I got the above Hallmark (because I care enough to send the very best, lol!) card for my Mother-in-Law’s birthday. Most of my husband’s family lives a couple hours north of us and I usually mail some sort of edible goodies to them on their birthdays. Since I haven’t figured out how to ship a cake without destroying it, I thought this would be a great card to send to her along with some cow pies candy. Cute, if a little gross, right? :)
I’m not sure where this recipe originated but you can find it all over the web. Mine is a little different from the others, which only call for almonds and raisins with the chocolate. Because cow pies have grass in them (OK, maybe I’m getting a little too graphic here!), I like to add coconut to mimic that.
Although I went with sliced almonds this time (it was all I had on hand), my favorite way to make these is with roasted, salted peanuts, raisins, and coconut. If you like Chunky candy bars, you’ll like that version too because it is very similar in taste. (I also have an award-winning recipe for cookies that are based off the flavor profile of the Chunky Candy bar, if you’re interested in that!)
It’s best to use salted nuts to counteract the super-sweetness of the candy. If you only have unsalted, just add some salt to the mixture before stirring. Kids love these things (apparently the idea/grossness as much as the taste–KIDS!), and they would be great for Halloween…and maybe even Easter. We usually think of barn animals (OK, barn animal babies) in correlation to Easter, so I guess cow pies fits, right? Or maybe I’ve grown a little twisted over the years. I blame my husband. He is the King of Strange. I mean, remember those horrific-looking no bake cookies he made? Yeah. He totally started it.
Cow Pies Candy
Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture
1 (12 oz) bag milk chocolate chips
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
2/3 cup roughly chopped salted nuts*
1/2 cup packed raisins
1/3 cup packed shredded coconut
*Add 1/4 teaspoon salt to the recipe if not using salted nuts.
Gently melt chocolate and shortening together in double boiler or in microwave, stirring frequently until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop spoonfuls onto a wax paper lined baking sheet and let sit until firm, about an hour.
Veronica’s Note: If you want to add more mix-ins, decrease the amounts of the other mix-ins accordingly (for instance, decrease nuts to ½ cup and raisins to ⅓ cup in order to add an additional ⅓ cup mix-ins). Ideas for mix-ins: toffee bits, crushed pretzels, bacon bits, crumbled potato chips, additional types of nuts or dried fruits.
Makes 24 candies. Per serving: 121 calories; 7.6 g fat; 12.7 g carb; 1.1 g fiber; 2.2 g protein
Recipe source: adapted from Taste of Home
I should probably share that I once actually stepped in a cow pie with my bare feet . . .
Your cookies look like a much better experience. =)
Oh sick! LOL, yeah, I’d say eating these is much better than stepping in a real cow pie…barefoot. ewwww.
Give me one of these cow pies anyday! Yum!
When I seen the picetures on facebook I was like *WHAT* and than I got a better look at it though.
I must say this is a much better version of cow pie than what surrounds me!! ;)
I want to make these! What a fun candy that Clara can participate in.
Your MIL must love you.
L
I’ve never heard of cow pie candy! Looks good. ;)
I answered your question on my blog but here you go:
I wish I traveled every week! Sometimes it seems like it doesn’t it? My husband LOVES to travel so we are always taking the kids somewhere or just going the two of us. We are lucky that we live in driving distance of tons of great places!
Veronica – check out my site on the top right hand side above the twitter feed, I think you can get e-mail updates now, right? Although I like the way you have it, how did you do that? Have a great weekend!
Yummers! These look great.
Don’t feel bad about not keeping up with blogs…I’ve had a hard time too this week. I feel so out of the loop! :)
Wow, these bring back memories. My mom used to make these all the time when I was younger – though we never called them cow pies!
I had never had these before but I made them and they were soooooooo good! Thanks for the recipe share to which I’m now spreading on facebook. well actually your link because that’s only fair. Thanks again!
Squee! I’m so happy you tried and enjoyed them. Thank you for letting me know and spreading the love. :)
Thanks for visiting my blog and I am looking forward to your BSI entry because your food looks AMAZING…currently have that chocolate decadence cake stuck in my head…oh my! haha
I actually have never heard of these as cow pies. Fun! ;)
I have never heard of these either and they look delicious. I have had a Chunky bar before and really liked it. I almost forgot about those!!
I know, they’re not as popular as they once were. I didn’t try them for the first time until about 5 years ago. I was surprised by how good raisins tasted with the chocolate and nuts.