Carrie Clements remembered this fun craft from a column I wrote last year and couldn’t find the recipe, so here it is.

This year we’ll be making peppermint trays and candy canes out of round hard candy mints again. It is so much fun and a great craft to make with the little ones.  Also makes a nice gift from the kitchen, with your favorite homemade candies.

You can use whatever color you like and make any size or pattern. (Someone said you can also make these from butterscotch round candies).

Tip: These are fragile! It’s best to place them on another plate or tray for transporting.

For serving, place them on a mat or whatever to stabilize the tray and keep it from scooting around.   

General instructions

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Place a piece of parchment on cookie sheet. Spray parchment.

TRAYS

1. Arrange mints on parchment lined cookie sheet. (I use my ancient, heavy duty cookie sheet).
2. Line up the candies in whatever pattern and shape you like, being sure to separate them a little bit like the picture shows, since they will spread when they melt, forming a solid sheet.
3. Bake until just melted, about 7-10 minutes. As the mints melt, they will spread and make a solid sheet.
4. Don’t overcook or you’ll wind up with a mess.
5. Let cool completely, carefully remove parchment (or leave it on if you won’t be eating it later), and store at room temperature, covered.  Don’t try to cool it in the refrigerator – it  may crack.
6. You can make a pretty pattern on the tray if, after it comes out of the oven and cools a bit but is still fairly soft, take a patterned dish towel (I used a linen one with a quilt pattern) and gently lay it on top of the tray, pressing down with your hands. Let it cool completely before trying to remove towel.Plain trayThis one is “embossed” by gently pressing a quilted towel down while tray is still warm.

CANDY CANES

1. For candy canes, check after 2-3 minutes.
2. Spray the tip of a skewer and poke a hole in the top of the candy cane right after it comes out of the oven if you want to hang it on the tree.

BOWLS

I haven’t made any yet. But I found some good information on the mrs.happyhomemaker site. It’s a fun site. To make a bowl, after it has cooled for a few minutes – set the candy inside of a bowl with the parchment paper still attached.  Using a dishtowel, press down very gently to form the shape of a bowl.  If it hangs off the edge of the bowl a little, it will form a fluted edge.

___