Tag Archives: caramel

Caramel Shortbread Bars

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Ruthanne

I was introduced to the buttery flaky happiness of shortbread cookies last fall, and I promised myself that I would return to them in a new recipe. Instead of baking them in cookie form, I baked these in a pan and then covered them with dulce de leche caramel and a chocolate glaze. They are AMAZINGLY good. Really. That good. Look at the pictures…. they are THAT GOOD.

You can make your own dulce de leche using a can of sweetened condensed milk (here’s my recipe for that)- or you can just buy a couple cans of it. I always find it in the Hispanic food section of my local grocery (they have it at WalMart there too). I bought cans for this creation- easy and sooooooo yummy.

Here’s how we made these! (printable recipe here)

INGREDIENTS:

Cookie base:

1 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoons baking powder

Toppings:

2 cans (13.4 oz. each) of dulce de leche I used La Lechera by Nestle
1 cup of dark chocolate chips
6 Tablespoons of butter

DIRECTIONS:

Place 1 cup of unsalted butter and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl and using a mixer, beat until light and fluffy (think buttercream frosting…!)
Add vanilla and mix until well combined.
Add flour and baking powder to butter/sugar mixture and beat on low speed until incorporated well (don’t over-beat this).
Press into a standard 9×13″ cake pan that’s been lightly sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake at 350F degrees for 12-15 minutes until slightly browned on top and firm at center.
Cool completely.
Pour cans of caramel over the top and smooth.
Melt chocolate chips with 6 Tablespoons of butter. Stir to mix well and pour over top of caramel layer. Smooth top.
Before top hardens, if desired, drizzle with white chocolate and pull lines back and forth with a toothpick to make design shown.
Chill for at least an hour before cutting.
Enjoy!!

My thoughts: YUM!!! I love shortbread, I love caramel, and I love chocolate! These are fabulous cookie bars! 🙂 Be sure to use dark chocolate chips to keep the “sweet” factor down. If you want just a touch of caramel, use one can of La Lechera instead of two. I wanted a big layer of caramel in my cookies- but you might want more cookie and less topping. I hope you get a chance to try these!!! ~Enjoy!!!

Other caramel deliciousness here: (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Caramel Pecan Cup of Cake!

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Ruthanne

Take a plain cupcake and turn it into a layered work of art this Thanksgiving!

Everyone loves those beautiful layered trifle desserts. This recipe creates individual layered desserts. Aren’t they fun?? I used butter pecan cupcakes with yummy caramel sauce, pecans and homemade butter cream frosting. They were delicious! You can use this idea with literally ANY combination of flavors though! Get all the flavors of a “filled” cupcake- but SO much easier to assemble!

Plus, you can wrap them up in cello bags with pretty fall ribbon and ties for an elegant holiday dessert!

Can you tell that I enjoyed taking pictures of these!?! Here is how we made them (printable recipe here):

INGREDIENTS: (Makes 24 cups of cake!)

Cake:

One boxed cake mix (plus oil, water and eggs to make according to package). I used Betty Crocker’s Butter Pecan cake mix. It was AMAZING!!!!!!!

Caramel sauce:

32 unwrapped Kraft caramels
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

Buttercream:

4 sticks of butter (softened)
3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
You will also need 4-5 pecan halves per cup- and small clear Solo cups!

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to package and bake in 24 cupcake tins as directed by box (spray the pans with non-stick spray if you don’t use liners!). Cool.
Make caramel sauce by placing caramels, butter (1 stick) and sweetened condensed milk into a saucepan.
Melt over stove, stirring constantly, until caramels are entirely melted and smooth.
Cool and place in a zip-top bag.
Make buttercream by placing 4 sticks of softened butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
Use hand mixer to beat on high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Place frosting in a zip-top bag that has been fitted with a decorating tip. Set aside.
To assemble, cut a cupcake in half. Pipe a little bit of frosting into bottom of cup and press cupcake bottom in cup.
Clip a corner off the bag of caramel and pipe along edge of cup on top of cupcake bottom.

Press pecans into caramel along edges
Pipe a little frosting between pecans (only use a little- mine had a touch too much icing in the middle- you could even skip this step and just have frosting on the bottom and top)
Place top of cupcake on, pipe a little more caramel on top of cupcake, and pipe a swirl of frosting on top.
Add a pecan and decorate as desired. I used cute icing leaves by Wilton that I found at Michael’s.

You’ll want to wrap these up or put them in an air-tight container to keep them fresh. I chose cello bags and ribbon ties- and they made me smile 🙂 These stay fresh for 3-4 days when covered.

My thoughts: These got RAVE reviews. Personally, I thought they were a little sweet and I wished I had used less frosting (plus I ran out of frosting with 3 to go!) so use a little less than pictured (or make a little more…if you really like frosting!!) One of my friends HIGHLY recommended crumbled bacon as a layer in these 🙂 The GREAT news is that you literally can add anything you want to make these into your family’s favorite dessert! Enjoy!! ~r

Other yummy pecan and/or caramel treats here on Easybaked! (click on a photo to see the recipe)

Salted Caramel Tart

Posted on September 3, 2016 by Ruthanne

A dense, dark chocolate tart covered in creamy, salted caramel sauce. Salty, sweet, and rich dessert flavors!!!!

This recipe is a combination of some of my favorite elements from other desserts. The chocolate tart is the perfect base for just about any topping. You can adjust it from dark to milk chocolate just by swapping out the type of chocolate you add. The caramel sauce is my go-to sauce for so many recipes. It’s not from-scratch, but it is honestly better (and soooo much easier)!

That caramel layer does firm up after being chilled- but I wanted to cut into this right away- so these pictures show it in all of the gooey happiness that happens just after baking. Yum!

Here’s how we made this tart: (printable recipe here)

INGREDIENTS:

One refrigerated pie crust
1 10 oz. bag of dark chocolate chips
5 egg yolks
5 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons of vanilla
5 tablespoons of powdered sugar
32 Kraft Caramels (unwrapped)
1 can (14oz) of sweetened condensed milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter
1 tablespoon salt (to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9 inch tart pan with cooking spray and line with pie crust. Poke holes into bottom with fork and set on a cookie sheet.
Melt dark chocolate chips. Allow them to cool to room temperature.
In a separate bowl combine eggs, cream, vanilla and powdered sugar.
Add cream mixture to chocolate and blend well. Pour into crust and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until center is set.
While tart is baking, make caramel sauce by placing caramels, condensed milk and butter into a medium saucepan.
Heat over medium/high heat, stirring constantly, until melted and smooth (about 6 minutes).
Allow caramel to cool in pan a bit, and add salt, mixing well to combine.
Once tart has been removed from the oven and allowed to cool, pour caramel over the top until entire crust is filled (YUM!!!)

Chill, and drizzle with a little chocolate sauce- if you want- for decoration 🙂
Remove sides from pan, serve and enjoy!!!!

My thoughts: Straight up delicious. The sweet caramel has a little bite of salt and that dark chocolate tart is the perfect balance to the sweet. I love the textures of this dessert. The chocolate is so dense and creamy, and the caramel is so soft. This is just “one of those” desserts. The kind you think about long after the last bite. This tart was given away last weekend to friends, and these pictures are killing me… I wish I had another piece right now…! Enjoy this one, friends!!! ~r

More caramel happiness here at Easybaked: (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Candy, Tarts and tagged caramel, caramel dessert, caramel recipe, caramel tart, chocolate, chocolate recipe, chocolate tart, dark chocolate, dessert, fall dessert, fudge, recipe, salted caramel, salted caramel recipe, salted caramel tart, thanksgiving dessert. Bookmark the permalink.

Caramel Armadillos

Posted on May 14, 2016 by Ruthanne

Caramel Armadillos1

Caramel Armadillos. Because Caramel Turtles are soooooo yesterday.

I have this great, really easy, caramel filling. It’s great on ice cream, in brownies, in cupcakes and even by the spoonful. I love it. I decided this week that I wanted to make turtle cookies with it, and I was struck by how boring and predictable caramel turtles are. Why turtles? Who started this trend? I turned to Wikipedia for answers. I was still bored.

I decided to make caramel armadillos instead. Not only are they WAY cuter than turtles, but it’s really fun to say “caramel armadillos”.

Try it… five times fast!

You know you want to… 🙂

Caramel Armadillo A couple weeks ago I was waiting for a friend to meet me for coffee and I stumbled upon these cute little chocolate molds on Amazon. They are supposedly Easter eggs, but when I decided to make Armadillos they came to mind as the perfect thing to use! All I needed was a tail and ears… and a tootsie roll would suffice!

SO caramel armadillos were born- and they are neither boring nor predictable!

Armadillo3 Here’s how I made them: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 20 armadillos)

32 Kraft Caramels (unwrapped)
1 can (14 oz.) of sweetened condensed milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter
Whole pecans- about 3 per armadillo
1 bag (32 oz/2lbs) of Merckens Milk chocolate wafers.
about 40 candy eyes
20 pink candy balls for noses
at least 25 tootsie rolls, unwrapped

DIRECTIONS:

Make caramel in a large saucepan over the stove by heating together the caramels, condensed milk and butter. Stir constantly until melted and smooth.
Pour into a small bowl and allow mixture to cool a bit (so it doesn’t melt chocolate when poured in).
Melt chocolate wafers in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until melted and smooth.
Use a food-grade brush, or pastry brush to “paint” the inside of the egg mold with chocolate. Paint two layers to make it nice and thick- you should not be able to see any of the mold showing through.
Freeze until hard (5 minutes or so)
Place cooled caramel into a large zip-top bag, zip tightly closed and clip a corner off the bag using a pair of kitchen scissors.
Squeeze a little bit of caramel in each cup, set three pecans on the caramel, pushing them gently into it, then fill the remainder of the cup up with caramel.

**Note: If you are making just armadillos, don’t fill to the top because you will add a layer of chocolate on top once the caramel is hard. If you are placing these on cookies, you can fill to the top and spread flat with a knife.

Place these in the freezer to harden (5-10 minutes) and then paint a layer of chocolate on the top of the hardened caramel and freeze again until hard.
Gently peel silicone mold away from chocolate and set on a plate to be decorated!
Unwrap 20 tootsie rolls and place for just a few seconds in the microwave to soften a little.
Pull and roll these into tails and use the side of a knife to press grooves along the length. Keep these on parchment paper until they harden up.
Unwrap 4 to 5 tootsie rolls and cut them into little circles. Shape these into ears and keep with tails on parchment paper.

To assemble, use dabs of melted chocolate to attach ears, candy eyes, nose and tails.

I made cookies for them to sit on. My original idea was for caramel turtle cookies, so I went ahead with the cookie plan and it does add stability to that tail (otherwise they are a little awkward to pick up!)

I used my favorite chocolate cookie cut-out recipe from here, and it made a few more cookies than I had armadillos for, but they are yummy cookies all alone!!
I used an egg-shaped cookie cutter a bit larger than the armadillo.
I added melted green candy wafers to the top- just spooned some on and spread it near the edges- and set a “open” caramel armadillo on top. The green wafers seal up the bottom and keep caramel from leaking out!
I set the tail on the melted green wafers and added flower sprinkles! Once everything hardened up I added the eyes, ears and nose.

So….cookies??? Candies???? It’s up to you! I think they would be fun on a cake.

How awkwardly wonderful would a caramel armadillo cake be???

My thoughts: These are delicious. They are also a lot of work (being honest!). It would help to have your tails and ears shaped ahead of time and I was wishing SO hard for an additional mold. That would save time too. That said- I will totally make these again!!!! They were well- loved by adults and kids alike! If this recipe seems like too much craziness for you, just make the caramel. Put it on ice cream and be happy! Enjoy!! ~r

Other recipes kids will love (click on a photo to see the recipe!):

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Posted in Candy, Cookies and tagged Armadillo candy, Armadillo dessert, Armadillos, best, caramel, caramel candy, Caramel turtles, chocolate, creative, creative candy, creative cookies, dessert, fun cookies, Kids party dessert, pecans, recipe. Bookmark the permalink.

Caramel Turtle Bundt Cake

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Ruthanne

Swirls of caramel and chocolate cake, topped with caramel sauce and pecans, make this a beautiful and decadent dessert!

I love bundt cakes. They are just so pretty and fun to serve. This one is a combination of caramel and chocolate in a memorably beautiful and tasty display of yumminess!

This uses cake mixes and Kraft caramels, so it is a quick and easy dessert to put together, and it serves a ton of people, 14-16 at least.

Here’s how we made it: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

One box of chocolate cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box)
One box of caramel cake mix- I use Duncan Hines- (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box)
32 Kraft Caramels (unwrapped)
1 can (14 oz.) of sweetened condensed milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter
Whole Pecans (as many as you want to sprinkle on top)
Mini chocolate chips (as many as you want to sprinkle on top)
I also added some Kraft caramel bits as sprinkles because I had them and they sounded fun- those are the little round caramel bits you see in my photos.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Make up both cake mixes according to package.
Alternate pouring them into a well-greased bundt pan. Fill the pan only 3/4 full. You will have a little cake mix left at the end, since both mixes don’t fully fit in the pan.
Place on a cookie sheet (just in case of overflow) and bake for 40-50 minutes. A cake tester or skewer should come out clean when cake is fully baked.
Allow cake to cool for 5-10 minutes in pan, and then tip onto a wire cake rack to finish cooling.
While cake cools, make caramel.
Place unwrapped caramels into a medium saucepan with sweetened condensed milk and butter.
Heat on medium/high, stirring constantly, until caramels are completely melted and smooth.
Place cake on serving plate.
Pour caramel sauce over the bundt cake, allowing it to run down the sides.
Immediately sprinkle with nuts and chocolate chips. If you wait these will not stick to the caramel as it hardens.
Allow topping to cool and firm up before cutting.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: This is such a moist cake, and if you aren’t a big fan of frosting this is perfect- no frosting at all- just a soft caramel. It’s a perfect fancy dessert that is so quick to make, and fun to serve!

One more…

Other yummy caramel desserts you’ll love (just click on photo to be taken to recipe):

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Posted in Cakes and tagged best, bundt cake, cake, caramel, caramel bundt cake, caramel cake, caramel sauce, chocolate cake, chocolate cake mix, chocolate chips, dessert, easy, elegant dessert, Kraft caramels, pecans. chocolate, recipe, turtle bundt cake. Bookmark the permalink.

Caramel Crisp Cookies

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Ruthanne

These crisp, caramel- filled cookies are absolutely delicious, can be decorated for any season and are SO easy!

These cookies have made a bigger impression on people than almost any dessert I’ve made. Everyone LOVES these! I love them too and they really are one of the easiest cookie ideas I’ve ever posted. Plus they are cute, and cute always gets bonus points in my book!

These are made by pressing melted Rolos between Ritz crackers and then dipping them in chocolate… as easy as that! You almost don’t need a recipe, but for those of you who like having one, here you go: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 50 cookies)

One box of Ritz Crackers
One bag of Rolo caramel candies
Two bags of Wilton’s Candy Melts in dark chocolate

DIRECTIONS:

Unwrap all those little Rolos…this is the hardest part of this recipe….booooring!
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Place Ritz Crackers, bottom side up, on a cookie sheet and set one unwrapped Rolo on each one.
Put these into the oven and leave them for one to two minutes until the Rolo is soft enough to press flat with another cracker- I actually just kept checking until they were soft enough.
Remove them from the oven and use another Ritz cracker to make a little sandwich of that soft Rolo.
Allow these to cool completely- I put mine in the fridge for 20 minutes or so until they were nice and firm
Melt Candy Melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until they are completely melted and smooth.
Cover each cookie with melted chocolate and use a fork to lift the cookie up. Tap the fork against the side of the bowl to allow excess chocolate to drain off, slide bottom of cookie along edge of bowl to remove extra off bottom, and tip gently off fork and allow cookie to slide onto parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle/ decorate as desired and allow cookie to harden completely.

If you want to skip the chocolate-dipped part, these are still a fun and yummy treat:

My thoughts: As I said earlier, these are really yummy. I like that you can decorate them any way you want for any season- they are like Oreo pops- and you ALL know how much fun I have decorating those here! Use any color of Candy Melt, use sprinkles or drizzles….sky is the limit! My dad tried them and said, “When you put these on your blog, tell people they are the best cookies I’ve ever had.” So there you go. The best ever. Thanks dad!

Other Christmas cookie recipes you’ll have fun trying~ just click on the photo to see the recipe:

Need a fun and unique gift idea? Easybaked has adorable boxed sets of notecards. They have an Easybaked dessert photo on the front and a recipe on the back! The come in a cute box and the best part? They are ON SALE for Christmas, include free shipping and the site that is hosting them offers $10 off a $50 purchase! Enjoy!!! (Click on photo for more information)

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Posted in Candy, Cookies and tagged best, candy melts, caramel, chocolate, Christmas cookies, cookies, cookies dipped in chocolate, creative, dipped cookies, easy, holidays, kids, melted chocolate, recipe, ritz crackers, Rolo candy, salty and sweet, sprinkles. Bookmark the permalink.

Caramel Pecan Pie Cupcakes

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Ruthanne

If you like pecan pie, you will go nuts over these cupcakes! With caramel pecan pie filling in the middle and crisp pie crust decorating the top, these say Happy Thanksgiving in a fun new way!

There’s nothing more yummy than a warm caramel pecan pie in the fall. I have a favorite- and it’s here already on Easybaked as my Christmas Eve Caramel Pecan Pie. These cupcakes take that pie up a notch and they turned out better than I even imagined they would~yum!

There are a couple of steps to this recipe, so it is a little more time consuming, but well worth the effort~ I promise!

Here’s how we made them: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Cupcakes:

One boxed caramel cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box)

Pie filling:

2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter (melted)
3 eggs (these are in addition to the eggs used for cake mix)
1 (12 oz) jar of caramel topping
2 cups chopped pecans (plus 24 pecan halves for decorating if desired)

Frosting and pie crust toppers:

One refrigerated pie crust
1 cup (2 sticks) of salted butter
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
3 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of clear vanilla flavoring

DIRECTIONS:

Pie Filling:

Make pie filling 1st. Start by preheating oven to 350F degrees
In a large mixing bowl, beat 3 eggs together lightly with a fork.
Add sugar, stirring until dissolved
Stir in caramel topping and butter
Stir in chopped pecans
Pour into a greased casserole dish and bake for 50-60 minutes.
Cool completely (I placed this in the fridge to cool more quickly)

Cupcakes:

As the pie filling bakes, make cake mix according to directions on boxed mix and divide evenly among 24 cupcake liners placed in a tin.
Once pie filling is finished, bake cupcakes according to box.
Remove cupcakes from oven and tins and allow them to cool completely.

Frosting and pie crust toppers:

Unroll pie crust onto counter and use any cookie cutter you like to cut into 24 pieces. I used a fall leaf Linzer cookie cutter and added the leaf cut-outs on the cupcakes too.
Place pie pieces on a cookie sheet and spray lightly with non-stick spray.
Bake until slightly browned and crispy. Cool.

Make frosting by combining butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beating on high for 3 to 4 minutes until light and fluffy.

Assembling Dessert:

To assemble cupcakes, make sure everything has cooled. Use a cupcake corer to remove a core out of the center of each cupcake.
Scoop or spoon some pie filling into each cupcake and replace the top of the core back on top of the filling.

Place frosting into a zip-top bag fitted with a decorating tip and pipe swirls of frosting on the top of each cupcake.
Add a pie crust topper and a pecan half and ENJOY!!!!

My thoughts: These really do capture the delicious flavor of pecan pie. They were a big hit with everyone who tried them. I really liked the pie crusts on top- so yummy in that buttercream frosting! I hope you have a chance to try this recipe out! Enjoy! ~r

Love pecans? We do too! Here are some other yummy pecan recipes. Just click on a photo to see the recipe!

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged buttercream frosting, caramel, caramel cupcakes, caramel sundae topping, chopped pecans, christmas, cupcakes, dessert, filled cupcakes, pecan, pecan pie, pecan pie cupcakes, pie crust, pie crust cut-outs, recipe, thanksgiving. Bookmark the permalink.

Turtle Cookie Cups

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Ruthanne

Chocolate cookie cups full of creamy caramel, chocolate and pecans. So many fun fall flavors in one little dessert!

There’s something about November that makes me think caramel and pecans. Comfort food, maybe? Thanksgiving? I’m not sure, but these yummy little treats hit the spot! They are fun to make, and a pretty mini dessert for all those November and December get-togethers.

Here’s how they are made: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Cookies:

2 sticks (one cup) butter (softened)
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder

Toppings:

1 bag of Wilton’s candy melts in milk chocolate
2 cups of chopped pecans and about 60 whole pecans
32 Kraft caramels (unwrapped)
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

DIRECTIONS:

Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Add butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl
Blend on medium speed with a mixer until smooth
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, and knead into a soft ball of dough
Use a small cookie scoop (I used one that holds ½ tablespoon of batter) to portion your dough into mini muffin tins that have been sprayed with non-stick spray
Use a tart shaper, or a wooden spoon to press the dough into a cup shape.

Bake at 350F degrees for 7-8 minutes and remove from oven.
Press centers in a second time and allow cups to cool for just a couple of minutes.
Use a small paring knife to pop each cup out and allow them to cool on the counter.

Toppings:

Place caramels, sweetened condensed milk and butter into a medium saucepan and heat on medium over the stove until all of the caramels are melted.
Heat milk chocolate candy melts in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted and smooth.
Place chopped pecans into a small bowl.
To assemble, dip top edge of cup in candy melts and then in chopped nuts.

Place caramel sauce into a sturdy zip top bag and clip a corner.
Pipe caramel into each cup until filled completely and top with a whole almond.
Allow caramel and chocolate to firm up.
Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are a little time-consuming to make, but sooooo yummy. They are a perfect mini-dessert for any of the upcoming holidays, and they got RAVE reviews in my little world! That caramel….!!!! Enjoy! ~r

Other fun mini desserts here at Easybaked (click on a photo to see the recipe)

3 Comments

Posted in Candy, Cookie Cups, Cookies and tagged autumn, best, best fall desserts, candy, caramel, caramel sauce, chocolate, chocolate cookie, chopped pecans, christmas, cookie cups, cookies, creamy caramel, dessert, fall, holiday cookies, holiday desserts, milk chocolate, pecan, recipe, thanksgiving, treats, turtles. Bookmark the permalink.

Caramel Gelato with Gingerbread Spoons

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Ruthanne

This creamy frozen caramel dessert is perfect when it is eaten with a spicy gingerbread cookie spoon. Does dessert get much more fun than this?!?

This recipe has a story. I was flying home to Michigan for a wedding when I saw the most amazing dessert in one of those in-flight magazines. It was some sort of mousse with a COOKIE SPOON in it. I stared at it and thought….and wondered if spoon cookie cutters exist (they do), and I decided right then that I would make something caramel with gingerbread spoons.

Something caramel…..something sweet and rich. About a week later, I saw this post on Foodgawker and the words, “Three ingredients. No churn. No machine. No whipping cream. It’s magic.” swirled in my head. Sour cream, Sweetened condensed milk, Vanilla. No machine.

What if I added Dulce de Leche instead of the sweetened condensed milk? I had to try it. I felt like I was surely wasting a container of sour cream when I mixed this up….but then…. creamy, cold caramel deliciousness. It is magic. You need to try this!

Here’s how: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Caramel Gelato:

1 1/2 cups of sour cream (use full-fat)
1 can (13.4 oz.) of La Lechera Dulce de Leche (now….imagine coconut cream in this recipe….!)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Cookie Spoons:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup dark molasses
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves

DIRECTIONS:

Caramel Gelato:

Mix all ingredients together well, spread into a freezer safe bowl and cover tightly.
Freeze overnight.
Allow gelato to warm a little before serving.

Gingerbread Cookie Spoons:

Cream together butter and sugar.
Beat in egg, molasses and vinegar.
Blend in sifted dry ingredients.
Chill 2-3 hours (this is important– the dough is very easy to roll after chilling)
Roll 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch thick on a floured counter or board and cut into spoon shapes, using a cookie cutter, and place on greased cookie sheets.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes. Check often- take out when cookies have risen and are easily removed from sheet.

My thoughts: This caramel desert is unbelievably creamy and rich. I pictured 2 scoops in my photos, but I would serve just one. It is almost like frozen custard- so heavy and rich. The caramel flavor is amazing though! Amazing. The cookies are so delicious with the caramel. They are hard to actually use as spoons until the frozen caramel warms a bit. I love this flavor combination! I hope you get a chance to try it! Enjoy!!! ~r

Other fun chilled desserts you might enjoy:

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Posted in Cookies, Frozen desserts and tagged baking, caramel, caramel gelato, cookie spoons, cookies, fall, frozen custard, frozen desserts, fun, gelato, gingerbread cookies, ice cream, idea, party, spoons. Bookmark the permalink.

Caramel Pecan Marshmallow Pops

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Ruthanne

Big marshmallows covered in creamy caramel and chocolate are dipped in pecans to make an incredibly decadent treat!

These are unbelievably good. I was visiting my friend Andreya in San Diego last weekend and we passed a store while window shopping in La Jolla that had all sorts of dipped marshmallows. I started craving them and had to try this. These are like yummy caramel apples- but with a soft marshmallow inside, instead of an apple. If you are looking for a really unique treat that is easy to put together, this is your recipe!!! I couldn’t believe how easy and yummy these were.

Here’s the recipe: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

2 bags of jumbo marshmallows (24 marshmallows)
24 lollipop sticks
32 Kraft caramels, unwrapped
1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup of butter
1 bag of dark chocolate Wilton’s candy melts
2 cups of chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

Set marshmallows out on parchment paper and stick one lollipop stick into the flat side of each one.
In a medium saucepan, melt together caramels, butter and sweetened condensed milk, stirring constantly, until completely smooth (takes about 5 minutes)
Pour caramel mixture into a bowl.
Using stick, carefully dip each marshmallow into caramel, coating it to the top. Gently tap stick against side of bowl to remove excess caramel and then slide bottom of marshmallow along bowl’s edge to remove most of caramel. (It is ok if you remove it down to the marshmallow- the chocolate will cover this up!
Place upright on a sheet of parchment paper and cool.
Place chocolate candy melts into a bowl, and melt them in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until completely melted and smooth.
Lay a fresh sheet of parchment paper out before beginning next step.
Place pecans in a small bowl.
Gently peel a marshmallow away from the parchment paper. This is a little tricky, as it will still be a bit gooey. I held the stick, lifted, and peeled the paper away from the marshmallow.
Dip bottom of marshmallow into melted chocolate and slide bottom along edge of bowl to remove excess.
Dip bottom of coated marshmallow into pecans and set on fresh parchment paper to harden.

Once these are hardened up, you can serve them up on a pretty plate, or wrap them in cello bags to use as gifts or favors.
If you aren’t serving them right away, be sure to cover them so the marshmallows don’t harden up.

My thoughts: These are a recipe I will make again. I had fun putting them together and everyone who tried them asked me to make them again. Easy. Yummy. Beautiful. My kind of recipe! Enjoy!! ~r

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