Crunch® Bowl Tutorial + A Giveaway + Fall Recipe Link Up!

Hi friends! I am so happy you have found your way here this week because it is going to be the best week ever. Friday afternoon, I was chatting about the blog with a friend and I was going to stuff a whole bunch of stuff into one post... then I thought why not make a week of it?! So, this week you will be seeing a full week a recipes as we count down to Fall's official start NEXT WEEK and I want you to join in!

At the bottom of the post you will find two things: No. 1 is a Link-Up for you to add your favorite Fall recipes. These can be old, new, or even if you just shared them on Facebook or Instagram - click that inlinkz button and it'll tell you exactly what to do! No. 2 is a $20 giveaway from Nestlé®, so you can kick start your Fall cooking, buy a treat for yourself, or buy me an early birthday present... December 1st is really not that far away...just so you know. Enough with the shenanigans, here's the first recipe. . . which is actually more of a tutorial.

I have seen chocolate bowls all over Pinterest and y'all there is some awesome stuff out there, but we didn't want just some boring ol chocolate bowl for our Homemade Pumpkin Ice Cream (coming Wednesday), we wanted a little Crunch®. I mean, who wouldn't, I don't see many recipes with these bars, do you? It's a shame, because this guy melted beautifully and adds so much fun to this dessert! 

Here is what you need to make your Nestlé® Crunch® bowls:  

1.  Approximately one per bowl you plan to make.
2. Balloons. Most tutorials say to use water balloons and I didn't but in the future I will. They will make smaller, rounder bowls. My bowls turned out a little more flat than I'd like because of the size of my balloons.
3. A small pot and metal bowl or a double boiler. 
4. Parchment Paper
5. A pan that will fit in your freezer

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Break up your Nestlé® Crunch® Bars and toss them in your metal bowl. 
2. Wash your balloons with soap and water, blow up to the size you want, and tie off. Set aside on a clean surface.
3. Line your pan with parchment paper to be transferred into the freezer later.
4. Heat a small about of water in your pot on the stove top - hot but not boiling. 
5. Place your bowl of chocolate on top of your hot water and stir continuously until it melts smoothly. 
6. Remove from heat as soon as chocolate is smooth. It can get clumpy if you leave it on the heat too long.
• IF YOU DO THIS IN THE MICROWAVE  ONLY MELT CHOCOLATE 30 SECONDS AT A TIME TO PREVENT CLUMBS. ALSO, USE A GLASS BOWL.
7. Spoon a small amount of chocolate onto your parchment paper for your bowl to rest on. 
8. Dip your balloons in the melted chocolate. Uses a spoon if needed to coat more thoroughly. Because of the crunch part of this chocolate's weight, I had to spoon more onto the bottom of the balloon and spread it around a little. 
9. Place balloon on parchment paper, when completed place pan into the freezer. You could just put them in the fridge if you are going to fill them with something like fruit or candies, but since I was planning to put ice cream in mine, I wanted them  little colder to keep the ice cream a little longer! 
10. After you are sure the bowls are solid. I'd give them at least an hour to be on the safe side, remove the pan from the freezer and pinch your balloon near the tie and cut a small hole with scissors to release the air slowly. As the air is releasing, pull the balloon away from the sides of the chocolate bowl. 

WhaLa! a bowl of chocolate! How exciting?! Your friends and family will now be so impressed. ;) I will say because of the texture of that yummy Nestlé® Crunch® Bar, the top of your bowl may be a little uneven, or maybe that's just my dipping skills, either way, you can choose break the edges down a little or take a knife and shave it off a little or you can leave it as is. I personally like it kind of "rocky."

And don't forget that last step: Add something delicious to the inside! Like I mentioned before I made some Pumpkin Ice Cream (the easy way - in the freezer) and topped it with what else? Buncha Crunch® This makes the perfect, I'm ready for Fall but it's still 80+ degrees treat! 

I also used it for a little fruit and yogurt. The options are endless with this sweet little bowl of Crunch®! Now it's your turn to share! What would you put in your Crunch Bowl to make a boring dessert more fun! Now, you remember those two things I talked about waaaayy up there at the top of the post... here they are! They will be here all month for your to link up and enter to win! Feel free to link up recipes from last year, three years ago, whatever and as many as you want, just don't go crazy!

(Also linking up with: Try a New Recipe Tuesday, My Favorite Post and Dream, Create, Inspire)

$20 Nestlé #LifeHacktoBoredom GIVEAWAY!

An InLinkz Link-up