Christmas Candy Cane Hearts

Brace yourself, I think you are going to be shocked. With all the Elf on a Shelf mischief going on, I was thinking of blowing off Christmas cards and school friend treats. I know, it’s mind-boggling. For me too. I couldn’t stand it and at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday night — the night before the last HALF day of school — I decided to make goodies for the kids.

This is literally the best thing to make at the last — very last — second.

I am certifiable.

But I had an idea. Disappointingly, the Cupcake was NOT sold on it even though I showed her a picture of what I was intending to make. I forged ahead confident I could win her over with sprinkles. (Like glitter but for food)

I was scouring the aisles at CVS for mini candy canes (because I had 3 bonus bucks that were about to expire – yes, I still coupon) while she was searching for enough Zhu Zhu Babies to give to all her friends. The Zhu Zhu’s were only a dollar each.  If she found them, I might have actually scrapped the candy canes for the little hamsters — for both BOYS and girls. I just wanted sleep, hamsters was my ticket. Sadly, there were only 9 so it was back to the original plan.

Miracle upon miracle, CVS had mini candy canes 2 for $2.00. And three left on the shelf. Sweet! Exactly how many I needed. I checked out with $0 transacting between us. I could NOT stop smiling. The manager was notably impressed and I glanced at the people behind me to see if they were too. Yep.

Still smirking, we went home, started melting chocolate and I realized. Hmmm. It’s awesome that I actually have every ingredient for this project but I don’t know how we’re going to actually GIVE them to the kids. Yeah, I needed treat bags. Ugh. Off to Michaels.

Despite all the running around, this project was an easy one, finished in an hour or so and easy for the Cupcake to do as well. All I really did was pour.

So let’s get into it.

Here’s what you need:

Mini candy canes (for the record, the CVS ones are AWESOME. NONE were broken, and they’re all sturdy and thick. Definitely a good choice. I saw the crumbled mess of mini shards at Michaels and was so glad I had stopped at CVS earlier.) You’ll use two for each treat so a box of 30 will make 15 treats. (I’m so good at math. My dad would be proud.)
Chocolate chips
Colored Sprinkles
Cookie sheet
Parchment paper

Here’s what you do for Christmas Candy Cane Hearts:

Heat up your chocolate chips. If you’re read along fairly frequently, you know that I throw in a teaspoon or so of Crisco (stop with the gasping, I’ve done it with every recipe for like a year now). You do NOT have to do this, but it smooths out the chocolate. I use a candy melter but you can do it in the microwave, just don’t over nuke it because then it turns a corner where it’s all thick and yucky again.

Arrange your candy canes on the cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. You want the candy canes to touch at the bottom and with both hooks facing inward to create a heart.

Once your chips are melted, pour the chocolate into the middle of the candy canes.

Shake sprinkles on top.

Let dry and firm up.

Peel off the parchment paper.

THAT IS IT.

The finished product is super cute, the Cupcake was very pleased with her handiwork and if no one breaks a tooth on the hard as rocks Christmas lights candy that she put on every one of them, it’s all good.

You could totally do this for Valentine’s Day too. Maybe not if you did it for Christmas because that would be like wearing the same dress to every wedding, but it’s definitely gives you reason to snag the candy canes when they hit the sale rack on the 26th.

And no, Mommy is still tired. I don’t think we’ll be doing Christmas cards. Hook up with me on Facebook and I promise a digital one that will blow your socks off. Deal?

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