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add peanut butter. Stir until smooth. Pour over cereal and stir until evenly coated. Press into a lightly greased 9x13 pan.

Melt butterscotch and milk chocolate chips in the microwave according to package directions.

*TIP* Make sure that your chips are in date or they will crumble instead of melt in smooth velvety goodness.