Candy Cane Wands

Do candy canes one better for the holidays! Dip them in chocolate and sprinkle with candies ready for tasty festivities.

Makes 16 wands

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or white vanilla baking chips
2 teaspoons shortening
16 candy canes or peppermint sticks, about 6 inches long
Crushed hard peppermint candies, miniature chocolate chips, candy decorations,
    colored glitter sugars or coarse sugar crystals (decorating sugar), if desired

1. Line jelly roll pan, 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 inch, with waxed paper. In 1-quart saucepan, heat 1/2 cup chocolate chips and the shortening over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted.

2. Tip saucepan so chocolate runs to one side. Dip 1 candy cane at a time into chocolate, coating about half of each cane. Place on waxed paper in pan. Let stand about 2 minutes or until chocolate is partially dry.

3. Roll chocolate-dipped ends in candies. Place on waxed paper in pan. Let stand about 10 minutes or until chocolate is dry. Store loosely covered at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

Nutrition Information: 1 Serving: Calories 90 (Calories from Fat 20); Total Fat 2g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat ncg); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 5mg; Total Carbohydrate 18g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars ncg); Protein 0g

Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 0%; Iron 0%

Exchanges: 1 Fruit; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: nc

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Special Touch
Give a kit with all the fixin's to make these wands! It's last-minute magic!

Special Touch
Double-Dipped Candy Cane Wands: Dip candy canes into one kind of chocolate and allow to dry, then dip into a second chocolate, leaving part of the first chocolate showing.

Recipe and photograph provided courtesy of Betty Crocker 2007/TM General Mills All Rights Reserved