Recipe Development

My friend Emily from Fort Worth Food and Wellness came over to help recreate an old favorite candy of ours- Whatchamacallit candy bars. Those bars are loaded with unpronounceable additives, tons of sugar, and contain peanuts, which I'm allergic to. Despite their deliciousness, candy bars just aren't that good for you. But dang do I have a craving for some old favorites lately!

Y'all know I'm all about growing your own food and cooking it. Candy is something I'd never attempted before now. The recipe development commenced; and I can tell you, it's not for the faint of heart! Here are some photos of our messy and fun day:

What ingredients do we need? Ah, let's just get everything out that sounds relevant and start trying to put them together!

It's beginning to look a lot like...candy filling!

At this point, Emily had to take over the scooping because that was the first time I'd ever actually used that utensil. Ever. My scoops were pretty sad compared to my chef friend's! We put them into the fridge for 15 minutes to take shape.

Here Emily is topping with melted dairy-free chocolate chips. Our original idea of a semi-sweet chocolate bar made the balls a little too bitter for us.

For a grown-up flavor, we topped with smoked sea salt.

We popped the completed candy in the fridge and waited for my husband, Mr. Man, to come home to give us his take on sugar-free, vegan candy. We didn't tell him it was vegan or sugar-free for an honest critique. Mr. Man said they were so good he wanted a glass of milk and the entire container for himself. Yay!

Here is our finished ingredient list, should you want to recreate an old favorite at home yourself:

3/4 C sunflower seed butter (or peanut butter)

1/2 C brown rice syrup

4 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/4 C sunflower seeds

1 C rice crisp cereal

1/4 C chocolate chips, melted (use dairy-free to make this vegan)

A little Ancho chile powder in the melted chocolate for a Texas kick (optional)

Sprinkle of smoked sea salt to top, if you wish

Here's where Emily and I need your help: we couldn't decide on a name for these goodies! Please let us know your suggestions in the comments below. And be sure to try this recipe at home!

Till next time,

Dallas Farmer Gal