Orange Balls

The Harris Sisters used to make this no-bake candy recipe at Christmas time growing up. With it's distinct orange and coconut flavors, it makes a great addition to your holiday treat table and with just 7 ingredients, this old-fashioned recipe is easy to make.

Orange Balls

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

16 oz confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

12 oz vanilla wafers, finely crushed

14 oz bag sweetened flaked coconut, divided

6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

1 cup chopped nuts

1. Cream together butter and sugars.
2. Add crushed vanilla wafers, half of coconut, and orange juice concentrate and mix together.
3. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls.
4. Roll balls into the remaining coconut and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Chill in refrigerator until firm. 
6. Store orange balls in refrigerator in an airtight container until ready to serve.

Notes:

Recipe makes about 60 orange balls.

Remember to keep orange balls chilled in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them. Only serve the number of orange balls you need at first, then replenish your serving platter throughout the party as the first ones get eaten.

Happy Hallo-WINE!!

Just in time for Halloween, The Harris Sisters have yet another Covid-19-friendly Halloween option for you to try.  How about a virtual or socially distanced wine and Halloween candy pairing this year?- for the over-21 crowd, that is...  On our recent Girls' Weekend getaway trip, we did just that.  We sampled a mix of five wines with an even bigger selection of popular Halloween candy, and we offer our feedback on the pairings below.    Read on for all the details on these surprising and sometimes frightful combinations.  

Getting Started

Whether you are looking to pair a few candies with one good bottle of wine, or like we did, try several different combinations, your first step is finding a good list to provide you with great wine and candy matches.  Use our notes below to try the pairs that we tried and see how you like them.  

We paired 5 wines with 11 different types of candy. Here's the full list of supplies you'll need. (Substitutions for wines are listed with each review.):

Wines We Used 

• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Chardonnay
• Moscato
• Prosecco
• Red Table Wine

Candy We Used

• Almond Joy
• Butterfingers
• Candy Corn
• Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars
• Kit Kat
• Nerds 
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
• Skittles
• Snickers
• Starburst
• Twix

Sweet White Wine Pairings

For this pairing, we chose to use Moscato as our wine, but you could also choose a varietal like Malvasia or Riesling, depending on your preference.   This wine is said to pair well with Candy Corn, Skittles, Starburst, and Hershey's Milk Chocolate.   After sampling all these pairings, we all agreed that Starburst and Moscato, as well as Hershey's Milk Chocolate and Moscato, make excellent pairs.  We agreed less on the other two pairings.  Misty liked the Candy Corn when paired with Moscato.  Donna did not, and I was completely undecided after the tasting, so the jury is still out on that one. And both Donna and I agreed that Skittles and Moscato make a tasty pair.  Misty was less sold on this combination, but we all agreed that it could definitely depend on which flavor(s) of Skittles you are pairing with your wine. 

Rich White Wine Pairings

We chose to use Chardonnay for the rich white wine pairing, but you could also use Marsanne or Viognier instead.  This time, we sampled Candy Corn, Hershey's Milk Chocolate, and Butterfinger with our Chardonnay.   And this time we were completely in agreement.  The Harris Sisters give both the Butterfinger and Hershey's Milk Chocolate a thumb's up when paired with Chardonnay.  And we gave the Candy Corn pairing a resounding MEH- this was neither great nor awful- just somewhere in between.

Sparkling Wine Pairings

For these pairings, we used Prosecco, but you could certainly also choose a Sparkling Rose or Champagne instead.  I should preface this particular review by saying that Harris Sister Misty is not a fan of sparkling wine in general.  Having said that, she was also not a fan of any of these pairings.  We sampled the Prosecco with Candy Corn, Nerds, Kit Kat, and Almond Joy.  And both Donna and I enjoyed all of those pairings.  But the pair of Almond Joy and Prosecco was a surprise in that it topped both of our lists, and I personally would not have predicted that one.  Trust me though, it was a winner!  

Medium Red Wine Pairings

We chose a Red Table Wine for this pairing, but most Red Blends or a Merlot would work here as well.  The medium reds are said to pair well with Kit Kat, Snickers, and Hershey's Milk Chocolate.  We all agreed that Snickers and Kit Kat paired extremely well with the Red Table Wine.  We were more divided on the Hershey's Milk Chocolate pair.  While Donna and I enjoyed it together, Misty did not.  But both Donna and Misty pointed out that I eat Kit Kat wrong.  I didn't know there was a right way.  They both break off one bar and eat from that.  I don't break it.  I just bite it across the top.  Let me tell you, they were deeply disturbed.  

Bold Red Wine Pairings

For this final set of pairings, we used Cabernet Sauvignon, but you could also try a Malbec or Syrah if you prefer.  We paired the Cab with Snickers, Reese's, and Twix.  Harris Sister Misty did not enjoy any of these pairings, but she also typically does not enjoy bold red wines.  Both Donna and I agreed that the Snickers and Reese's paired with the Cab were among the best pairings of the night.  However, the Twix definitely did not measure up.  On a related note, Misty and Donna were once again disturbed to learn that I don't love Reese's.  In fact, I would say I really don't like it at all.  I would never seek out a Reese's; however, when paired with the Cab, it was off the charts good.  Maybe that's what it's been missing for me all this time.  

So there you have it.  The Harris Sisters are nothing if not committed to in-depth research involving wine and candy.  Feel free to call on us if you decide to host your own pairing, and from all of us to all of you, Happy Hallo-WINE! 

Polka Dot Party Popcorn

We served this candy coated popcorn for Jaxon's birthday party, and it was a hit! It was super simple to make and now that I've made it, I see that the possibilities are endless. Try black and orange sprinkles for Halloween popcorn or red and green sprinkles for Christmas popcorn.

As written, the multicolored sprinkles create a colorful effect perfect for a polka dot or rainbow birthday party. Enjoy!

Polka Dot Party Popcorn

10 cups popped popcorn (unpopped kernels removed)

12 oz. bag vanilla candy melts

multicolored candy sprinkles

1. Add popped popcorn to a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Line two medium baking sheets with wax paper.
3. Melt candy melts in microwave according to package directions. Stir until smooth.
4. Pour melted candy melts over popcorn and stir to combine.
5. Turn out coated popcorn onto lined baking sheets in one layer.
6. Sprinkle with candy sprinkles and allow to cool.
7. Break apart and serve.

Notes

I've found that the easiest way to remove unpopped kernels from popped popcorn is to empty the popcorn into a large bowl, top the bowl with a baking rack, and then turn the bowl upside down. The unpopped kernels should fall through the grid of the baking rack.

You can also replace the sprinkles in this recipe with holiday colored sprinkles (orange and black for Halloween, red and green for Christmas, etc.) to make a themed snack for your next holiday party.


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Peanut Butter Balls

It seems we are a family divided. In the Harris household, we have always called this Christmas candy "Peanut Butter Balls." However, SOME of our family members (John Austin Cruser) have always called this Christmas candy "Buckeyes." 

The recipe is the same, but the difference lies in how you apply the chocolate candy coating. So, do whatever floats your boat. Or, do what we did, make half of the recipe one way and half the other way. :-)

Peanut Butter Balls (AKA Buckeyes)

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1, 16 oz box confectioner's sugar

1 cup chopped nuts

2 sticks butter, melted

12 oz crunchy peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

36 oz chocolate flavored bark coating*

1. Mix graham cracker crumbs, confectioner's sugar, chopped nuts, melted butter, peanut butter, and vanilla in a mixing bowl.
2. Roll into small balls and chill in the refrigerator until firm.
3. Melt candy coating according to package directions.
4. If making Peanut Butter Balls, drop into candy coating, roll with fork until full coated, letting excess coating drip off through tines of fork before placing on wax paper to cool.
5. If making Buckeyes, insert a toothpick firmly into ball. Use the toothpick to dip the ball into the candy coating, making sure that a portion of the peanut butter remains showing. Remove from candy coating and transfer to wax paper to let cool.
6. Store cooled candy in a wax paper lined tin.

Notes:

If you choose to make Buckeyes, make sure to firmly insert the toothpick into the peanut butter ball before dipping into the coating or the coating may pull the toothpick out of the peanut butter ball.

36 oz of chocolate flavored bark coating is approximately 1 1/2 packages of candy coating, and you will likely have excess chocolate coating remaining at the end of the recipe. If you choose to use less coating, you may not have enough to submerge each piece of candy to obtain an even coating. However, you may use the remaining chocolate coating to cover pretzels for another quick and easy treat.