Caramelitas

Eric keeps taking a spoon to my jar of homemade caramel sauce and I knew if I didn't make these caramelitas soon, I wasn't going to have any caramel left to make them. Obviously, we are both big caramel fans, which makes it incredibly strange that neither of us have had a caramelita before. Needless to say, we both loved them. Eric's not even sulking that I used up the rest of the caramel sauce making them. In fact, he wants me to make more so I can make more of these bars!

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 stick butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 cup quick oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup homemade or store bought caramel sauce
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with tin foil then grease generously with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, vanilla, and brown sugar. Pour in flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Stir until well combined. Pour half the mixture into the prepared dish and smooth with a rubber spatula (Don't worry if it looks like you won't have enough dough--this concerned me at first, too, but it all worked out).

Bake for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the first layer of cookie. Pour the caramel over the chocolate chips, spreading it slowly and equally. Drop little bits of the remaining cookie dough evenly over the top of the bars. The caramel will still show through in some places--that's okay!

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until the top turns a golden brown.

Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan. If you try removing them from the pan or slicing them before the caramel has had time to firm up, you'll end up with a gooey mess. I refrigerated mine for 2 hours after the pan reached room temperature. Store bars in an airtight container in the fridge.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Dessert Recipes:
Congo Bars, Blondies, or Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars?
Michigan Cranberry Brownies
White Chocolate Hazelnut Cream Pie
Spiced Rum Brown Butter Cookies 
Yummy Butterscotch Cookies
 

Shortcut Caramel Sauce

Whenever I make caramel, whether its sea salt caramels, pumpkin caramels, or caramel sauce, I have to use a candy thermometer. One day I hope to gain that sixth sense that warns you when the caramel is about to burn. As of yet I do not have. The couple of times I've tried to do caramel without a thermometer, I burnt it.

I wanted to make apple cider cupcakes with a caramel filling and spiced rum frosting. I also wanted to use homemade caramel sauce, but I didn't want to get my candy thermometer out. As much as I love caramel, I mind it a little nerve-wracking to watch the degrees go up one by one on the thermometer, positive the moment I look away, it will burn. I know you can make caramel with condensed milk in the microwave, but I'm not a huge fan of condensed milk. I'm not totally sure why. But I found another short-cut caramel recipe you can make in the microwave that doesn't call for condensed milk! I still think caramel made on the stove top tastes better, but this is pretty damn good and damn easy.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1/8 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream, warmed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
In a medium glass bowl, mix the sugar, corn syrup, and lemon juice together. Microwave the caramel until it just barely has an amber color, 5-8 minutes. If you microwave it for too long, you can burn the sugar. Allow the caramel to sit for about 5 minutes. As it does, you'll see the caramel continue to darken. I microwaved mine for 5 minutes, waited 5 minutes, and got this result:

Next time I may try to microwave it for longer to see if I can get a more intense color and flavor. Keep in mind that all microwaves cook differently.

While waiting for the caramel to darken, heat the whipping cream and vanilla extract in a small sauce pan. You don't need to bring it to a boil, just warm it so it doesn't cause the caramel to seize up.

Add the cream to the caramel a few tablespoons at a time. Beware that the sauce will bubble as you do this. Stir.

Once the cream is incorporated, stir in the butter until its melted and well combined. Allow to cool, pour into jar, and store in the fridge.

Like I said, so easy.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

For more autumn recipes, click here.

Apple Cider Cupcakes with Caramel Filling and Spiced Rum Frosting

Last February I made Eric an apple cider birthday cake. However, apple cider was not in-season so I used powdered apple cider mix. The cake turned out delicious, but I just knew it'd be better with real apple cider so I have impatiently been waiting for the fall drink to come back into season. But instead of a cake, I made them into cupcakes. Every time Eric hears the word cupcake he tells me that I should make those cupcakes again, the one with the chocolate ganache filling. He's referring to my St. Paddy's Day cupcakes. He loves cupcakes with filling. So I gave the apple cider cupcakes a caramel buttercream filling and topped them with a spiced rum buttercream frosting. It was a lot of buttercream, so next time I will use caramel sauce as filling. The spiced rum butter cream was the perfect pairing for this cupcake. I have to say, the cake is so much better with real apple cider.

Apple Cider Cupcakes
You can make this cake two ways. The easiest way is to just substitute out the water in a spice cake mix for apple cider. Or you can use the doctored cake mix recipe listed below:

Ingredients:
1 spice cake mix
1 3-ounce package instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, pour into cupcake pans that are greased or lined with cupcake wrappers. Bake according to package directions. Allow the cakes to cool completely.

Caramel Sauce
I made my own caramel sauce to use in the buttercream frosting. I didn't feel like getting my candy thermometer out so I tested out this new recipe where you make caramel sauce in the microwave. It actually works. But . . . you don't have control over the color of the caramel sauce like you do when you make it on the stove top. In other words, my caramel sauce wasn't rich enough for my taste. Next time I make caramel buttercream, I'm going to make my caramel sauce on the stove top. But I will keep this microwave caramel sauce in my back pocket because it really is convenient to have. You could also use store bought caramel sauce.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1/8 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream, warmed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
In a medium glass bowl, mix the sugar, corn syrup, and lemon juice together. Microwave the caramel until it just barely has an amber color, 5-8 minutes. If you microwave it for too long, you can burn the sugar. Allow the caramel to sit for about 5 minutes. As it does, you'll see the caramel continue to darken. I microwaved mine for 5 minutes, waited 5 minutes, and got this result:

Next time I may try to microwave it for longer to see if I can get a more intense color and flavor. Keep in mind that all microwaves cook differently.

While waiting for the caramel to darken, heat the whipping cream and vanilla extract in a small sauce pan. You don't need to bring it to a boil, just warm it so it doesn't cause the caramel to seize up.

Add the cream to the caramel a few tablespoons at a time. Beware that the sauce will bubble as you do this. Stir.

Once the cream is incorporated, stir in the butter until it's melted and well combined. Allow to cool, pour into a jar, and store in the fridge.

Basic Buttercream Frosting
You will use this buttercream frosting for the base of both the caramel filling and the spiced rum frosting.

Ingredients:

3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons milk, half and half, or whipping cream


Directions:
Place the the butter into a large bowl and cream with a hand mixer or standing mixer. Add vanilla and mix. Add 1 cup of sugar and blend on low speed until well incorporated. Then add another cup of sugar and beat until well blended. By now your buttercream is getting thick. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons milk and mix. Blend in the the final cup of sugar. To get light, smooth buttercream you need to blend the buttercream for 15 to 20 minutes on low. This is when I really wish I had a standing mixer. Doing it with a hand mixer is tedious but worth it in the end. 

Caramel Buttercream
Even though I wouldn't use this caramel buttercream as filling for apple cider cupcakes again, I will definitely use the caramel buttercream again.


Place about a third of your prepared buttercream into a medium bowl. Add the caramel sauce a few tablespoons at a time, blending it into the buttercream, until you reach the desired flavor. I had to use all the caramel sauce I made (about 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups--sorry, I forgot to measure it out) to give the buttercream a caramel flavor. However, I think if I used a different caramel sauce or made the sauce darker, I could have used less.

Spiced Rum Buttercream
You can make the spiced rum buttercream as strong or weak as you'd like. I used 4 tablespoons of Captain Morgan and my frosting had quite the kick to it. 2 tablespoons of rum should do nicely for a less boozy frosting. Just add the spiced rum to the buttercream and blend.

Assemble
When your cupcakes are completely cooled, use a 1/2 tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop out the center of the cupcakes. Reserve the centers for another use. Spoon or pipe the caramel buttercream (or caramel sauce) into the cupcake. Frost the top with the spiced rum buttercream.

Now I know these cupcakes look like a ton of work, but they're really not that bad. Tomorrow, I will tell you what you can do with the scooped out cupcake middles.

These cupcakes were a huge hit with everyone.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

For more autumn recipes, click here.

Going Bananas: Diary-Free Ice Cream and Pudding

If you're on Pinterest at all, you've probably seen ice cream made from frozen bananas. I was floored by just how creamy and diary-like the ice cream came out. And the slightly over-ripe bananas give it the perfect sweet taste. I've spent a good portion of the summer coming up with different flavor combinations for this icy treat. The banana-based ice cream has been a hit with Eric (his favorite is the chocolate peanut butter, mine is the almond) and both our families. Impatient to taste my creations, I've also discovered that if you don't freeze it, it makes a delicious pudding!

Basic Recipe:
Makes about a pint

Ingredients:
4 slightly over-ripe bananas; peeled, cut into coins and frozen solid (I've found leaving them overnight yields the best results)

Directions:

Place the frozen banana pieces into a food processors and blend. At first the bananas will resemble little pieces of gravel, but if you keep on blending, they turn into a thick, creamy mixture that resembles soft serve ice cream.

This is how it starts out . . .

. . . and this is how it turns out.

At this point you can eat it as banana pudding. Or put it in the freeze for 4 or 5 hours and have banana ice cream. Or you can create flavors by adding other ingredients to the food processor. You don't ever get rid of the banana flavor all together, but it does become more subtle.

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream
4 bananas
3 tablespoons peanut butter

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream
4 bananas
3 tablespoons of peanut butter
1 1/2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

Chocolate-Hazelnut Banana Ice Cream
4 bananas
4 tablespoons home chocolate-hazelnut spread or Nutella

Vanilla Banana Ice Cream
4 bananas
3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Caramel Banana Ice Cream
4 bananas
4 tablespoons caramel sauce

Almond Banana Ice Cream
4 bananas
3 tablespoons almond butter

Sadly, I haven't been able to create a good chocolate banana ice cream. To get the chocolate flavor I'm after, I have to add a lot of the cocoa powder, but then the bitterness of the cocoa powder overrides the sweetness of the bananas, and I can't stand what that much powder does to the texture of the ice cream (I've also been experimenting with a chocolate avocado pudding and the cocoa powder is throwing me off there, too).  The next time I make banana ice cream, I think I want to use 2 or 3 tablespoons hot fudge sauce or chocolate syrup. Not as healthy, but it's ice cream, it's supposed to be a treat.

Enjoy!

~Krissy