Homemade holiday candy help...

[LibraChic107]

I am really interested in making candy this year as part of a present for people. Does anyone know any vegan chocolate brands and where to get it? Thanks!

[codemonkey]

A lot of dark, semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate is vegan. Just read the ingredients and look for things like milkfat, whey, etc. Unsweetened baking chocolate should always be vegan. Cocoa powder is always vegan. What kind you use depends on what you're making.

[rabid_child]

What exactly are you looking to make? Last year I made fudge and peanut brittle. :p

[LibraChic107]

I am thinking about doing chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered peanuts & dried coconut and maybe homemade pb cups.

[codemonkey]

I think dark, semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate in either chips or block form will work well for that. For the best results, you'll need to temper it. Here's a good article on tempering chocolate: http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/155/Tempering-Chocolate

[irie]

i often make vegan snickers and vegan bounty's :) they are yummy. if you want the recipes just send me a pm :)

[greensgood]

ghirardelli's semi sweet chocolate chips are vegan, and melt really well.
trader joes has same t.j. brand chocolate bars that are high quality and many are vegan. tj's also carries a variety of imported chocolate for really great prices, a lot are vegan as well.

[LadyFaile]

i often make vegan snickers and vegan bounty's :) they are yummy. if you want the recipes just send me a pm :)

can you post them? :lick:

i'm thinking of making goodies to give as gifts also. assorted cookies etc. i hadn't thought of pb cups, i have a great recipe. maybe i'll make them with the mini muffin pan so they're bite sized.
problem is whatever i make i have to make lots of it cause i eat half of it before i give them away :D

that article is really good by the way. now i know why mine never works out properly and what to do next time. i may have to make some chocolate covered almonds

[pancreas]

I second the Ghirardelli's chocolate, and you can find it in almost every grocery store. My momma and I make chocolate-covered pretzels for gifts every year. We used to drizzle them with caramel, too, but I have yet to find vegan caramel.

[LadyFaile]

i googled vegan caramel recipes and came up with a ton of hits. here are a couple that look really simple.

http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/od/saucesdressings/r/caramelsauce.htm
http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=348
http://www.grouprecipes.com/31122/vegan-caramels.html -> this one looks like the most solid, the other 2 are more saucy. for drizzling onto chocolate pretzles you'd probably want it to harden somewhat so it stays put so i would use this one and just skip the last part where you pour into a pan and cool. i would pour into a measuring cup with a spout and let it cool just enough so it can still be drizzled but won't melt the chocolate. lay the pretzles out on wax paper and drizzle away, let them cool til the caramel hardens (i so badly want caramel right now lol)

something else you could use to drizzle would be melted white chocolate if you can find a vegan version. you could even add red or green food colouring to it first