C – After making candy, I am not sure if I will try it again.
Luke suggested Jessica and I make candy for a Halloween celebration. I didn’t think it was going to be challenging. Jessica knew better, but somehow she still agreed. It gave her an excuse to buy a candy bar book she’s been wanting to try out. Helping me out with candy week was as good of an excuse as any to shop.
We decided to make butterfingers. I guess there are lots of recipes out there for butterfingers. Some people use candy corn, others use cheese crackers to make the crunch. Some are made from scratch. Some are “healthy.”
We wanted to try a couple. My challenge to Jessica was to make one with no corn syrup and compare it to one with corn syrup. Was there a difference?
The answer was yes. Both had good things and bad things about them.
The good and bad about the healthy. The good thing about the healthy one are the ingredients. Honey, peanut butter and a few other ingredients. Plain and simple with nothing processed. The taste was great. Salty peanut butter balanced well with the honey.
The one down side was that it really wasn’t a Butterfinger. The texture was hard and not crunchy. It was melty and almost like caramel with peanut butter. It’s a hard thing to describe. But, I wouldn’t call it a butterfinger. I think if you called it a peanut butter caramel chew, it would have been more appropriate.
The unhealthy version has sugar and corn syrup, which was the only bad part about them. I am not a big fan of using lots of sugar or corn syrup. But, it really did make a butterfingers candy bar.
They are just like the kind you buy at the store. Still, it’s probably a cheaper and better way to feed your family candy. We loved the flaky, crunchy texture. They were easy to chew and tasted great.
| Candy Week: Butterfingers Takeover: Healthy vs. Unhealthy |
- 1 cup honey
- ⅛ tsp cream of tartar
- 1 cup salted natural chunky peanut butter
- ⅕ tsp sea salt
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- ½ Tbsp butter
- 1 cup salted creamy peanut butter, warmed in microwave for one minute
- ⅓ cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- ½ tablespoon butter
- Pour honey and cream of tartar into a small sauce pan. Stir and let it dissolve.
- Attach a candy thermometer to the saucepan.
- Bring honey to a boil over low to medium heat. Until it reaches 300 degrees. About 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat add peanut butter and salt. Mix well.
- Pour immediately to a parchment-lined baking sheet and spread evenly to desired shape and thickness.
- Used an greased knife score the bars. Place in freezer until ready to work.
- Melt chocolate slowly in a double boiler. Add butter once chocolate is melted.
- Remove sheet from freezer and break into bars.
- Dip bars in chocolate one at a time. Remove with a candy fork. Shaking any excess chocolate off.
- Place on parchment paper and let dry in freezer for about 30 minutes. Remove from freezer.
- Serve or store. They can be keep for about 3 days.
- Enjoy!
- Cook syrup, sugar, and water to 310 degrees. Remove from heat.
- Stir in warmed peanut butter. Mix well.
- Pour into a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Score mixture while still warm to desired candy bar sizes.
- Place in freezer until ready to work.
- Melt chocolate slowly in a double boiler. Add butter once chocolate is melted.
- Remove sheet from freezer and break into bars.
- Dip bars in chocolate one at a time. Remove with a candy fork. Shaking any excess chocolate off.
- Place on parchment paper and let dry in freezer for about 30 minutes. Remove from freezer.
- Serve or store. They can be keep for about 3 days.
- Enjoy.
I was surprised that both of them were really easy to make, and still somewhat good for you.
Well, now it’s time to impress some friends of mine. Happy candy week!
The healthy recipe says in first line of directions Pour honey cream and cream of tartar – should this be honey , butter and cream of tartar.
These look amazing thanks
Thanks. Fixed. Now.it reads “… honey and cream of tartar …”