Christmas time means belly-buttons! We've been making these for years and they're a really good kids-can-help project. And, they're SO tasty when they're done :-)
1.Start with some Hershey Kisses. Almost always on sale around this time :-)
2.Employ a small child to unwrap the kisses. Ella chose to wear gloves "just in case" she had germs (they were later abandoned once she realized her dexterity was minimalized).
3.Try to move quickly to the next step before the bowl of kisses empties as people mill around and distract you while sneaking your chocolate out of the bowl.
4.The small child can be put to work again spreading out square-shaped pretzel snaps (or round ones if you can find them, they tend to elude me in the stores lately). Then place 1 kiss in the center of each pretzel. Use an oven safe container with sides (they slide off too easily on a baking sheet sans edges).
5.Bake the kiss/pretzels at 200 degrees for 5-8 minutes. When they're ready they'll be shiny and soft enough to easily press an MnM into it. DO not let them cook too long. If they're burnt they'll start to crack and get hard and smell really bad (can you tell I've made this mistake in years past?)
6.Gather some MnM's. Peanut are the ones I originally learned to make them with but do whatever you like. This year I tried Peanut Butter along with some Peanut and Chris loved 'em. I prefer the crunch of the peanut but, to each his own :-)
7.Carefully press MnMs into the softened chocolate! Let them cool and enjoy the sweet, chocolatey, salty, crunchy, smooth goodness. Mmmmmm.
Nice. And, I LOVE, LOVE your Hershey's Kiss picture!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I re-read your post today after posting this and realized how similar they are :-) My side of the family LOVED these so I'm sure we'll be making even more next year :-)
ReplyDeleteI like how the steps are easy (and repetitive) so kids can help for REAL. Unlike other things where I end up telling the kids "you can stir" and then they watch mommy do the rest.
ReplyDeleteWe had some of these at my aunt and uncle's house tonight. They were delicious! But we had a thought... if you used Lindt chocolates instead of Hershey's kisses you could say that you had "lint" in your belly buttons! lol! Sorry, gross, but too funny not to share. :)
ReplyDeleteI did not know that you made them. I liked the combination of soft and crackly, salty and sweet.
ReplyDeleteGreat cooperative effort. Thanks a lot. And I love the name.....belly buttons.
So cute and easy! I will have to remember this for next year. Mabry was great at unwrapping the kisses I used for a different cookie this year. Hope you are all having a great 2011 so far!
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