Just three ingredients are needed to make these no bake White Chocolate Haystacks; white
chocolate, roasted and salted peanuts, and pretzels. This candy is so
addictive, with its crunchy texture and the contrast of
the sweet white chocolate with the saltiness of the peanuts and pretzels. Perfect
for the holiday season as they are so easy to make, store really well, and they
taste so good.
White Chocolate has always been the mysterious
chocolate, treated differently because according to the FDA, officially it
is not chocolate at all, it's "white confectionery coating".
The one thing we must do is to choose our white chocolate carefully,
making sure that the label states that it contains cocoa butter, sugar, milk
solids, vanilla, and lecithin. White chocolate needs cocoa butter as this is
what gives it that sweet yet mellow flavor with a wonderfully smooth and
creamy texture. You can tell its white chocolate containing cocoa butter if
it has a
pale yellow to ivory color. As opposed to white chocolate containing vegetable fat
which is pure
white in color.
This candy is so easy to make.
Just melt the white chocolate and then stir in the peanuts and pretzels. I
do like to break the pretzels into bite size pieces. Once mixed together,
refrigerate the mixture for about 5 to 10 minutes to firm it up so it is
easier to form into mounds.
White Chocolate
Haystacks: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper.
Melt the white chocolate in a
stainless steel (heatproof) bowl placed over a saucepan of barely simmering water. (Watch carefully as white chocolate burns easily.)
Remove from heat and add the nuts and pretzels, stirring until well coated. Refrigerate
for about 5 to 10 minutes just until firm enough to form into haystacks. Then spoon the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet,
shaping into haystacks. Refrigerate until firm.
Store the haystacks in
an airtight container. They can be refrigerated for several weeks.
References
cited may include a link to purchase the referenced book or item on Amazon.com.
Joyofbaking.com receives a commission on any purchases resulting from these
links.
This
website and the contents are not endorsed or sponsored by the owner of the
"Joy of Cooking" series of books or its publisher Simon & Schuster, Inc.
and is not related to the "Joy the Baker" books and website.
Video icons by Asher.
Content in any form may
not be copied or used without written permission of Stephanie Jaworski,
Joyofbaking.com. Students and non profit educators may use content without
permission with proper credit.
