You can melt cooking choc. for them, Baker's & Hershey's, I think make a semisweet bar choc. Found in grocery store near the baking powder etc. If you have lots of Nestle's semisweet choc. chips on hand you can melt 1 cup with 1 tsp plain Crisco shortening. for a sweeter choc use 3/4 c semisweet & 1/4 c milk choc. chips. I melt in glass contain in microwave at 60 % power for 1 min. stir & then 50% for 30 sec. until it is smooth depending on wattage of microwave. I never melt them on high as they tend to burn easily. If you have a small Pyrex dish it will work fine. When choc is smooth dip the cookie ends in, tap on side or wipe little off bottom & set on waxed paper which is not close to any open flame as my gas stove "grabbed" a piece I had on my counter last yr & flames shot up over a ft high, I was just putting tea water on so poured that all over. Very scary & been putting waxed paper in same place for 40 yrs. never had the flame "draw" anything to itself before. Just want people to know can be dangerous! The Crisco gives the choc a nice shine & looks very professional, tip I learned when I was a teen & did choc eggs for Woolworth Dime store. Just don't get any water around the choc or it will seize & you won't be able to use it. Good Luck!

Thank you so much Sunnyca. Sorry to hear about the wax paper episode, that must have been very scarey.

Alberta

It was scary! My house is paid for too so don't want anything happening to it. My GF demos for Sam's club & she did the fountain yesterday She had to add a little shortening to each block of chocolate she put in it so things haven't changed over all these yrs. I make a lot of candy at xmas for gifts so Crisco is used in choc for choc. covered cherries, dipped apricots & when I used to make fondant & make creams,orange, lemon, maple nut etc & mint patties they looked just like the See's candy we get at the store. Made peanut brittle & Toffee tonight so finally got a start on it. Good Luck with your baking projects! I guess I should have mentioned you will probably need to refrigerate candies for about 30 min. for them to set up after the choc is on them. I like to put them in a wax paper bottomed 9x13 cake pan or sometimes I put on wax paper lined cookie sheet but the pan you can cover with foil so none of candies or cookies are touching the choc except on bottom, Then when" set" you can freeze between wax paper in either cleaned & foil lined 3 lb coffee cans with tight lid or a heavy weight gift box lined with foil including the lid & put a couple of layers of cookies between wax paper layers. If you don't cover pan of goodies when you refrigerate be sure there is nothing that has strong smell in there such as cabbage(cooked) or broccoli, onion ,garlic, herring etc. Choc will pick up the "off flavor" When getting the goodies ready to give I get them out night before & or few days before if I'm going to keep things separate from other things (ginger or peanut butter cookies will impart their flavor into whatever else you put on the plate. I either wrap my cookies bottom to bottom 2 together in plastic wrap or like spritz I put a bunch 12 or 15 in a glad sandwich bag, cut the folded down part so I can pull it up even with the other top edge & tie a little curling ribbon around it. I give lot to older folks & makes it easy to pick out couple of items they want that day & freeze the rest. I use a zip-loc bag gal. size with pretty paper plate with the items on it. So no flavors get transferred to anything else.I put the cookies back to back in plastic wrap as I'm getting them ready to freeze, takes too long on day I want to give the gifts! Hope this helps, I experimented around to see what worked for me. Things look lovely all on a plate but in day or so they taste "off" as the flavors are mixing. I want my fudge to taste like fudge, my sour cream fudge to just taste like it & so on. Gingerbread cookies are wrapped in plastic wrap & placed in a zip loc bag as are molasses crinkles or peanut butter cookies. I even tell the folks getting them to keep them away from one another!! Have fun!

Could you post your recipes - these candies sound wonderful! Thanks.

Yes! I'd like the recipes too.

Alberta, you can try chocolate dipping wafers too. They are sold especially for dipping, as they have a very smooth consistency. Any place that sells wilton baking supplies will have them (like Jo-Ann Crafts), or many food supply stores.

sunnyca's recipe may taste better, but if you run out of time, the wafers are easy. I like to dip some things in white chocolate, and lately I can't find a white chocolate chip that melts well. They seem to be formulated to hold their shape in a cookie, and don't work for melting. Actually I have had that problem several times lately with semi-sweet chocolate chips, so I guess something is being added to some brands of those as well.

I read that some of choc. chip makers want to add "fillers" to their chips. I already found out several yrs ago that using Hershey's in fudge caused a disaster- no taste at all!! I wish they wouldn't mess with our food! Candy making is easy if you follow directions & never double or change recipe as it will flop if a cooked candy. My Toffee is simple. I can't make recipe out way it should be on my computer so have to run it together.( Have everything out & butter should be room temp. Fine chop 1/2 c pecans) Toffee-- 1 c white sugar 1 c butter 3 Tbs water in very heavy 6 qt pan( bottom of pressure cooker, I use) heat on high stirring with wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved, wipe down crystals with clean dishcloth moistened & over a folk(couple of times)when reaches rolling boil turn heat down to med high to get a much gentler cooking or will burn.about 10-12 min of stirring with wooden spoon & it will change to an amber color- light amber color, add 1/4 cup fine chopped pecans & have another 1/4 c reserved. pour out into center of buttered glass 9x12 cake pan spread out as thin as you can but keep in an oval. While hot use about 1/2 c Nestle's semisweet choc. chips, spread out & let set about 30 sec. & will melt & spread around, sprinkle remaining pecans over choc. Cool, covered in fridge to set choc & break in pieces. Store in fridge or freezer in double zip loc bags. 1 batch is never enough!!(tips don't pour out on foil or metal pan it will overcook! Don't use candy thermometer on this 1. Toffee should be lighter than Kraft's caramels- about the color of a this yr.s walnut in shell! If that helps. Mom made this when I was a kid don't know where recipe came from,card in her box!!Enjoy!!

Choc dipped apricots- 2 c Nestle semisweet choc chips 1/2 to 1 tsp Crisco shortening. Melt in microwave at 50% power 1 min stir & then 30 sec more should do it stir until very smooth. Dip lovely apricot colored, dried apricots about 1/2 way up, just hold with your fingers & dip, lay on wax paper in 9x13 cake pan & when pan is full or you run out of choc. Cover pan with foil & place in fridge & let choc harden. Store in container with tight lid with wax paper between layers. Don't know how many you get as I never count. I think I did this with some other dried fruit, pineapple would be pretty! 2nd recipe--Fruit balls- I like to take my Kitchenaid Mixer put the grinder on & just put in apricots, raisins, figs,dates, prunes, coconut, nuts 1/2 to 1 cup each but apricots are a must for nice color whatever I have go easy on prunes LOL, when it is all ground through then mix in the bowl with 1 tsp OJ 1 tsp orange rind. Can run it all through grinder again to cut down on hand mixing. Make 1 in. balls & roll in crushed nuts, or coconut keep if fridge in covered can(I use 2 lb coffee cans, all metal ones I lined with foil) Simple & good.Will keep in fridge from now until xmas!Enjoy!

I said 6 qt pressure cooker bottom, it is 4 qt above for the Toffee! Sorry! This recipe came from Better Homes & Gardens probably in about 1962-3.Buttery peanut Brittle- 4 qt heavy pan(bottom of old pressure cooker works fine)& candy thermometer is a must! Lightly butter 18 in by 2 ft piece of foil put close to where you are cooking so can quickly dump it out. 2 c white sugar 1 c Light Karo syrup 1/2 c water 1 c butter 2 c peanuts or mixed nuts(I use unsalted or lightly salted) 1 tsp baking soda measured out into spoon(level) Place sugar, Karo & water in 4 qt pan on high heat stirring constantly,when mixture is boiling,add the butter. Now with clean damp dishcloth over fork changing cloth to different area each time to get crystals, wipe down inside of pan just above the cooking mixture, put the candy thermometer on side of pan opposite from you so you can read it being careful to get it off the bottom of pan,(could break) should be able to get the wooden spoon under where it's at! Keep stirring whole time add nuts when it reaches 280degrees will get harder to stir but keep it going won't be long now. When it reaches 300degrees take the thermometer off quickly dump the soda in stir around quickly & pour out on buttered foil. (It says 305 degrees but I find by time I've got it on foil it's plenty done. I like it light not real molasses like as when over- cooked take wooden spoon & spread out as thin as you can. Let sit until it is cold. lift up & break in irregular pieces store in double zip loc bag. That is 1 gal Zip -loc bag inside another. it stays nice and fresh in fridge, if fact couple of yrs ago I found some that was months old & it was fine.Mom had been in & out of hospital ! Anyway candy is a little tricky so I tried to include tricks I use to get it to come out. Friends I've taught are still making candy but it's much easier in person to tell them than trying to remember all this. (I couldn't type at all until GD was 5 & wanted to know why grandma wasn't on computer.) As I don't have anything on my recipe card but the recipe, rest is school of hard knocks tho I almost never have had to throw anything out. With candy always read whole recipe before you start & have everything measured out & ready before you turn stove on. If butter is to be cut up & you are supposed to be stirring it's easy to burn something. If you ever caramelize sugar you know what I mean! Anyway bedtime, if you have any questions ,I'll answer them. About fondant- takes a couple of weeks to ripen then you need a cold marble slab to work it so it gets creamy, lot of work! But I could find my recipe if you have all that. Time & marble- I cleaned my long makeup section of marble in bathroom with Comet & then dishsoap & polished with clean dishtowel & dumped the ripened fondant out to work it takes a lot of energy. You do get a lot of candy tho.