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German Apple Torte (Apfelkuchen)

Posted on December 4, 2025 by Ruthanne

I married into this recipe. My very first time visiting my husband’s grandma Gisela (Gisi, to us), she made this unbelievably delicious apple cake. I don’t even like cooked apples, but I politely took a piece and LOVED it!!!

With all of my heart, I believe we need to carry the recipes of the ones we love forward into new generations. I’ve featured recipes from both of my grandmas, my aunts and my mom here on the Easybaked blog, and I knew that this recipe needed to be shared with the world. Last week, grandma Gisi patiently explained her recipe (translated from German) so that I could try it, and the results made me smile.

This was how she greeted us on our visit last week- the birthday we were celebrating was my husband’s.

Grandma Gisi grew up in Neumarkt, a town in Bavaria, Germany. Her aunt Minni used to make this cake, and now she has made it for her own family occasions for years. To me, it feels like shortbread or butter cookies with a big sweet layer of tart apples in the middle. Is it a cake? A torte? It’s like nothing I’ve ever had before and it’s delicious!

Want to try it? Here’s the recipe (in English!!!) (printable recipe here)

Ingredients:

12 medium McIntosh apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
Juice from one lemon
3-4 Tablespoons of water
1 1/3 cup of granulated sugar (divided into two 2/3 portions)
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 3/4 cups of flour (may need a little extra if dough is sticky)
2 sticks of butter plus 2 Tablespoons, softened to room temperature
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon of baking powder
1/4 cup of powdered sugar (to sift over the top of cake)

Directions: (pay attention to my extra notes!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Prepare a 26cm (or 10 inch) springform pan by spraying it with cooking spray.
Place prepared apples, lemon juice, 2/3 cup sugar, and cinnamon into a large pot and cook over the stove on medium heat, stirring to prevent them from burning.
Cook apples until they are softened but not mushy and set aside. *Note: the amount of water needed depends on the size of your apples, so if your mixture is soupy after cooking (small apples), spoon some of the liquid away until the apples are still covered in a light sauce, but not dripping with it.*
In a mixing bowl, cream together butter with 2/3 cup sugar, and add eggs and vanilla.
Add flour and baking powder, and mix until combined.
Knead dough together with your hands until it is smooth. Start with 2 and 3/4 cups of flour and if it is sticky, add a little extra flour until it is a nice roll-out cookie dough consistency.
Divide dough into 2 equal parts, and press one part into the bottom of your springform pan, pushing the edge up a little along the sides (to hold the apple filling in a bit). Think cookie- not cake. I was surprised at how thin the layer of dough was, but it rose some in the oven.
Bake this bottom layer at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes to firm it up a little.
Remove from oven, pour apple filling in and spread it to cover the base.
Press bits of the remaining dough flat with your hands and lay it on the top of the apples, pinching together each section to form a complete layer of dough on top of the apples. *Note: This step sounded difficult to me, so I simply rolled a 10 inch circle of the dough on parchment paper using a rolling pin, and flipped it over the apple layer like a pie crust*
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (when you can see that it is beginning to brown a little on top, it is done).
Cool and sift powdered sugar over the top before serving.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: Other than the apple prep, this cake is really simple to make. Grandma Gisi told me that to make this cake the correct German way, you really need to purchase a 26cm springform pan. I found that a 10 inch one worked fine as well, but if you want to stay true to the original recipe, you should get that 26cm pan 🙂 I really hope you try and enjoy this delicious cake! Recipes from grandma are always the best!

Other delicious family recipes you might want to try (click a photo to see the recipe):

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Posted in Cakes, Pies, Tarts and tagged apfelkuchen, apple cake, apple dessert, apple torte, baking, cake, cookies, dessert, family recipe, fruit dessert, german dessert, layer cake, recipe, recipes. Bookmark the permalink.

Friendly Monster Oreo Pops

Posted on October 26, 2025 by Ruthanne

These friendly purple monsters are filled with an Oreo, and are sure to make the kids in your life smile this Halloween!

(The links to Amazon in this recipe are affiliate links. Your purchases help to support future recipe creations!)

Usually, I dip my Oreo pops, but this time I used some Oreo Pop molds (got mine here), and I love how they turned out! If you don’t want to purchase molds, these would be just fine dipped as well (instructions here). You could also save some time on these by purchasing the large eyes, but I wanted to save a little on the cost (and I already had both white and black candy melts).

Want to know how to make these fun little monsters??? Here we go! (Printable recipe here)

INGREDIENTS:

One package of Double Stuf Oreos
2 12oz packages of Wilton Candy Melts (in purple)
1 12 oz package of Wilton Candy Melts (in white)
1 12 oz package of Wilton Candy Melts (in black- you will not need the entire bag)
24 Lollipop sticks

DIRECTIONS:

Slide a lollipop stick into each Oreo, making sure it doesn’t come out of the top.
Melt purple candy melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.
Spoon about 1 tablespoon of melts into each mold cavity

Press an Oreo into each cavity, allowing melts to rise up along sides.
Spoon a little more of the candy melts on top, and tap on counter to get bubbles out and fill in along the sides. Note: if you have these clear molds, you can lift them up and check for any areas that might have bubbles or where the melts aren’t covering the Oreo, and use a toothpick to poke those out and allow the candy melts to fill in.
Allow candy melts to harden. I put these on a small cookie sheet and freeze them for about 5 minutes to speed up the process.
Turn the mold over and tap to release the covered Oreo.

For the eyes (if you do not purchase them), put some melted white candy melts into a zip-top bag and clip a corner.
Put some melted black candy melts into a bag as well, and clip a smaller corner.
On parchment or wax paper, squeeze the white candy melts out into a 3/4″ to 1″ circle.
Use the black candy melts to squeeze a pupil in the center of the white to create a big eyeball.
Allow your eyes to harden up.
Mix a little white into any leftover purple candy melts you have, to make lavender. Put this lighter purple into a zip-top bag and clip a corner.
Squeeze some lavender melts onto the top-middle of the Oreo pop and press an eye on top until the lighter purple squeezes out around the edges.
Pipe a little half-smile under the eye.
Allow everything to harden up.
Tie these up in cute little bags (I LOVE these ones because they fit a covered Oreo perfectly and leave room to tie a ribbon under it!) to make them last longer (they will last 4-6 weeks in tied bags) and ENJOY!!

My thoughts: These turned out exactly as I pictured them in my mind, and I love that they aren’t scary 🙂 Be creative with yours- maybe you need three eyes or a different color? However you decide to make them, I hope you enjoy the process and the results! ~r

Other monster-y recipes you might enjoy:

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Posted in Halloween, Kids recipes, oreo pops and tagged baking, chocolate covered oreos, dessert, food, Halloween dessert, Halloween Oreo Pop, Halloween party idea, monster cookies, monster halloween, Monster Oreo Pop, Oreo pop, oreo pops, recipe, recipes, spooky oreo. Bookmark the permalink.

Gum Ball Machine Oreo Pops

Posted on July 22, 2025 by Ruthanne

These fun little gum ball machines aren’t filled with gum balls, but with a yummy Oreo! Easy to make, these little treats are sure to bring smiles!

It’s no secret that we love to try new versions of Oreo Pops around here. In fact, the very first time I tried making cake pops (an utter, embarrassing failure), I had the thought… maybe I could put a cookie- like an Oreo- on a stick and dip it in chocolate instead! I searched the internet for an example of this and couldn’t find anyone else who’d tried it. Does this mean I invented the Oreo Pop? Maybe. Or I did a bad job on Google searching them! 🙂 In any case, from that day in 2012 on, we have turned all sorts of things into Oreo Pops! The sprinkles were the inspiration for these. Every time I used them, they reminded me of little gum balls! The basics of how to create an Oreo Pop live on in my original recipe. The only thing I have changed is a little freezer time to harden the stick in place before dipping.

Let’s make these! (printable recipe is found here)

INGREDIENTS:

One package of Double Stuf Oreos
2 (12oz.) bags of Wilton White Candy Melts
24 Lollipop sticks (I like the 6-8 inch ones)
Small, round sprinkles (for the gum balls)
Silver dragees (for top knob)
White heart sprinkles (Or you could use squares too- for the coin slot)
Dots Candy (for the stand)

DIRECTIONS: (to see pictures, refer to my original “how-to” post here)

Carefully twist apart all of the Oreo cookies.
Using one of the pop sticks, make an indentation in the white filling of each cookie.
On the rest of the sticks, slide one red Dots candy about an inch down the stick. Yes, it is sticky, and leaves a trail of red on the stick, but this part will go inside the Oreo.
Melt the Candy Melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring until completely melted and smooth.
Dip the end of one stick into the melted white chocolate, drizzle a little in the center of the white cookie filling and then gently press it into the indentation made, making sure that the Dots Candy is right up against the bottom of the cookie.
Place the top of the cookie back on and allow white chocolate to harden (5 minutes or so), cementing the cookie back together with a stick inside. (I like to place all the cookies on a small baking sheet and set them in the freezer for a few minutes to really firm them up before dipping)
Holding the stick, lower the entire Oreo into the bowl of melted white chocolate, spooning it over the top and sides to cover it completely, but being careful to not get too much on the Dots Candy.
Allow the excess chocolate to drain off, and slide the bottom of the cookie against the lip of the bowl to remove excess. Then, gently place the covered Oreo on a piece of parchment paper to harden.
Immediately (before the candy melts harden!), sprinkle the gum ball sprinkles on the bottom half of the Oreo pop, and set a dragee on the top.
Allow the pops to harden completely.
Use a little bit of the melted white candy melts to “glue” the heart sprinkle on the front of the Dots candy. Allow this to harden as well.
Eat and enjoy!!!

My thoughts: I love these little cuties! They make me smile. How fun would a mason jar of these be at a Birthday party?!? You can easily put a cello bag over each pop and tie them with a ribbon to share! I really hope you try these and enjoy them! ~r

Want to try some of our other Oreo Pops? We have a whopping TWENTY FOUR varieties on the blog- plus a couple of cute not-on-a-stick Oreo creations (scroll here to see them all)- but here are just four of my favorites (click on photo to see recipe):

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Posted in Cookies, Easy recipes, Kids recipes, oreo pops, Oreo pops and tagged baking, birthday party ideas, childrens party ideas, chocolate covered oreos, cookies, dessert, edible party favor ideas, gum ball dessert, gum ball oreo pop, Oreo pop, Oreo Pop ideas, oreos on a stick, party favor ideas, recipe, recipes. Bookmark the permalink.

Happy Flower Cookies

Posted on August 22, 2021 by Ruthanne

Flower cookies3

These delicious cookies will make you smile anytime of the year! With a touch of coffee in the cookies, and crunchy chocolate-covered sunflower seeds on top, they are also really delicious!

Flower cookies2

Confession: I made these last spring jotted down the recipe as I created, brought them to a party where they got rave reviews, and then got so busy with summer that I never sat down to share the recipe with you all! So here (finally!) you go!

I absolutely love these cookies. In March, I tweaked my favorite chocolate cut-out cookie to make Bailey’s Irish Cream Cookies. They were soooo yummy that I wanted to keep tweaking them and try a variety without the Baileys. This is the result, and they are such a soft, delicious cut-out cookie. Goodness. They are exceptional at keeping their shape when cut (I just did circles, but you could make these in any shape). I just iced them with royal icing, but the sky is the limit with flavor combinations you could use. This recipe is a keeper in our house! 🙂

Here is the recipe (printable version):

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 20 medium cookies)

Cookies:

1 (1/2 cup)stick of butter (softened)
3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon of half and half
1 Tablespoon of vanilla
2 Tablespoons of instant coffee granules
2 to 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

Icing:

4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon of clear vanilla flavoring
Chocolate-covered sunflower seeds
Round candy pearls

DIRECTIONS:

Cookies:

Cream together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Mix in eggs.
Place half and half and instant coffee granules together in a small cup. Mix until coffee dissolves. Add this mixture to the batter and combine well.
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, to knead into a soft ball of dough).
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter.
Cut into circles (or whatever shape you want!)and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 8 to 11 minutes until the edges are firm.
Gently slide parchment paper off of cookie sheet and onto a flat surface. Cool completely before removing cookies from paper.

Icing:

Beat together all ingredients and add powdered sugar until it becomes a thick glaze consistency.
Place about 1/3 of icing in a zip-top bag fitted with a small round piping tip.
Pipe icing around edges of cookie and allow this to harden.
Add water to remaining icing until it is a little thinner than the edge icing. Place it into a second zip-top bag fitted with a small round piping tip.
Fill center of cookie with icing, spreading it to the edges that have hardened.
Before icing is completely hard, set sunflower seeds and pearl in the shape of a flower.
Allow icing to harden completely.
Enjoy!!!

Flower cookies6

Aren’t they fun??? Once the icing fully hardens on these, you can stack them up without worrying that the icing will get messed up (the joy of royal icing). As you can see… I am no professional at piping a perfect circle… so no worries if you are not experienced- they will still be beautiful! Flower Cookies 1

My thoughts: I’m glad to finally be sharing this with you all! I figured I’d better get this out to you before fall hits and all things are pumpkin and leaves 🙂 I hope you get a chance to try these cookies- I really think you will love them! Enjoy! ~r

Flower cookies4

Since I am so late in sharing this… how about some fun back-to-school/ make your kids smile ideas? Just click a photo to see the recipe!

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Posted in Cookies and tagged chocolate covered sunflower seeds recipe, Coffee cookies, cookie recipe, cookies, cut-out cookies, easter cookies, mothers day cookies, recipe, spring cookies, summer cookie recipe, summer cookies. Bookmark the permalink.

Spiderweb Oreo Pops

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Ruthanne

These web-wrapped Oreos with M&M spiders are not only cute fall treats- but delicious ones!

It’s that time of year again. That time when spiders think it’s too cold outside, and find little cracks around my windows and doors to creep in through. There’s nothing worse than sitting here, innocently blogging about a dessert recipe, only to be shocked by a giant black spider racing out from behind the couch. Seriously- they move so fast!

In any case, I make a lot of spider-themed treats. Maybe because candy spiders are so cute- and they don’t move. These are especially cute little guys- and they are perfect on top of these web-coated Oreos! Plus, as is true with all Oreo pops, you can make them weeks ahead and have them all wrapped in pretty bags and ready for a party. I love recipes like that.

Here is how we made them: (printable recipe available here)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 24 pops)

One box of Double Stuff Oreos
24 lollipop sticks
2 bags of Wilton’s Candy Melts in white
1/4 cup of Wilton’s candy melts in dark chocolate
36-ish dark brown M&Ms (no worries–you can eat the rest of the bag while you work 🙂 )

DIRECTIONS:

Make your spiders 1st.
Melt dark chocolate melts in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until melted and smooth. Spoon into a small zip-top bag and clip a tiny corner off (or use a decorator tip, if you have one).
Pipe spider legs on parchment paper (see photo) and place an M&M in the center. I make more than 24, because the legs sometimes break when you peel them off.

The photos below are from my recipe for Spider Eggs, and some of them are piped on Lindt truffles. You can see how I piped them on parchment paper though.

Let spiders harden while you assemble your Oreos.
Twist apart all of your Oreos.
Melt a small amount of candy melts (<1/4 cup) in the microwave in 3o second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Dip the end of a lollipop stick into the melts, and press into white filling of Oreo. Place other half of cookie back on top and press together.
Place Oreo and stick on a cookie sheet. Repeat this process with remaining Oreos, and then freeze all Oreos until firm (10-15 minutes).
Melt one and a half bags of white Candy Melts using method from above.
Once Oreos are chilled, hold with stick and dip into Candy Melts until completely coated.
Tap on side of bowl to get excess off, and drag across lip of bowl to scrape excess off back of cookie.
Set on parchment paper to harden.
Melt remaining white Candy Melts and place in a zip-top bag. Clip the corner off and drizzle over each Oreo to make a messy web-like pattern.
Immediately place a “spider” on this melted drizzle and allow everything to harden up for at least a couple of hours.
Once hardened, store in an air-tight container or tie up in little cello bags.
Enjoy!!!

My thoughts: *Smile*!!! These are fun little treats- and not too difficult to make. I always love my Oreo pops. One of these days I should put all of them in one post since I’m getting such a large collection of them! I hope you get a chance to try these fun little treats! And I hope they are the only spiders you find in your home this fall!!! ~r

Other spider-y treats found on Easybaked: (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Candy, Cookies and tagged candy, candy melts, chocolate, creepy desserts, creepy recipes, fall, Halloween, Halloween Oreo Pops, M&Ms, oreo pops, Oreos, recipe, spider cookies, Spider pops, Spooky. Bookmark the permalink.

A bowl of eyeball cookies!

Posted on October 15, 2016 by Ruthanne

These delicious little cookies are the perfect creepy treat for October!

Ah…these were fun to make and really fun to share! They definitely gave kids a pause. I heard one little girl say, “Mom- I’m a little scared of those cookies because they are looking at me!”

Love it.

Ok- so these don’t involve baking. You could certainly bake cookies and decorate them this way- but if you are like me and you needed a recipe at 10pm the night before- Nilla Wafers and Ritz crackers will do just fine (and taste GREAT!)

Here is how we put them together (and there is no printable recipe- because there isn’t really a recipe for these- just a technique!)

INGREDIENTS:

Nilla Wafers (and some mini-Nilla wafers, if you’ve got them!)
Ritz crackers
Wilton Candy melts in green, blue, white and black
Candy eyes (although these aren’t technically necessary, since you have the white and black candy melts).

DIRECTIONS:

Melt candy melts, one color at a time, in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until melted and smooth.
Spoon into a zip-top bag and cut a corner off. (Or use a squeeze bottle fitted with a decorating tip if you have one)
Use green to outline the edges of the Ritz crackers and then fill in. Use white to outline and fill in the tops of the Nilla wafers.

Draw eyes of different sizes on the Ritz crackers, using a toothpick to make the tiny pupils in black (use candy eyes if you have them, for one size) I even added some little green blotches on these just to make them more weird.
Use blue and black candy melts to make eyes on the Nilla Wafers.

Let these harden and then serve them up in a fun bowl- or maybe put them in little cello bags and tie them with ribbon!
Enjoy!

My thoughts: Aren’t they fun? You don’t have to be fussy about making them perfect- the crazier the better! Those Ritz crackers are especially yummy with the sweet candy on top. Yum. Enjoy these quick and easy treats!!! ~r

Other creepy recipes for your October: click on a photo to see the recipe.

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Posted in Candy, Cookies and tagged cookies, crackers, dessert, easy fall dessert, eyeball cookies, eyeballs, fall, funny, Halloween, Halloween dessert, nilla wafers, October, recipe, ritz crackers, sweets. Bookmark the permalink.

Cookie Butter Stuffed Oreos

Posted on September 10, 2016 by Ruthanne

A creamy layer of chocolate chip cookie butter is a wonderful surprise inside these easy chocolate cookies!

I may be out of the loop on things, but somehow I missed this whole craze over COOKIE BUTTER. When I was in the Czech Republic about a year ago, my friend Angie (the best gift-giver!) sent me home with a collection of European treats. Nestled in with the coffees and chocolates, there was this jar of “stuff” (all the labels were in Czech) and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I know that peanut butter is hard to find in Eastern and Central Europe- so I knew it wasn’t that- but it was close… it was butter- but not made out of peanuts..made out of COOKIES!!!!! Seriously. I fell in love.

Then I found it at Wal Mart. Here. In Indiana. #smile!!!

So, I’ve been stuffing Oreo Thins with all sorts of things over the past few months. Marshmallows….Key Lime Pie…I can’t stop. I have A LOT more ideas. This is just one more. (Prepare yourself…)

These are simply….delicious. I shouldn’t have been surprised that adding cookie butter to Oreos would create such a yummy combination- but I was. The combination is such a unique flavor- and I’m not kidding you- unbelievably good!

Plus they are SUPER easy to make.

Here’s how we did it: (printable recipe available here)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 25 cookies)

One box of Oreo Thins Chocolate cookies
One jar of crunchy cookie butter (I’ve loved every brand I have tried, but I used Lotus for these)
One cup of mini chocolate chips
One and 1/2 bags of Wilton’s Candy melts in dark chocolate
A little bit of milk chocolate candy melts to make stripes on top (or any sort of sprinkles you’d like to add to make these for any season!)

DIRECTIONS:

Set half of Oreo cookies on a small tray or sheet that will fit in your freezer.
Mix jar of cookie butter and mini chips in a small bowl.
Scoop or spoon cookie butter on top of each Oreo and press a second Oreo on top to make a sandwich.

Freeze for about 30 minutes.
Melt Candy Melts in microwave, in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.
Take 3 or 4 cookies at a time out of freezer and carefully dip in melted chocolate, using a fork to tap excess chocolate off and sliding the bottom of the cookie along the edge of the bowl to remove excess from the bottom.

Set on parchment paper to harden.
Add sprinkles (if desired) before chocolate hardens, or after it hardens, drizzle or pipe a little bit of contrasting chocolate across the top of each cookie.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: Mmmmmmm! These cookies were eaten up so fast- and I got back so much positive feedback on them- everyone loved them! The only tricky part might be dipping them (if you haven’t dipped things in chocolate before). The trick is to tap off excess chocolate and to remove excess off the bottom. If you aren’t feeling confident in your dipping skills, try just dipping half of the cookie and leaving half of that yummy cookie butter visible! I hope you get a chance to try these!!! Enjoy!! ~R

More delicious Oreo ideas! (Click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Candy, Cookies, Easy recipes and tagged chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate cookies, chocolate dipped cookies, Chocolate dipped Oreos, Christmas cookies, Cookie Butter, Cookie butter recipe, cookie ideas, cookie recipe, cookies, dessert, dessert recipe, Fall Cookie recipe, oreo ideas, Oreo Thins, Oreo This recipe ideas, Oreos, recipe, unique cookie recipe. Bookmark the permalink.

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.

Apple Oreo Pops!

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Ruthanne

These adorable Oreo pops are a perfect back-to-school treat. Add hearts to send a little love in the lunchbox- or some worms to get a few giggles!

I hate to even say the words….but fall is coming. I love summer so much, that when I start to see school busses out on the roads I just cringe. Fall has some pretty fun foods though….! One of our family-favorites is apples. I grew up in Michigan, and we have the best fall apples. I loved trips to the orchard to get cider and doughnuts- and these little Oreo pops are perfect to kick off the fall season.

You can make them with hearts and tie them up in cello bags to send a little love…

Or you can add a few caramel worms to your apples to give them an extra “Ewwww” feel- maybe for Halloween?? 🙂

Either way, these are an easy and fun fall treat that keeps for weeks when wrapped up in a cello bag.

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

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 24 pops)

One box of Double Stuf Oreos
24 lollipop sticks
2 bags of Wilton’s Candy Melts in red, yellow or green
About 5 tootsie rolls
About 1/4 cup of fondant, colored green (you can make a small batch of this or just purchase a box of Wilton’s)
A leaf cookie or fondant cutter
Heart sprinkles (as desired to decorate)
5-10 Kraft caramels to make worms if desired.

DIRECTIONS:

(if you have never made an Oreo Pop before, our how-to is here)

Twist apart all of your Oreos.
Melt a small amount of candy melts (<1/4 cup) in the microwave in 3o second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Dip the end of a lollipop stick into the melts, and press into white filling of Oreo. Place other half of cookie back on top and press together.
Place Oreo and stick on a cookie sheet. Repeat this process with remaining Oreos, and then freeze all Oreos until firm (10-15 minutes).
While Oreos chill, make stems, leaves and decorations.
Make stems by rolling tootsie rolls out and cutting into short pieces.
Take colored fondant and roll it out. Use leaf-shaped cutter to cut out 24 leaves.

If you want wormy apples, simply unwrap a caramel, roll it out into a thin rope using clean hands, and press little lines in it using a small knife or toothpick. Cut them into little pieces to add as if they are crawling out of each apple.

Melt one bag of Candy Melts using method from above.
Once Oreos are chilled, hold with stick and dip into Candy Melts until completely coated.
Tap on side of bowl to get excess off, and drag across lip of bowl to scrape excess off back of cookie.
Set on parchment paper to harden.
Immediately set a tootsie roll stem on the top, along with a leaf.
Add any other decorations (hearts? worms…?)
Melt and use second bag of Candy Melts when you are finished with the first one.
Allow Oreos to harden up (at least an hour) before tying each one up in a bag (or putting them in an air-tight container for storage).
Enjoy!

My thoughts: You just can’t go wrong with Oreo Pops. They are one of my favorite things to make because you have fun treats handy for awhile afterward! These are pretty easy- you might hesitate a little with using fondant if you have never used it before- but you should just give it a try! I don’t cover cakes in it or anything crazy- but I like it for little decorations here and there. My recipe and some tips are here. Otherwise just buy a box of the white fondant! It doesn’t taste as good, but for the little bit you are adding here, it doesn’t matter. I really hope you get a chance to try these! Happy almost-fall to you! ~r

More apple-y ideas here on Easybaked: (click on the photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Cake Pops, Candy, Cookies and tagged Apple Oreo pops, Apples with worms, back-to school dessert, best, caramel worms, chocolate, dessert, desserts for fall, edible gifts, Edible worms, fall dessert, fondant leaves, lunchbox recipes, oreo pops, Oreo pops for school, recipe, wormy apple dessert. Bookmark the permalink.

Key Lime Layer Cookies

Posted on July 30, 2016 by Ruthanne

Layers of cookie, key lime pie filling, and white chocolate make these an irresistibly refreshing summer treat!

So. You know those new “healthier” Oreo Thins cookies? I found a way to make them unhealthy. Still a reasonable indulgence, but not the super-low calorie tiny sliver of a cookie they were created to be.

I present: Key Lime Layer Cookies!!!!

Creamy Key Lime filling sandwiched between two Oreo Thins and dipped in white chocolate. YUM!!! These are incredibly easy to put together and such a delicious, creative, and beautiful treat!

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

INGREDIENTS: (makes 20 cookies)

3/4 cup of key lime juice (I squeezed ’em!)
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 package of Oreo Thins in vanilla
1 bag of Wilton’s Candy Melts in white
Colored sugar (if desired for decorating)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Combine lime juice, condensed milk and egg together in a small mixing bowl.
Pour into a small baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
Spoon into a cool bowl and chill in freezer for 30 minutes to cool.
While cooling, set 1/2 box of vanilla Oreo Thins out on a baking sheet that will fit into your freezer.
After lime filling is chilled, stir and spoon into a large zip-top bag. Clip a corner off and pipe filling on top of each Oreo- not quite going to the edges.
Gently set an Oreo Thin on top of the filling. Don’t press too hard or the filling will come out on the edges. Use up all the cookies in the box.

Gently slide this baking sheet into the freezer and freeze for 1 hour.
Melt Wilton’s Candy Melts in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Take chilled cookie and place it into melted chocolate. Quickly spoon over the top and sides.
Lift the cookie with a fork and tap on side of bowl until excess drips away. Slide bottom edge of cookie along side of bowl to get rid of excess on bottom and set on parchment paper to harden.
Repeat with remaining cookies. You may want to keep cookies in freezer before dipping, and only take maybe 4 or 5 out at a time to work on.
Decorate as desired. If you want sugar sprinkles, add these before the candy melts harden back up.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are easy and fun to make, and they keep for up to a week in the fridge! You will have a little pie filling left at the end, but you could get a little more white chocolate and a few more cookies to use it up -if you want. I’d guess you would have enough filling for another 8-10 cookies. Another helpful hint- make sure these are cold when you dip them, and don’t linger and let them sit for a long time in that melted chocolate. Sprinkle sugar on top while they are still melted. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!! ~r