Chocolate Covered Cherry Hearts

Valentine's Day is almost here. Like, tomorrow almost here.

Here is a really quick and easy Valentine treat you can make for someone you LUHVE. Plus these Chocolate Covered Cherry Hearts are super yummy.

These are ridiculously easy to make. All you need is--

cherry hearts
milk chocolate chips
wax paper
toothpicks

First melt the chocolate chips by the double broiler method. Put the chips in a bowl and then place the bowl over the top of a saucepan of shallow simmering water. The water and the bottom of the bowl should not touch. Stir the chocolate constantly until melted.

Use a toothpick to dip the cherry heart into the chocolate.

Cover the heart with chocolate and shake gently to remove excess chocolate.

Using a second toothpick, remove the chocolate covered heart from the first toothpick onto a sheet of wax paper.

Repeat until all the hearts are covered.

Let the chocolate cool and harden for at least 3 hours and up to overnight.

Now they are all ready. See how easy peasy it is.

You can package them up all pretty and give them away or you can just eat them right off the wax paper and say Happy Valentine's Day to yourself.

Or you can do what I did and give some away and eat some. A win win.

So Happy Valentine's Day and happy chocolate eating.

Follow along with Just Another Day in Paradise

Instagram        Facebook        Pinterest

Homemade Gummy Candy

I have a list of homemade candies that I want to make. Yesterday I posted the homemade butterfingers, YUM! I actually have a lot of homemade chocolate candy bar recipes, but as some of you might know, I prefer gummy candy to chocolate..shock...GASP...I know.

So I went on search for some homemade candy recipes that weren't chocolate based. I found this recipe almost right away on Skip to My Lou. I thought to myself, "Self, you can't go wrong with homemade gummy candy."

So I went and bought some gelatin. Next, I raided our Jell-o stash...yes we have one. Then we found some candy molds at a craft store. This recipe is fast, easy and the candy totally stores well (we prefer them in the fridge). My Little Men LOVED this candy. In fact, this was the treat of choice for days. Hubby LOVED them. We had so much fun making this recipe we have already done it twice. So many variations. SO much fun.

Here is all you need:

2-3 oz boxes of Jell-o
3 packets of plain gelatin (there are four in a box)
2/3 cup water
candy molds*

a helper or two...

*We had a 10 pack of candy molds. You will get more if you use smaller molds. I always made two batches at time. We filled 6-7 molds depending. 

FIRST- Pour the water into a medium-large sauce pan. Sprinkle the gelatin and Jell-O over the water.

Let is sit for 5-10 minutes.

Then put the saucepan on the stove. Heat to boiling on medium high heat Stir constantly and keep on heat until the gelatin and Jell-O dissolve. 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool for a minute.

Then transfer the mixture into a container that you can pour from.

Then start the careful, meticulous pouring...this part is not for the kiddos...well either is the stove part, but I figure you all would know that.

You do not need to prepare the molds at all. The candy will come out fine without it.

Let the candy set for at 20-30 minutes. Then to get the candy out you need to use one finger, it will stick to it a little, then pull down and back gently. The candy should kind of peel out of the mold. Be careful to not roll the candy down on itself because it will stick.

Lay the candy out on a sheet of wax paper. The candy will be stickier in the very beginning. In a couple hours it will be much less sticky.

You can eat some right then and there or you can store it in a rubbermaid container. Like I said earlier, we put ours in the fridge.

I promise you this, you will have fun AND you will be addicted to making your own gummy candy.