Would you eat candy made from buzzard eyes, snails, spider eggs, fried worms,
and arsenic?
What if I told you that they are actually a version of chocolate peanut
butter haystacks?
Witchy Wormy Candy is a quick treat to make for Halloween...or any other time
you want to get spooky. I'm talking 15 minutes to make with NO BAKING!
They're great for kids to help make because it just involves stirring and
scooping. Oh, did I mention these are terrifyingly (see what I did there) delicious???
If you look way, way, WAY back in the archives (I'm talking 14 years ago),
you'll find an old post for this recipe. We're reprising it today because 1.
It's Halloween, 2. I misread one of the ingredients originally (they were
still good), and 3. I added a little tweak this go-round.
Back story: My mom made these every year at Halloween. For some reason, we
referred to them as Witchy Wormy Cookies, not Candy, even though my mom
clearly wrote "candy" on the recipe card.
The real fun is in the spooky ingredients. Let's break them down:
- BUZZARD EYES: semisweet chocolate chips
- SNAILS: peanut butter chips
- SPIDER EGGS: salted peanuts
- FRIED WORMS: rice (chow mein) noodles
- ARSENIC: sea salt
How to Make Witchy Wormy Candy
Start by melting the chocolate and peanut butter chips together. Do this on
LOW heat...you don't want the chocolate to scorch.
I like to take the chips off the heat when there are still a few chips visible
and stir until completely melted. Oooh, look how glossy and thick that peanut
butter chocolate is!
NOTE: The noodles you're looking for are the crunchy, fried noodles that
typically come in a can with a plastic lid. You don't want rice noodles that
are like pasta.
For the peanuts, you can use lightly salted or salted. Just take a peek at the
ingredients label. Some peanuts will add seasoning, like garlic powder. You do
NOT want that!
Dollop the candies onto parchment or waxed paper-lined cookie sheets. You can
use a cookie scoop here, but they're meant to be a little misshapen and wonky.
They're not baked, so they don't need to be the same size.
Chill. Pop the sheets in the refrigerator until the candies are set. Then,
remove to an airtight container and store in the fridge.
Before eating, let them sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes. Mark
likes to cut his into two or three pieces. Not me; I go right in for big
bites.
These ARE messy, so don't grab one for a car snack while wearing white jeans.
You've been warned.
Witchy Wormy Candy
YIELD: about 40 pieces
PREP TIME: 15 minutes
24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (BUZZARD EYES)
12 ounces peanut butter chips (SNAILS)
12 ounces lightly salted or salted peanuts (SPIDER EGGS)
5 ounces chow mein/rice noodles (FRIED WORMS)
sea salt (ARSENIC)
Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment or wax paper.
In a medium pan over LOW heat, melt the chocolate and peanut butter chips
while stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat; stir in
peanuts and chow mein noodles.
Scoop the candies out using a kitchen tablespoon or cookie scoop. Sprinkle
each with a bit of sea salt, like
fleur de sel.
Refrigerate until set. Once set, remove to an airtight container. Store in the
refrigerator. Before eating, let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes.
BOO!
