Homemade Candy!

I got this recipe from my friend Shannon, who I write about quite a bit on my main blog. I don't know if I ever mentioned it on here, but Shannon and I lived together for about 6 months before Jeff bought a house and asked me to move in. I came in one night and she was making this candy. I tried some, loved it, and asked her for the recipe! She said her sister used to make this during the holidays, and now that her sister is sadly no longer with us, she makes it to honor her. It's so good and such an easy recipe! I make a batch for my family and Jeff's family every Christmas and everyone loves it!

You need:

• 1 8 x 8 pan 1 stick of butter 
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar 
• 1 cup crushed nuts. I used walnuts, but you can use pecans of whatever you want! I also tend to just pour in almost the entire bag because 1 cup doesn't cover the bottom of the pan and I don't like that.
• 2 cups of chocolate chips. I used milk chocolate chips, but you can use semi sweet as well. I personally hate the taste of semi sweet.

Pour the nuts into the pan, making sure the entire bottom is covered.

Melt the butter on lowish heat. I tend to set it to the notch just below medium. DO NOT do it on high like I did the first time a couple years ago! The butter/sugar combo was black, burnt, smelled awful, and I set off the smoke alarm!

Once the butter is completely melted, add the brown sugar in and stir. You have to stir it constantly for 7 minutes with a fork which will make your arm tired, but it's important. The butter will kind of sit on top of the sugar until it's stirred for a few minutes.

This is about 6 minutes into stirring. I like to call this the "brain stage." This is how you can tell it's almost done! This mixture tastes like toffee.

Pour the butter/sugar combo onto the nuts. Try to get it somewhat evenly on all of the nuts (if you're not perfect, no worries.) It's trickier than it looks because the mixture tends to move in one huge piece.

Pour the chocolate chips on top. Be sure to spread them so the entire thing is covered.

Cover the pan for a couple minutes.

Use a spatula to spread the somewhat melted chocolate chips across the entire thing, then re-cover the pan.

Put the candy in the fridge for several hours so the chocolate hardens.

Cut the candy up into pieces. Sometimes it breaks on its own when you're cutting it. I suggest putting a cutting board under the pan if you used a foil one like I did. I learned the hard way that the knife will cut through the pan and onto your counter which makes some unattractive scratches! You may also notice some nuts that didn't stick to anything leftover in the pan. I like to eat them afterwards! :)

Wrap up in a cute container or just eat them and enjoy!