I saw these adorable acorns on Martha Stewart's website and had to try them. Charming candy with just 5 ingredients!? Sign me up. I decided to keep a few for my boys, and then I plan to hand out the rest to teachers and my friend who invited us over for a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving (she must be a good friend if she can get us all running at 7 AM!). The recipe is below, with my (perhaps unnecessary!) commentary. I thought you'd like a few tips along the way...
Oh, and I had a little melted chocolate and pretzels leftover so I made pretzel bark too!
Chocolate-Peanut Butter Acorns
3/4
cup creamy peanut butter
1/2
cup unsalted butter, softened (I softened mine in the microwave for 10 seconds
on the defrost setting)
2
cups confectioners' sugar
6
ounces semisweet chocolate (Martha called for “good quality chocolate”; I used
semi-sweet chocolate morsels)
36
branch-shaped pieces from mini pretzels (I got about 2-3 “branches” from each
mini pretzel)
In a large bowl, stir together the
peanut butter and butter. Martha said to use a wooden spoon. My arm started to hurt.
I used the back of a scooped spatula and it worked great. Add the sugar and work
the mixture into a smooth dough with your hands (I started in the bowl and then moved to
the counter). Refrigerate 30 minutes (I put the dough back in the bowl to
chill).
Using the palms of your hands,
roll dough into 1 1/2-inch oblong “acorns”. Martha got 36, I got 37, so that
means I made one more person happy. Flatten one end of each acorn to make the “top”.
Martha said to use your fingertips for this. I used the counter-top. Place the
acorns on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Martha said to use wax paper; I didn’t
have any. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
Martha says to melt the chocolate
in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. I melted mine in the
microwave and stirred it every 30 seconds. It took 90 seconds. Working with one
acorn at a time, dip the flat end into the chocolate, then return to the lined baking
sheet (Martha said to insert a toothpick into the rounded end for dunking, but
I thought using my hands was easier). Insert a pretzel piece into the
chocolate-dipped end of each acorn. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 2
hours (mine were ready in 1).
Makes 36 acorns for Martha and 37 for me
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