Chocolate Pecan Butter Crunch Recipes

Steps:

• Butter a 9-inch square baking pan, and line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper that extends up and over two sides. Butter the parchment, and set the pan aside.
• Place the butter and water in a large saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugar, and stir constantly until dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil. Using a pastry brush dipped in water, brush away any sugar crystals on the side of the pan to prevent recrystallization. Cook until the mixture is dark amber in color. Remove from heat, and stir in the pecans. Pour into the prepared baking pan, and let stand at room temperature to cool completely.
• Place the chocolate and corn syrup, if using, in a small heat-proof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until combined and completely melted. Let cool slightly, and spread over the top of the cooled toffee. Arrange the pecan halves on top, and let sit at room temperature until the chocolate has cooled completely and set, at least 2 hours or overnight. Carefully unmold by lifting out the parchment paper. Break or cut into pieces, and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 300°F. In medium bowl, mix melted butter and brown sugar. In ungreased 15x10x1-inch pan, place corn puffs snacks and pecans. Pour butter mixture over snacks mixture, stirring to coat evenly.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes, stirring twice, until golden brown.
• Remove 6 cups snacks mixture; place on waxed paper. Sprinkle chocolate chips over remaining hot mixture in pan; toss until chocolate is melted and pieces are completely coated. Cool each mixture completely, about 10 minutes.
• When mixtures are completely cooled, toss together in large bowl or container.

Steps:

• Line a 13x9-in. pan with foil; set aside. Using part of the butter, grease the sides of a large heavy saucepan. Add remaining butter to saucepan; melt over low heat. Add sugar, corn syrup and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 300° (hard-crack stage). , Remove from the heat and stir in almonds. Quickly pour into the prepared pan, spreading to cover bottom of pan. Cool completely. Carefully invert pan to remove candy in 1 piece; remove foil. , Melt half of the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave-safe bowl; spread over top of candy. Let cool. Turn candy over and repeat with remaining chocolate; cool. Break into 2-in. pieces. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Combine cracker crumbs and butter; press into a 13-in. x 9-in. dish. Chill., In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes (mixture will be thick). Fold in ice cream and whipped topping. Spoon over crust. Sprinkle with candy. , Freeze for at least 2 hours. Remove from the freezer 20 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Cook sugar, syrup and water until mixture thickens and bubbles (about 230 degrees). Add butter and pecans. Stir continuously and continue cooking until nuts begin to brown or start popping (290 degrees). Remove from heat. Add vanilla and soda and stir thoroughly. Pour quickly in several pieces on large buttered surface. Do not spread with knife or spoon. Allow to cool slightly. Stretch and pull with hands until very thin. (The thinner it is stretched, the more brittle it will be.) When cooled and hardened, break into small pieces. Store in airtight container.

Steps:

• Cook sugar, syrup and water until mixture thickens and bubbles (about 230 degrees). Add butter and pecans. Stir continuously and continue cooking until nuts begin to brown or start popping (290 degrees). Remove from heat. Add vanilla and soda and stir thoroughly. Pour quickly in several pieces on large buttered surface. Do not spread with knife or spoon. Allow to cool slightly. Stretch and pull with hands until very thin. (The thinner it is stretched, the more brittle it will be.) When cooled and hardened, break into small pieces. Store in airtight container.

Steps:

• Generously grease 13x9 baking pan or coat with nonstick spray.
• In a large, heavy saucepan, thoroughly stir together the peanut butter, brown sugar, butter and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, over medium high heat and boil, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
• Stir in corn flakes, 2/3 cup of the peanuts, the coconut, if using, and vanilla until evenly incorporated. Turn out the mixture into the baking pan, spreading to the edges.
• Immediately sprinkle the chocolate mini morsels over the top, let stand until they melt. Using a table knife, spread the melted chocolate evenly over the top.Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup of peanuts over the chocolate.
• Refrigerate until the chocolate completely sets, about 30 minutes.or freeze 15 minutes to speed chilling. Using a large, sharp knife, cut into 24 bars.
• Store in an air tight container for up to 1 week for freeze up to 1 month.

Steps:

• Notes: 1. Can substitute dark brown sugar in place of white sugar and molasses (I find my way cheaper and less messy). 2. Can substitute canola oil for soybean (I read it's healthier, but I'm in what seems to be a minority of people who can taste canola oil and really don't like it). 3. Can substitute dark brown sugar in place of Splenda (I use some Splenda just to cut down on a few calories). 4. I use Nestle cocoa instead of Hershey's because it's cheaper, and I can't taste any difference. 5. Dutch cocoa will not react with baking soda. Plus, I don't like the idea of treating cocoa with some alkali, which causes some losses of the chemical compounds that are retained in unprocessed cocoa, including some of the natural antioxidants in the chocolate. 6. Can substitute unsalted butter for salted butter, but then need to increase Kosher salt to ½ teaspoon. 7. You can freeze the egg white in an ice cube tray then bag it for future use. 8. Of course, you can substitute, add or subtract anything else you want, but then it would be a different cookie recipe.
• General method: This recipe uses only a blender, one bowl, and one fork. I've tried other methods, but this gives the best result along with the added benefit of being very simple and quick. Of course, if you don't have a blender, just use whatever substitute will give you the equivalent result of a blender.
• Put all the wet ingredients (items 1 - 8) in the blender in any order. Start the blender at a low speed until the ingredients are flowing smoothly (takes maybe 30 to 60 seconds in my blender). Then quickly move the blender speed up to its highest setting and blend on highest for about 30 seconds. The mixture's consistency should be medium light and airy. Not too thick, and not like meringue.
• Put all the dry ingredients (items 9 - 12) in a large bowl (I like using a 2-½-quart glass measuring cup because of its size and shape for the ingredients in this recipe). Mix them thoroughly (I use a plain fork to do this). Create a well in the center for the wet mixture.
• Pour and spatula all the wet mixture from the blender.into the dry mixture well in the bowl. Add the chopped pecans to the bowl. Mix together with a fork, spoon or hands, just until thoroughly combined (I prefer a plain fork). Do not overmix. The cookie dough consistency should be firm, slightly oily, and should not stick to the sides of the bowl. The color should be dark black, and may glisten some.
• Set oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. You should use the center rack.
• Let the cookie dough sit in the bowl at room temperature for about ten minutes to let the bread flour and cocoa thoroughly integrate with the wet mixture. The bowl can be covered to keep out unwanted stuff, but it is not necessary otherwise.
• After sitting for about ten minutes, .mix a little more. You are now ready to pan and bake.
• I recommend you now try a single test cookie. (If you want to just bake the whole batch now, then skip this instruction and continue to the next one.) The batch of dough makes twelve 3 ½ inch cookies. So, using your fork or other scooper, get an amount equal to about 1/12 the total batch (this should be about the size of a golf ball or slightly bigger). It is not necessary to grease the baking sheet. Put the dollop of cookie dough in the center of the sheet, and mash it till it is fairly flat on top, and about 3 inches across. If the cookie dough sticks a lot to the baking sheet, and leaves residue that is not easily scraped off, you may need a little more oil. Bake the single cookie for 8 -10 minutes (I would try 9). It should rise somewhat while baking, but will fall flat after taking it out of the oven. Let it cool a bit on the sheet, then try it. If it's too dry and sticks a lot to the baking sheet, you can add 1 TBL of soybean oil to the cookie dough and mix it in by hand as best you can. If it's too dry, but does NOT stick a lot to the baking sheet, then try baking less time (try 2 minutes less). When you are happy with the cookie, bake the whole batch following the next instruction.
• The batch of dough makes twelve 3 ½ inch cookies. The baking sheet should be on the center rack of the oven, so you may have to bake two batches of six cookies (like I do), or you can use two baking sheets on two racks, and swap the sheets half way through baking. It is not necessary to grease the baking sheet. The size of each cookie on the baking sheet should equal about 1/12 the total batch (this should be about the size of a golf ball or slightly bigger). Using your fork or other scooper, put the dollops of cookie dough on the sheet, and mash them till they are fairly flat on top, and about 3 inches across. Bake the cookies for 10 -12 minutes (12 works for me). They should rise somewhat while baking, but will fall flat after taking them out of the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before taking them off (I use a wooden spatula).
• Baking is very unforgiving, and these cookies are no exception. There are two main reasons I've found that will give you a bad batch. The cookie dough is either too dry or too oily. Or, the baking time was either too short or too long. In insrtuction 9 above, I discuss too dry. If they are too oily, use less oil in the next batch, or add more milk and/or bread flour. If the dough seems oily enough, but bakes too dry, then reduce the baking time (try 2 minutes less).