We 3 Homemade Christmas Candies: Seven Layer Bars, Coconut Balls, Rocky Road

I've been making Christmas candies every year since I was a kid and these are my favorites. They're all very easy and use many of the same ingredients so I'm making quarter recipes of each so I can have a variety of candies and still be able to eat them all within the month of December.

Timestamps:
Seven Layer Bars: 0:01
Coconut Balls: 5:07
Rocky Road: 16:07

Seven Layer Bars: (The version I made in the video is half of this. The original recipe is twice this.)

Dump into an 8x8" baking dish lined with parchment in the following order:
8 crushed graham crackers (or any other kind of hard cookie)
1 stick melted butter (or margarine or coconut oil)
A layer of chocolate chips (about 1/2 a bag) (or any other kind of melty candy)
A layer of butterscotch chips (about 1/2 a bag) (or any other kind of melty candy)
A layer of shredded sweetened coconut (leave out or replace with nuts if you don't like coconut)
A layer of chopped nuts (leave out or replace with coconut or seeds if you're allergic to nuts)
Half a can of sweetened condensed milk (if you can't have diary, you can make your own non-dairy sweetened condensed milk. Check out this lady's video:    • How to Make Vegan Condensed Milk - 20...  )

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the edges are brown (it will continue to cook a little after you remove it from the oven). Let cool on a wire rack, then cut into squares.

Coconut Balls:

Makes 60+ candies: (The version I made in the video is half of this. The original recipe is twice this.)

Combine in a very large bowl, in this order:
1/2-1 stick of butter (if you have a difficult time mixing stiff doughs with your hands, use the full stick)
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk (about 6-7 ounces)
1tsp vanilla extract
7 oz shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 pound powdered sugar (stir into the mixture in small batches)

About halfway through adding the powdered sugar, you will have to mix the dough with your very clean hands. Roll the dough into little balls. Consider that the balls will be larger when they're covered in chocolate. You should wind up with about 60 balls.

Chill the balls overnight.

Set up a double boiler (a medium sized pot with 3-4 inches of water, very lightly simmering, with a heat-proof bowl over it.)

Pour in:
2 bags of bittersweet chocolate chips
1 tsp coconut oil

Gently melt the chocolate. Once it's completely melted, drop a candy into it and swirl until it's coated. Drop coated candy on parchment paper to harden. Repeat the process with all the candies. If you have leftover chocolate at the end, use it in 7-layer bars or rocky road candy!

Rocky road (in a loaf pan):
6 oz choc chips
6 oz butterscotch chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
5 oz marshmallows
1/8 cup chopped peanuts (optional)

Full recipe (in a 9x13" dish):
2 bags chocolate chips (about 24 oz)
2 bags butterscotch chips (about 24 oz
1 cup peanut butter
20 oz mini marshmallows (or one 16 oz bag)
1/2 cup chopped peanuts (optional)

*If you want, you can replace either of the chips with any other kind of melting chip you like: white chocolate, peanut butter, toffee, etc.
**If you want, you can replace the peanut butter with any other nut or seed butter (almond butter, sunflower butter, etc.)

With either method, melt the chips and peanut butter together in a big bowl in the microwave on low. Check every 30 seconds and stir. Pull out of the microwave when the chips are mostly melted and finish melting out of the microwave by stirring and letting the residual heat do its thing.

Stir in the mini marshmallows.

Line your baking dish with foil (up the bottom and sides), then pour the mixture into the dish, spreading it out to the corners until the top is relatively even. Chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Remove from the pan (using the foil) and cut into squares.

Support me on Patreon:   / sarahlovesfood  
Onetime donation to my rent: https://paypal.me/PrettyTranslator/
I have a kofi now! https://ko-fi.com/sarahmoon

Anime Translation Channel:    / sarahktranslate  
Learn Japanese with me!    / @sarahmoonjapanese  
My husband's gaming channel:    / @nekomancer666  
Email: [email protected]
Twitter:   / sarahktranslate  
Facebook:   / sarahklovesfood  

Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledged. Links in the description are typically affiliate links that let you help support the channel at no extra cost.