"Coffee Nuts" Candy

"Coffee Nuts" Candy

This crunchy sweet confection is perfect for the "coffee nut" of your life. It’s relatively low in fat but high in sugar. Don’t substitute with sweeteners, though, as the flavor will not be the same. Choose the type of nut you like best, preferably hazelnuts, walnuts or almonds. Each would be wonderful and adds that delicious textural crunch that makes these candies so much fun to eat.

"Coffee Nuts" Candy Ingredients: 
4 egg whites 
2 1/2 cups brown sugar 
1 cup chopped nuts 
1/4 cup corn syrup 
1/2 cup Original Blend coffee, brewed strong 
4 pounds high-quality dark chocolate, chopped (Yes, you read that right, 4 pounds; it's for everyone you love) 
1/4 tsp salt

Directions: 
Brew the coffee. Line two large cookie sheets with waxed paper. 
Chill a large electric mixture bowl or, if using a hand-held mixer, chill a large bowl. 
Grease a two-quart saucepan, preferably with butter, so that the combination does not stick nor burn in the pan. 
Add sugar, corn syrup, salt and coffee to the pan and cook on high, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to boil. Stir continuously, but carefully; taking care not to splatter because hot corn syrup makes a nasty burn if splattered on your hands. 
Continue cooking (without stirring) until the sugar mixture becomes a hard ball. Remove the pan from the heat. 
Remove the mixing bowl from the freezer and separate the eggs. Using only the egg whites, beat them in the chilled mixing bowl until stiff peaks form. 
Slowly pour the hot syrup into the egg whites, beating at high speed. Continue beating until you get soft peaks. Add nuts and beat for another five minutes. Allow the mixture to cool, then cover and freeze, about two-three hours. 
Melt the chocolate in the top part of a large double boiler or place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and set on top of a 4-quart saucepan of boiling water. 
To assemble, remove the bowl of non-chocolate mixture from the freezer and spoon out a small amount, about a teaspoon, and drop into the melted chocolate; it will coagulate. 
Scoop this “ball” out and place on the waxed paper covered cookie sheets. 
Repeat until the ingredients are used. If you have more chocolate than necessary, oh, well, you’ll just have to chill it and use it as candy! 
Allow the candies to cool and harden, then store, covered, in the refrigerator. 
Wrap in colorful pink or red cellophane and pretty ribbons and give them away as gifts. 
Makes about 12 dozen small candies.

The following nutritional analysis is based on 1 piece of candy -recipe makes approx. 144 pieces.

Nutritional information provided by www.foodcalc.com