PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE SPOONS

(recipe from Barbary Denham Sulz)

These Christmas candies are chocolate-covered spoons sprinkled with crushed candy canes. They’re delicious when used to stir coffee or hot cocoa, and make a great holiday gift. This recipe yields about 20 spoons.

Ingredients:
1 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
5 candy canes
20 plastic spoons

Preparation:
1. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil.

2. Crush the candy canes by placing them in a blender or food processor, and pulsing it on/off until the candy is in small pieces. Alternately, you can place the canes in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to finely crush them. Separate out the large pieces for another use, and place the small shards in a bowl. The crushed candy pieces will get sticky if left for a long time at room temperature, so if you are not going to immediately use them, place them in a Ziploc bag to protect it.

3. Place the chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted, stirring after every minute to prevent overheating.

4. Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, begin dipping the spoons in the chocolate. Hold a spoon by the tip of the handle and dip it 2/3 of the way into the chocolate. Depending on the shape of your bowl, you may want to use another spoon to ladle chocolate over the back of the spoon, ensuring even coverage. Tap the spoon against the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate, then hold the spoon over the bowl of candy canes pieces. Sprinkle the pieces in a light layer over the front and back of the spoon. Place the spoon bowl-up on the baking sheet, then repeat with remaining candy and spoons.

5. Place the spoons in the refrigerator to set the chocolate for 15 minutes. Once set, the spoons can be packaged and given as gifts. The spoons should be fine in most room temperature environments, but they will start to melt if they get warm. They can be stored for over a month in an airtight container in the refrigerator.