Friday Finds - Lovely Candy

With Easter just around the corner I wanted to do a quick post on these wonderful candies. Lovely Candy Company makes the candies pictured and a few other tempting flavors. What is pictured is what I have been able to find locally at Target but they are in many more stores according to their website. I love being able to pick up a bag so conveniently. 

I don't post a lot of products because my family feels better when we keep processed and packaged food to a minimum and eat a whole food based diet. Treats like these are an exception to the rule. Lovely Candy is gluten and GMO free and uses rbst free dairy in their caramels. The fruit chews are vegan. I feel good about the quality and I love each flavor we have tried.

Since they are individually wrapped they would be perfect for putting in plastic eggs for an egg hunt or Easter basket. The individual wrapping also slows me down a wee bit keeping me from inhaling the bag instantly!

As I said, we've all loved every flavor. My sons used to love a certain fruit chew years ago - one we gave up when we went dye free - I had hoped these would be a good replacement. Not really. They are so much better than what we remember those other candies tasting like that it seems wrong to compare them. Both caramels are chewy and creamy and delicious. 

Try them and let me know how you like them. I'd love to hear your all natural and gluten free Easter ideas, too!

Enjoy!

Easter Blessing and a Sweet Treat!

Happily shared on Gluten Free Wednesdays April 12, 2014!

I was beyond blessed to celebrate Easter with the people I love at Bobby and Bev's beautiful house. Bev invited our Feks and it was so fun to see the kiddos enjoy meeting all the pups and dipping their toes in the cold pool water!

And what a treat to have an entirely gluten free Easter meal thanks to Trevor! Yep, another one bit the dust and we gluten free family members are growing. Trevor apparently tipped the scales in our favor!

Everyone brought awesome gluten free goodies to share. Since we've also got some vegetarians our salads and sides have been changing and getting better with each gathering. Yay Carmen and Dev! Quinoa, black rice, pesto, spinach and  beets - those wouldn't have seen the table even a couple of years ago but we had several delicious salads lined up to choose from.

Chris' favorite was the potato salad Marie made with tiny potatoes and Dijon mustard. I couldn't decide between the pesto quinoa salad or the beet salad - they were so, so good.

There was still ham and Bev's scalloped potatoes and homemade mac and cheese for the purists in the group. Gabby's beachy fruit salad made a first time appearance to rave reviews.

The dessert table was smaller but awesome - mom's gluten free chocolate cupcakes with her amazing dark chocolate frosting, Carmen's cheesecake with blueberries and blackberries swirled in, Aunt Leora's Coconut Pie sprinkled with chocolate chips and some super simple chocolate crispy rice treats.

Hoppy Easter!

The crispy rice treats are a variation of a treat the wonderful Shirley Braden of Gluten Free Easily posted on Facebook a few days ago. The original Easter Chocolate Crackle from The Gluten and Dairy Free Bakehouse were made in Easter molds and look so pretty.

Milk chocolate and crispy rice is a combination Joe loves so I made a quick batch when I read Shirley's post. I couldn't find my molds so just spread the mixture out on a parchment lined baking sheet. We broke of delicious hunks of candy and devoured it in no time.

Easter morning after I popped Leora's Coconut Pie in the oven I made them again. This time I used a larger amount of crispy rice cereal and scooped the mixture into a mini muffin pan (thanks Shirley!) filled with paper liners with a cookie scoop.

Joe loves the ratio of crunch to chocolate and says they remind him of his old favorite Kit Kat bars. We haven't had a Kit Kat since 2005 when we joined Feingold and began avoiding food dyes and additives so I can't really vouch for the accuracy of that opinion. But he loves these and that's what is important.

So, here's all I did to make these treats:

Line 18 mini muffin wells with paper liners.

Melt one package Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips over very low heat in a skillet.

When melted through, add two cups of Crispy Rice Cereal, I used Erewhon's. Stir quickly to cover all the cereal.

Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop or spoon, fill each liner evenly.

Chill about fifteen minutes to set.

Serve and store at room temperature. We haven't had any last beyond the next day so I can't tell you how long they will keep.

I think this recipe has a lot of potential for easy variations, too. Next time I'll cut the crispy rice in half and add some coconut. Dried fruit, nuts and/or seeds could all by good. Of course dark chocolate would be delicious, too.

Enjoy!