Collection of Caramel Desserts

The Captain and I recently discovered the deliciousness of homemade caramel and we are in love with just about anything that includes caramel.

Well, I felt like I had hit the jackpot when I visited one of my favorite food blogs, Something Swanky . . . a collection of 80 caramel desserts . . . every type of dessert you can imagine.

Click here to go to the article . . . 

Click here to go to a collection of caramel candy recipes.

Golden Caramel Cheesecake Bars

Two of my favorite things . . . cheesecake and caramel . . . these cheesecake bars have got to be awesome with that combination!

The recipe is courtesy of Philadelphia Cream Cheese.

If you want to attempt to make a lighter version, Philadelphia Cream Cheese with no fat is a great substitute. I'm very picky about "no fat" items and it passed my test.

Ingredients:

• 24 Golden OREO Cookies, divided
• 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
• 25 KRAFT Caramels (1/2 of 14-oz. bag)
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 jar (7 oz.) JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme
• 1 egg

Instructions:
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Place 14 of the cookies in food processor container; cover. Process until finely crushed. Mix with butter; press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch square baking pan. Bake 10 min. or until golden brown. Cool 10 min.

PLACE caramels and water in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 min. or until caramels are completely melted, stirring every 30 sec. Set aside. Coarsely chop remaining 10 cookies. Beat cream cheese and marshmallow creme in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add egg; mix well. Stir in chopped cookies; pour over crust. Drop spoonfuls of the caramel mixture over batter; swirl gently with knife for marble effect.

BAKE 20 to 25 min. or until center is set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Cut into 20 bars. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.


Click here for the Nutritional Information




Source: Philadelphia Cream Cheese Facebook Fan Page

Salted Caramel Recipe

Salted Caramel is great sauce for so many things!  

My favorite is popcorn or ice cream :)

This recipe for Salted Caramel is courtesy of Carla Hall, The Chew.

ingredients

• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 6 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt

Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan. As soon as the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring.

As soon as the sugar crystals have melted (and the sugar is dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted, then remove from heat.

Slowly add the sour cream and continue to whisk to incorporate. Add the salt. Whisk until the caramel is smooth. Let cool in pan for a couple of minutes before pouring it into a mason jar. Let cool to room temperature. Store in fridge for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

Do you really think it would last 2 weeks?

Chocolate Caramel Bars

Love the combination of chocolate and caramel!

I'm craving chocolate tonight, so my recipe searches are gravitating towards these type of sinful sweets.  

Don't these look awesome?  The recipe and photo originates from Roxana's Home Baking, one of my favorite food blogs!  You must check it out for more delicious recipes from Roxana.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (56 grams) diced cold butter
• 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
• 1 cup (80 grams) cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (168 grams) melted butter
• 5 oz (1 small) can evaporated milk
• 14 oz caramels, unwrapped
• 1 1/2 cups (226 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 12-14 extra caramels

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350F.
2. Line a 13X9 baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. In a food processor add the flour and cold diced butter. Pulse a few more times until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs and all the butter is cut in. You can also use a pastry blender, a fork or rub the butter and flour with your hands.
4. Add the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and whisk to combine.
5. In a large mixing bowl add the dry ingredients mix and pour the melted butter on top. Add 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk and mix until well combined. The dough it's going to be similar to a light crumby cookie dough.
6. Spread 2/3 of the dough in the prepared baking pan and set aside. Refrigerate the remaining dough until needed.
7. In a small saucepan place the remaining evaporated milk and the unwrapped caramels. Stir continuously over low heat until the caramels are melted. Pour over the cookie dough base.
8. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the caramel layer.
9. Take the remaining cookie dough out of the fridge and crumble it on top of the chocolate chips.
10. Top with the remaining caramels.
11. Bake for 25 minutes.
12. It may seem bubbly and undone but once cooled the caramel and chocolate layers will set.
13. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into bars.

Photo and Recipe Source: Roxana's Home Baking

Roxana's notes about this recipe . . .  After you mix the cake mix with the evaporated milk and melted butter it yields around 3 cups. The recipe suggested to spread half of the dough in the baking pan and the remaining half to be used as a streusel topping. I think it would be better to reserve around 3/4 to 1 cup of dough for the topping to leave room for the caramel and chocolate to ooze out a little bit more. 

Caramel Cashew Chewies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 pkg. (14 ozs.) caramels
1/3 cup half-and-half
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks
1 cup salted cashew halves, chopped



Directions:

In a large bowl, cream the butter and the brown sugar.

Beat in the egg.

Stir in the flour and the oats.

Press into a 13 x 9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350 F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the caramels and the cream.
Cook over low heat for 4-5 minutes or until the caramels are melted.
Stir occasionally.

Pour over the crust. Sprinkle with the chocolate chunks and the cashews.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the chocolate is melted.

Cool on a wire rack before cutting. Makes 3 dozen depending on size cut.


Recipe Source: Taste Of Home - Amber Kieffer

Caramel Cream Sandwich Cookies

Cookies:
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg yolk
2 cups flour

Frosting:
2 tbsp butter (do not use margarine)
1 1/4 cups powdered sygar
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 to 5 tsp milk

In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar and 1 cup butter with an electric mixer on medium speed. Scrape the bowl occasionally until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg yolk.

On low speed, beat in the flour until well blended.

If necessary, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes for easier handling.

Heat the oven to 325 F.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With a fork dipped in flour, flatten each ball to 1 1/2 inches round.

Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool for 1 minute. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a 2-quart saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat, stirring constantly, until light golden brown. Remove from the heat. Stir in the remaining frosting ingredients. Add enough milk until smooth and spreadable. Spread 1 teaspoon of frosting between the bottoms of pairs of cooled cookies.

Makes 30 sandwich cookies



Recipe Source: Pillsbury Bake-Off - Helen Beckman

Colorful Caramel Bites

1 cup + 6 Tbs. flour, divided
1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats, uncooked
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, melted
1-3/4 cups "M&M's" semi-sweet chocolate mini baking bits, divided
1-1/2 cups chopped pecans, divided
12 oz. jar caramel ice cream topping

Heat oven to 350.

Combine 1 cup flour, oats, sugar, baking soda and salt;
blend in melted butter to form crumbly mixture.

Press half the crumb mixture onto bottom of 9x9 inch baking pan;
bake 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with 1 cup "M&M's" baking bits and 1 cup nuts.

Blend remaining 6 Tbs. flour with caramel topping; pour over top.

Combine remaining crumb mixture, remaining 3/4 cup "M&M's" and remaining 1/2
cup nuts; sprinkle over caramel layer.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool completely.

Cut into squares. Makes 36 bars.


Source: Favorite Brand Name 100 Best Bake Sale Recipes