Free Candy Making for Kids by Courtney Dial Whitmore Page A

stiff. Fill plastic Ziploc bag with meringue mixture. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Use a pen to draw 3 different sizes of circles (1-1/2, 2 and 2-1/2
    inches) for the snowman’s body. Cut a corner in the plastic bag and pipe the meringue mixture onto the drawn circles, lifting up as you pipe. Spray your finger with non-stick cooking spray and carefully flatten the tips of the circles so they can be stacked later. Bake for 40 minutes. Turn off oven and let circles sit for an extra 15 minutes (do not open oven). Remove from oven and let cool.
    Sweet Tip: Use frosting or melted white
    chocolate as glue to stick together the head, middle and body of the snowman. Create fun scarves, hats, eyes, etc., out of candies. For example, use fruit roll-ups to make scarves.

     

Coconut Snowballs
    Makes 24 snowballs
     
     
2 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flaked coconut
    Mix powdered sugar, condensed milk, extracts and salt together until well combined.
    Stir in 1 cup of coconut and mix well. If dough is too stiff, add a little more condensed milk. Shape into 1-inch snowballs and roll in remaining 2 cups of coconut.
    Store snowballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

     

Peppermint Ornament Wreaths
    Makes 20 wreaths
     
     
1 (18-ounce) bag round peppermint hard candies
decorating: red hots, gumdrops, M&M’s, etc.
royal icing or melted white chocolate bark as glue
Christmas ribbons and bows for hanging on the tree
    Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Remove the wrappers from the peppermints.
    Arrange 5 peppermints in a circle on the paper. Cook at 300 degrees F for 6 minutes.
    These candies melt quickly, so watch carefully not to let them stay too long or they will be a solid round piece of peppermint. Remove candies from oven. Cool and remove from the cookie sheet. Attach a circle of ribbon to peppermint and add a bow, and they are ready to hang on your tree! Be careful because the candy is thin and can break easily.

     

Spooky Halloween Ghosts
    Makes 10 to 12 ghosts
     
     
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow fluff
1 pound powdered sugar
2 tablespoons black frosting
    Mix together butter, marshmallow fluff and powdered sugar in electric mixer. Beat
    until smooth. Add more powdered sugar until soft, moldable texture forms. Mold ghost shapes with hands or fill into large plastic bag, cut corner and pipe out ghost shapes. Add eyes and mouth with black frosting.

     

Candy Corn
    Makes 50 to 60 candy corn
     
     
1 (10-ounce) bag miniature marshmallows
1-1/2 pounds powdered sugar
1/4 cup shortening
yellow and red food coloring
    Melt entire bag of marshmallows with 3 tablespoons of water in a microwavable bowl in
    30-second intervals until completely smooth. Stir in 3 cups powdered sugar until dough begins to form. Rub hands over shortening and begin to knead the marshmallow fondant. Powder a flat surface with powdered sugar. Knead fondant on flat surface and continue to add remaining powdered sugar until smooth and not sticky. Divide into 3 balls (small, medium, large). Flatten 1 and add yellow food coloring. Roll and knead until the coloring spreads evenly across ball. Repeat with second ball and a combination of yellow and red food coloring to create orange. Arrange balls from large to small sizes and form into triangle shape.
    Sweet Tip: Vary the colors for other
    holidays such as pink for Valentine’s Day or green for St. Patrick’s Day!

     

Valentine’s Conversation Hearts
    Makes 25 conversation hearts
     
     
1-1/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
red food coloring
4 cups powdered sugar
edible markers
    Place gelatin, water and light corn syrup into a heatproof bowl. Stir until well
    dissolved and then microwave for 30 seconds. Pour into mixing bowl and add the extract and 5 drops of red