Homemade kit kats

* 1 Box Club crackers or Waverly's (some kind of square butter cracker)
* 1 cup butter
* 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
* 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup whole milk
* 2 1/4 cups milk chocolate
* 1 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
* 1 cup peanut butter chips

If you try this the hard way (don't), you'll want two differently sized baking dishes, plastic wrap, and cooking spray.

If you want to do this the easy way (yes, please), one large baking dish and plastic wrap will suffice.


the "easy way" will be revealed later on in the story

Spray the smaller pan with cooking oil and lay crackers edge-to-edge along the bottom.

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the milk.

Add the sugars and bring to a boil.

Stir in the graham cracker crumbs and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Easy, right?

But trust me, this order of events is important. Were you to, say, dump all the ingredients into a pan and just cook away, you might have to throw the whole sloppy, sticky mess into the trash. (see pictures [and image notes] below)

If this does happen, don't worry, pet - fix yourself a g & t and give it another go!

Pour about half of the filling over your layer of crackers.

Make another layer of crackers in the same orientation as the first. Or not. I'm not standing over your shoulder judging you.

Pour the rest of the filling over your crackers.

Make a third layer of crackers on top.

Cover with cling wrap and put in the fridge to firm up.

To try and make something visually similar to a Kit Kat bar, I cut up the pan of crackers into sticks. The plan was to make the familiar three-bar Kit Kat candy bar. While I don't feel I was successful in doing so, I certainly don't want to discourage you from trying this yourself.

If you do choose the hard path, let the candy come to room temp before cutting into bars. Trust me.

Now it's time to make the magic chocolate coating that tastes something like the chocolate you know, and something I can't describe as anything other than "candy bar."

Melt the chips together in a double boiler (or microwave) until all smooth and creamy. I don't have a double boiler, and I tend to botch melting chocolate in the microwave, so I used one pan set on top of another pan with a small amount of simmering water in the bottom pan.

The melting process will take some active participation on your part, as the butterscotch chips don't like to play friendly and need some coaxing to melt smoothly into the rest of the mixture.

If you decide to go the route of making the three-stick bar, do as follows. Otherwise, just pour the chocolate coating evenly over the top of the layers you made in Step 4! ah, that my friends, is the "easy way."

Cover a larger baking dish in plastic wrap. Pour in a layer of chocolate and allow to set.

Arrange the bars you cut apart in Step 5 on top of the chocolate layer.

Coat the bars in another layer of chocolate, making sure to cover the tops and sides.

Once they're set, break 'em up and see how you did! Mine were almost completely indistinguishable from the real thing, as you can clearly see in the photos.

The next time I do this, I'm going to change a few things. (If you get to it before me, let me know how it goes for you!)

I would: (These are suggestions from the lady that created the recipe)

1. Use butterscotch extract instead of chips. Possibly peanut butter extract as well. I think this would allow the chocolate to become even meltier than it did (yes, that's a technical term I learned in chef school), and allow for more even pouring.
2. Don't try and mess with the three-bar iconic image of a Kit Kat. These taste good and don't need any extra fancifying (another of them technical terms). The fancier I got, the worse they looked! No one wants to eat ugly candy.
3. Pour a layer of the candy coating into the pan before adding the first layer of crackers. Chocolate on top and bottom of these (and not bothering with the sides) makes for a nice sweetness ratio.

-My mother-in-law made these today, oh my!!!! :o)

Homemade kit kats

*

75 club crackers
*

1 c. butter
*

2 c. graham cracker crumbs
*

1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
*

½ c. whole milk
*

⅓ c. white sugar
*

⅔ c. creamy peanut butter
*

½ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
*

½ c. butterscotch chips

*

Line an ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan with 1 layer of crackers, cutting to fit.
*

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add cracker crumbs, brown sugar, milk, and sugar. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour half of the butter mixture over crackers. Place another layer of crackers evenly over butter mixture. Pour remaining butter mixture evenly over crackers. Top with remaining crackers.
*

In a small saucepan, combine peanut butter, chocolate and butterscotch chips. Melt over medium low heat, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over crackers. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. Cut into bars and store into refrigerator.

By: Paula Dean

-My mother-in-law made these today, oh my!!!! :o)

Chicken Parmesans Macaroni Casserole

Chicken Parmesans Macaroni Casserole, Optional: Serve with Garlic Bread

Ingredients:
1/2 Jar Market Pantry Pasta Sauce
2 Cups Parmesan/Mozzarella Cheese Blend
2-3 Chicken Breasts (whatever is left over from the previous recipe), Poached and Shredded
1/2 box Market Pantry Pasta (about 3 cups)

1. Cook Pasta according to package directions, and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl, mix Pasta, shredded chicken, 1 Cup of Cheese, and pasta sauce together. Stir until everything is combined.
3. Pour pasta mixture into 9×13 inch baking dish. Cover with the remaining cheese, and bake for 15 minutes or until macaroni salad is heated through and cheese has melted.

Swiss Cheese Chicken

Swiss Cheese Chicken, Optional: Serve with side salad

Ingredients:
Use 6 of the Market Pantry Chicken Breasts
4-6 Slices of Swiss Cheese
1 (10.75 oz) Can of Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1 (8 oz) Bag of Stuffing
2 Tablespoons of Butter, melted

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
2. Arrange thawed chicken breasts in baking dish. Place on slice of swiss cheese on top of each chicken breast. Spoon cream of chicken soup over the cheese and spread evenly. Sprinkle with stuffing, I used about half the box. Then, pour your melted butter over the top of the stuffing evenly.
3. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes until chicken in no longer pink, and juices run clear.

Orange Julius

Orange Julius
2/3 Cup Orange Juice (On Sale $2.99 for 5lb bag at Target)
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Cup 1 % Milk
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
4 Teaspoon’s Sugar
8-12 Ice Cubes

1. Add all the ingredients into a blender and mix. Serve immediately.

Orange Chicken Marinade

Orange Chicken Marinade, Optional: Serve with White or Brown Rice and Green beans or Corn on the Cob.
2-3 Chicken Breasts
1/3 Cup Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
3 Tablespoons Low Sodium Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Honey
2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
1/8 Teaspoon Pepper

1. In mixing bowl, mix Orange Juice, Soy Sauce, Honey, Garlic Powder, and Pepper. Stir until combined, then set aside.
2. Cut 2-3 Chicken Breasts into bite size pieces and place in a 1-Gallon Ziploc Bag (You could also leave the Chicken Breast whole if your going to grill them)
3. Reserve 1/4 Cup of the marinade for serving, and pour the rest over Chicken in the Ziploc bag. Close the bag and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
4. If not grilling, cook the chicken in a frying pan on medium-high heat until Chicken is cooked through. Toss marinade left in the ziploc.
5. Pour sauce that you had set aside earlier over cooked chicken before serving.
(Marinade has 225 Calories, 0 grams of fat)



Got this recipe off of freebies2deals.com. Coby and Tucker love Orange Chicken, so I'm excited to try this recipe. :o)