Well, for Halloween I shared a bunch of ideas for one of the quintessential Halloween treats – candy corn – so for Valentine’s Day, it seems only appropriate to share some of my favourite ideas for cinnamon red hots!
Red Hot Popcorn
Ingredients:
6 qts. popped popcorn (about 1 cup unpopped)
12 oz. red hots (cinnamon candy hearts)
Sugar – note: put the red hots into a measuring cup and pour enough sugar over them to come up to the 2 cup mark
1 cup butter
½ cup corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. oil (preferably cinnamon oil if you can find it – if not use something with a bland taste that won’t interfere with the other flavours in the popcorn or something that will coordinate well with it)
Instructions:
Grease a roasting pan with butter and pour in the popped popcorn. Place this in a 250 degree F oven while preparing the rest of the ingredients. Put the red hots, sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the baking soda and oil. Pour this mixture over the popped popcorn and toss to coat. Put the roasting pan back in the oven and continue to bake this for 1 hour. You need to give it a stir every 15 minutes or so. When you remove it from the oven, use a metal pancake flipper or spatula or something similar to free the popcorn mixture from the bottom of the pan but leave it in the pan to cool. Once completely cool, break up into pieces. If you store this in an airtight container, this will keep for about a week.
Red Hot Tea Mix
Combine together: 2 cups Tang (orange drink mix), 1 ½ cups sugar, ½ cup instant tea, 2 T. lemonade mix, ½ cup red hots (cinnamon candy hearts). To serve, mix 3 T. of this tea mix for one cup of hot water.
Red Hot Cocoa Mix
Combine ¾ cup of cocoa powder, ½ cup of powdered milk, 1/3 cup of sugar, the scrapings from 3 vanilla beans (or you can use vanilla powder), 2 T. red hots (cinnamon candy hearts), and a couple pinches of cayenne pepper. To serve, use 2 T. of this mix per 1 cup hot water.
Red Hot Wine
Ingredients:
1 quart apple cider
½ lb. red hots (cinnamon candy hearts)
1 bottle white wine
Instructions: In a large pot, mix together the apple cider and red hots. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until the candy melts. Stir in the wine and serve. You can store this in an airtight container to serve at a later date or to give as a gift. I am not sure exactly how long this keeps because it’s so yummy that it never seems to last very long but I would think that any unused portions would need to be store in the refrigerator due to the apple cider.
Red Hot Candy Bark
Ingredients:
4 bars (3 oz. each) of chocolate
1 1/3 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
5 T. red hots (cinnamon candy hearts)
Instructions: Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Melt the chocolate bars in a pan over very low heat or the top portion of a double boiler or in the microwave on high at 15 second intervals, stirring frequently. It’s important not to rush the melting of the chocolate as you don’t want it to burn or to get an inconsistent texture. Stir in 1 cup of the cookie crumbs and spread this mixture on the lined baking sheet. It should be about ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle the red hots and remaining cookie crumbs over top (this needs to be done right away before the chocolate has the time to set). I like to use a wooden spoon to pat the candies and crumbs into the chocolate a bit. Refrigerate this for about 45 minutes to firm it up completely. Cut or break up into pieces and keep in the refrigerator. It’s best to use parchment or waxed paper between the layers of bark to keep it from sticking.
Red Hot Jelly
Have you ever had the red or green pepper jelly? Most people seem to serve it by first spreading cream cheese on crackers and then topping with some jelly. Well, this jelly is really delicious served in that same way!
Ingredients:
2 cups apple juice
4 cups sugar
½ tsp. butter or margarine
1/3 cup red hots (cinnamon candy hearts)
1 pouch (6 oz.) liquid pectin
Instructions: Be sure to wash and sterilize 4 half-pint canning jars, lids, and rings. In a heavy saucepan, mix together the juice and sugar. Add in the butter and candies and bring this mixture to a boil over high heat. You must stir this constantly! Mix in the pectin and bring back up to a boil, continuing to stir constantly and boil this for 1 minute. Remove the mixture from the heat and skim off the foam from the top of it. Fill the prepared jars leaving a ¼ inch space at the top. Clean off the rims of the jars to allow a good seal and seal the jars.
Red Hot Baked Apples
Ingredients:
6 apples
½ cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup red hots (cinnamon candy hearts)
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions: Lightly grease an 8 by 8 baking dish. Cut the tops off the apples and core them (reserve the tops!). Mix the remaining ingredients together. Fill the apples with this mixture and place the tops back on. Use any remaining mixture to sprinkle over the tops of the apples. Bake at 350 degrees F for about half an hour until the apples are tender.
Red Hot Fluff
Ingredients:
1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple (do not drain)
¼ cup red hots (cinnamon candy hearts)
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 container (8 oz.) Cool Whip (or similar product)
Instructions: Mix together the pineapple and red hots and place this mixture in the refrigerator for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight. Stir in the marshmallows and Cool Whip. Keep refrigerated until serving time.
Linky Love:
In this recipe, the red hots are melted down to form the hard coating on candy apples:
Red Hot Baked Apples
Ingredients:
6 apples
½ cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup red hots (cinnamon candy hearts)
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions: Lightly grease an 8 by 8 baking dish. Cut the tops off the apples and core them (reserve the tops!). Mix the remaining ingredients together. Fill the apples with this mixture and place the tops back on. Use any remaining mixture to sprinkle over the tops of the apples. Bake at 350 degrees F for about half an hour until the apples are tender.
Red Hot Fluff
Ingredients:
1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple (do not drain)
¼ cup red hots (cinnamon candy hearts)
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 container (8 oz.) Cool Whip (or similar product)
Instructions: Mix together the pineapple and red hots and place this mixture in the refrigerator for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight. Stir in the marshmallows and Cool Whip. Keep refrigerated until serving time.
Linky Love:
In this recipe, the red hots are melted down and used as the hard coating on candy apples: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/candied-apples-iii/Detail.aspx
Red Hot Jello: http://gimmesomeoven.com/red-hot-jello/
Cupid poop: http://www.members.tripod.com/diginncrafts/hmcrafts-holidays/hmvalprojects2.html
Red hot ice cubes (seems like an oxymoron doesn’t it?): http://freebiesandstuff.freeyellow.com/valentines_day/crafts/index.html
Red hot punch: http://community.tasteofhome.com/forums/t/249364.aspx
Melanie says
Thanks for the recipes! I happen to have a ton of red hots on hand. I think I’ll try the red hot fluff!