Edible Christmas Gifts

Pretzel Turtles

20 small mini pretzels
20 chocolate covered caramel candies (like Caramellos or Rolos)
20 pecan halves

Preheat oven to 300 F. Arrange the pretzels in a single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place one chocolate covered caramel candy on each pretzel. Bake for 4 minutes. While the candy is warm, press a pecan half onto each candy covered pretzel. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Caramel Corn

7 quarts plain popped popcorn
2 cups dry roasted peanuts (optional)
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (or margarine)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the popped popcorn into two shallow greased baking pans. You may use roasting pans, jelly roll pans, or disposable roasting pans. Add the peanuts to the popped corn, if using. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 250 F. Combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter (or margarine) and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend. Once mixture begins to boil, boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will be light and foamy. Immediately pour over the popcorn in the pans, and stir to coat. Don't worry too much at this point about getting all of the corn coated.

Bake for 1 hour, removing the pans, and giving them each a good stir every 15 minutes. Line the counter top with waxed paper. Dump the corn out onto the waxed paper and separate the pieces. Allow to cool completely; store in airtight containers or re-sealable bags.