St. Nick Sticks

Let me start by saying that I'm aware Christmas is several months past. Let me also note (I promise this will al make sense soon) that my husband and I *LOVE* shopping at the local Sam's club (home of my beloved mangoes...*sigh*). Anyway, this past Christmas, Adam and I purchased not one, but TWO bags of M&Ms from Sam's (plain and peanut -- Adam ate the plain ones, but I refuse to touch them because peanut M&Ms are so obviously superior). Anyway, I digress...so one of these *5 pound* bads of M&Ms gets eaten, but the other still contained about 4.9 pounds of candies. So one evening, I got out the big bag of M&Ms and attempted to eat a few. Adam joined me in this quest (hey, you try eating a 5 pound bag of candy -- any candy -- without help!) and before long Adam let out what can only be described as a gasp. At first I was worried that he had begun choking on the M&Ms, as his mouth was quite full at the time of the gasp. But by the time I had finished shaking him and hysterically screeching, "Are you all right?!?!" at the top of my lungs, he had managed to finish chewing and could tell me what was so important that he had to completely freak me out.

What he had noticed was a recipe for St. Nick's Sticks on the back of our gi-normous bag of Christmas Peanut M&Ms . These delightful homemade candies are yummy, and, depending on the type and quality of your ingredients, can actually be (*gasp*) figure friendly. And finally, and, when discussing candy, perhaps most importantly, these are darned tasty! But perhaps the best indication of the yum-factor for these treats is that when I made a double batch and offered them to my students, they were GONE before I could say "M&M!"



So without further ado, the recipe:



St. Nick's Sticks



Ingredients:

2 bags Dove milk chocolates (feel free to use bittersweet, or other chocolates)*
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 sticks unsalted butter
Peanut M&Ms (to garnish)

Directions:

1. Unwrap the chocolates and melt them in a double boiler.

2. Melt butter in the microwave.

3. Mix graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, butter, and peanut butter.

4. Pat graham cracker mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

5. Pour melted chocolate over the top of the graham cracker mixture and smooth with a spatula.

6. Decorate top with peanut M&Ms.

7. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes so the chocolate can set.

ENJOY!!

*I used Dove Chocolate because, in my "professional opinion," it melts better than say, Ghirdelli's, but again, use whatever you like most or are most comfortable with.

**This would also be awesome with chopped dry roasted peanuts or almonds on the top instead of M&Ms. In fact, I think that is the variation I might try next. Also, I may try a peanut butter-free version...I thought the taste of the graham crackers got lost in the peanut butter.