You know how sometimes you just end up with a mountain of something? For me, after one particular Halloween, it was Tootsie Rolls. Bags and bags of them. My kids brought home a serious haul, and after they’d had their fill, there was still a ton left over.
At first, I was just eating them, one by one, you know, like a normal person. But after a while, even a sweet tooth like mine starts to wonder, “Is there anything else I can do with these?” I mean, they were just sitting there in the pantry, practically judging me every time I opened the door. I figured there had to be more to life for a Tootsie Roll than just being chewed.
So, I got to thinking. They melt, right? My first bright idea was to just melt a bunch down and see what happened. Let me tell you, melting Tootsie Rolls isn’t as straightforward as melting chocolate. It gets… sticky. Unbelievably sticky. I almost lost a good silicone spatula to the cause; it was like wrestling with edible tar. A bit of a mess, that first attempt, I won’t lie.
Getting a Bit More Creative – Tootsie Roll Bark
Okay, so after the near-sacrifice of my spatula, I figured I needed a better plan, or at least a more controlled environment. I thought, “What if I treat it like chocolate bark?” So, I tried again. This time, I unwrapped a load of those little Midgees – less surface area to fight with the wrapper. I put them in a double boiler, very low heat, and added a tiny knob of butter to help things along. It took some patience, stirring and coaxing, but eventually, I got a smooth-ish, molten Tootsie Roll goo.
I quickly poured and spread this gooey mess onto some parchment paper I’d laid out on a baking sheet. While it was still warm and pliable, I threw on some chopped peanuts I had and a few colorful sprinkles, just to make it look a bit more cheerful. I let it cool completely on the counter, then popped it in the fridge for about 20 minutes to really firm up. Then, I just broke it into pieces. Honestly, it wasn’t bad! Kinda chewy, a distinct Tootsie Roll flavor, but with a bit of crunch from the nuts. A definite improvement over just eating them plain.
Stuffing and Chopping – The Baking Adventure
Then my brain went, “Baking! Can I actually bake with these things?” I usually have some brownie mix stashed away for emergencies, and this felt like a good time to experiment. So, I grabbed a box of my go-to brownie mix. I chopped up a bunch of Tootsie Rolls – the mini ones, the Midgees again, are best for this because it’s less chopping overall. I just tossed the chopped pieces right into the brownie batter after I’d mixed it up.
I baked the brownies according to the package directions. The Tootsie Roll pieces mostly melted, creating these little gooey, chewy pockets within the brownies. They added a different kind of chewiness and a subtle, fudgy flavor that was actually pretty good. It wasn’t overwhelmingly Tootsie Roll-y, just a nice little surprise texture and taste.
I also remembered seeing someone stuff candy into cookies once. So, I whipped up a batch of my standard chocolate chip cookie dough, but I left out the chocolate chips for this experiment. I took a scoop of dough, flattened it in my palm, stuck a whole Tootsie Roll Midgee in the middle, and then balled the dough up around it, making sure it was sealed. I baked those off. Those were a real hit, especially with my youngest. A warm cookie with a melty, chewy Tootsie Roll center? Yeah, that worked.
The Sauce Experiment – A Bit of a Stretch, Maybe
Feeling a bit bold by this point, I even tried making a kind of Tootsie Roll ‘sauce’ to go over some vanilla ice cream. I melted down a handful of Midgees with a tiny splash of heavy cream in a small saucepan over low heat. It took a lot of stirring, and I had to be careful not to scorch it. It did turn into a pourable, albeit thick, sauce. It was… interesting. Very, very sweet, as you can imagine. And it firmed up pretty fast once it hit the cold ice cream, becoming quite chewy. It wasn’t a total disaster, but it wasn’t my favorite creation of the day, if I’m being honest. Maybe it needed more cream or a different technique.
So, What Did I Learn From My Tootsie Roll Escapades?
So, yeah, that was my little journey into the unexpected world of cooking and baking with Tootsie Rolls. Turns out, you can actually do more with them than just unwrap and chew. It was a bit of trial and error, for sure.
- Melting them definitely needs patience and low heat. And maybe a little fat like butter or cream helps.
- Chopping them is easier if they’re a little bit chilled, but not rock hard from the freezer.
- They don’t behave exactly like chocolate when melted, so don’t expect that. They’re much stickier and get chewier.
- The Tootsie Roll stuffed cookies and the brownie additions were probably the biggest successes in my house. The bark was a close third.
It was a fun little kitchen experiment, and hey, it definitely used up a good chunk of that leftover Tootsie Roll mountain. Plus, it gave me something to talk about! Now, I just need to figure out what to do with all these leftover candy canes from Christmas… just kidding! (Mostly.)
