CANDY CANE CHOCOLATE COVERED MARSHMALLOW POPS

Last weekend I went to a neighborhood holiday party. Since I'm a dessert maven, I took Candy Cane Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pops. They're easy and delicious and always a hit. Everyone loves food on a stick! I used to use small candy cane for the handles, but I find the sticks are so much more manageable on many levels.

This holiday treat is a variation on S'mores on a Stick. All you do differently is use crushed candy cane pieces in place of the graham cracker crumbs. You can also use homemade marshmallows or good quality marshmallows, but I used packaged Puff Marshmallows, as they always hit the spot for me!

CANDY CANE CHOCOLATE COVERED MARSHMALLOW POPS

Directions
Melt good quality dark chocolate in a saucepan on top of another saucepan over simmering water. Remove from stove.
Crush candy canes and put in shallow bowl.
Put lollipop stick in marshmallow and dip and swirl marshmallow in melted chocolate.
Sprinkle chocolate (using spoon) with crushed candy cane bits.
If chocolate gets thick while dipping, put back on stove, heat a bit, and whisk.
Put finished Candy Cane Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pops on parchment lined cookie sheet.
Repeat.
When you've dipped them all, put them in the refrigerator to firm up.
Bring them to room temperature before serving.
I put the Marshmallow Pops in Bonne Maman jam jars wrapped in a bit of red and white twine. Mason jars would be great, too!

History of the Candy Cane from About.com:

During the 17th century, Europeans adopted Christmas trees as part of Christmas celebrations, and they often made cookies and sugar stick candy as decorations. The first historical reference to the familiar cane shape goes back to 1670, when the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany, bent the sugar sticks into canes to represent a shepherd's staff. The all white candy canes were given out to children during the nativity services. This tradition of handing out candy canes during Christmas services spread throughout Europe and later to America.

The first historical reference to the candy cane being in America goes back to 1847, when German immigrant August Imgard decorated the Christmas tree in his Wooster, Ohio home with candy canes.

About fifty years later the first red-and-white striped candy canes appeared. No one knows who exactly invented the stripes, but Christmas cards prior to the year 1900 showed only all white candy canes. Christmas cards after 1900 showed illustrations of striped candy canes. Around the same time, candy-makers added peppermint and wintergreen flavors to their candy canes and those flavors then became the traditional favorites.