Chocolate Caramel Candies aka homemade snickers bars

I historically have made myself sick over eating an abundance of these rich little candies every Christmas and I still haven't learned my lesson. These are SO delicious. I suppose for the average person these are extremely rich and half a piece is probably sufficient, but I could eat these all day all season long!

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home:
Ingredients:

Bottom Layer
-1 Cup Milk chocolate chips
-1/4 Cup butterscotch chips
-1/4 Cup peanut butter
Filling
-1/4 Cup Butter
-1 Cup sugar
-1/4 Cup evaporated milk
-1.5 C Marshmallow creme
-1/4 peanut butter
-1 teaspoon vanilla
Caramel Layer
-1 14oz package caramels
-1/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
Top Layer
-1 Cup milk chocolate chips
-1/4 Cup butterscotch chips
-1/4 Cup creamy peanut butter

1. line a 9"x13" pan with foil sprayed with non-stick spray.
2. In a double boiler combine the 'Bottom layer' ingredients until melted and smooth. Pour into the pan and place in refrigerator to set.
3. In a double boiler melt butter over medium heat. Add sugar and evaporated milk until gently boiling. Reduce heat to medium low and boil and stir for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in marshmallow cream, peanut butter, and vanilla. Spread over first layer, refrigerate until set.
4. In a double boiler combine the caramels and cream. Stir over medium low heat until melted and smooth. Pour over marshmallow layer and refrigerate until set.
5. In a double boiler combine all 'Top layer' ingredients and stir until melted and smooth. Pour over caramel layer and refrigerate until set. Once set, cover and refrigerate over night.
6. Remove foil from pan and cut into 1" squares.

Angel Food Candy, Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles, White Chocolate Haystacks

We had a lovely work holiday party last night and I of course offered to make some candies for the occassion. In addition to a copius amount of chocolate caramel candies I also brought some other old favorites, Angel food candy and White Chocolate Haystacks (that my Grandma Vi had at every Christmas) and a new endeavor/favorite- chocolate hazelnut truffles.

Angel Food Candy- recipe from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Dark Corn Syrup
1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar (or any white vinegar)
1 Tablespoon Baking soda
1 12 oz package semisweet chocolate chips (i also threw in some leftover butterscotch chips)

1. Butter a 9"x13" baking dish
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat combine the sugar, corn syrup, and vinegar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Heat without stirring until the mixture reaches 300-310° or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda. Pour into prepared pan and do not spread. Allow to cool completely
4. In a double boiler melt chocolate chips stirring constantly until smooth. Break candy into pieces and coat with the chocolate. Place pieces on a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles- recipe from Taste of Home
Ingredients:
-3/4 Cup powdered sugar
-2 Tablespoons cocoa
-4 milk chocolate candy bars (1.55oz each)
-6 Tablespoons butter
-1/4 Cup heavy whipping cream
-1 Cup ground hazelnuts

1. In a large bowl whisk together the powdered sugar and cocoa. Set aside. In a double boiler melt the butter and candy bars. Add heavy cream and reserved sugar/cocoa mixture. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until mixture is thickened and smooth. Pour into an 8" square dish. cover and refridgerate at least 5 hours.2. Using a melon baller or spoon, shape candy into 1" balls and roll into crushed hazelnuts. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

1st is the worst, 2nd is the best....

In the past seven days my baked goodies have been in two different competitions. The first was an apple pie bake-off at my office. I think I have only baked one apple pie prior to this so I was pretty nervous. So nervous in fact that I did a trial run earlier in the week just to make sure my skills were up to par. The verdict of the bake-off, 2nd place, losing by 1 measly vote! However, I'm calling it a tie. Later in the day my office manager spilled the beans that she voted for my pie, but then decided not to count her vote. It was also declared that my crust was the best, yay! I think next time around all I would need to do is amp up my filling a bit with some more spices or a surprise.....the winning pie had craisins mixed it, admittedly, it was very tasty.

The second bake-off was a cookie bake-off at Bethaney's clinic. We decided to make S'mores cookies and they were awesome! A little graham cracker added to a simple chocolate chip cookie dough and some marshmallows on top, yum! They were very easy to make, but transporting them from cookie sheet to parchment paper proved to be extremely tricky. The dough really spreads thin and they fall apart if you take them off too quickly, but are really tough to get off the cookie sheet if you wait to long. Something about these cookies being thin and chewy makes them really delicious though. So, this was another 2nd place treat, the winner being some sort of brownie cookie. In my eyes a brownie beats a cookie most of the time so I can't complain, but perhaps I could question whether or not it was cookie enough to be in the competition.

Ah well, I'm a novice at baking and competing in bake-offs so I will take my 2nd places with pride and hope for the best with future entries. Here are a couple of solid delicious recipes:


Apple Pie (adapted from The Elegant Farmer):
Ingredients:
Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into pieces
1/3 cup ice water (I ended up using a couple more tablespoons than this)


Filling:
2 Granny Smith apples/3 Honey Crisp apples, peeled, cored, and thickly sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces


Directions:
1.Make the Crust: combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter until pea-sized pieces appear. Add the water and continue to cut in a few more times—it will still look crumbly. Transfer the crumbs to 2 pieces of parchment paper or foil and form into 2 disks. Wrap the discs with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
2.On a work surface lightly dusted with flour, roll out 1 disk to a circle about 1/8-inch thick. Keep rolling until the circle is at least 2 inches larger than your 9" pan. Line the pie pan with the dough, letting the edge hang over a bit. Roll the second disk, place it on a sheet pan and chill it until you're ready to build your pie.
3.Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.
4.Make the Filling: In a medium bowl, toss the apple slices, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg together. Transfer to the pie shell and dot with the remaining butter. Brush the overhanging edges of the dough with water. Carefully cover with the rolled-out top crust and pinch the edges together, turning them under all around to make a thick edge. To decorate the rim, press it all around with the back of a fork, or just pinch it to seal. With a scissors, cut a few V-vents in the center.
5. Slide the pie into the brown paper bag and fold the top down. Staple bag shut and place it on a sheet pan. Bake for 1 hour.
6.Remove the pie from the oven and cut a large circle in top of the bag. Return to the oven and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 15 minutes more.


Let the pie cool at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.


 
S'mores Cookies (recipe adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod) makes 4 dozen:
Ingredients:
1-1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 Cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups mini marshmallows
3 Hershey bars, chopped

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, & salt.
3. In a large bowl beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beat until combined.
4. Slowly beat in the flour mixture, about 3 additions, until smooth.
5. Drop small tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 8 minutes, remove and push 3-4 marshmallows and 3-4 pieces of chocolate onto each cookie. Place back into oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes. Remove and cool on parchment paper.

Grandma Vi's White Chocolate Haystacks

I happen to think that white chocolate is very misunderstood and people should give it more of a chance. I will say that if you are in the mood for chocolate it probably isn't going to do the trick, but on it's own it's so sweet and delicious.

My cousin Becky came to visit (and deliver my car to me!) the other weekend and I made sure to have all the fixin's to make one of her favorite treats that our Grandma Vi used to make. I did run a little short on peanut butter so we had to add a little maple flavored almond butter, which was a nice little twist on the original. Side note: if you have never tried any of Justin's natural peanut, almond, or hazelnut butter you really should, they are simply delicious!

These are so quick to throw together and will disappear in mere moments because even though they have a crunch they just melt in your mouth. If you are still opposed to giving white chocolate a shot I suppose you could use dark chocolate, milk chocolate , or butterscotch chips instead.

Ingredients:

-12oz White Chocolate

-1 Cup Peanut Butter

-2 Cups Mini Marshmallows

-4 Cups Chow Mein Noodles (or just shy of a 12oz bag)

Directions:

1. Melt white chocolate and peanut butter over double boiler or in the microwave

2. Pour chocolate/peanut butter mixture over chow mein noodles and stir in marshmallows. Gently combine.

3. Spoon clusters onto wax paper and let cool.

Birthday Brownie Marshmallow Crisp Bars

Happy Birthday to me! To celebrate the step into my late twenties, ahhh, I wanted to bring a b-day treat into the office. Having a summer birthday I never had a chance to bring in birthday treats for my classmates, so now my co-workers can reap the benefits of my over-compensating for long lost birthdays. A couple of weekends ago my Aunt Judy made a most delicious treat for my cousin's graduation party and I have been itchin' to re-create it. And one of the best parts about this brownie bar was that I didn't even have to go to the grocery store. I have finally hit a tipping point in my venture where I just happen to have a healthy stock of ingredients.

Ingredients:

Brownie Layer:

-1/2 (1 stick) room temperature butter

-3/4 C Sugar

-1 teaspoon Vanilla

-2 Eggs

-3/4 C Flour

-2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder

-pinch of salt

Marshmallow Layer:

-2 Cups mini-marshmallows

Chocolate Crunch Layer:

-1 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (don't be afraid to overfill the measuring cup a bit)

-1 Cup Peanut Butter

-2 Cups Crispy Rice Cereal (once again, I'm diggin' the store brand cereal)

Directions:

1. Beat together butter and sugar

2. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time.

3. mix together dry ingredients and then mix into the egg mixture until combined.

4. Pour mixture into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes.

5. Sprinkle marshmallows over top of brownies and bake an additional 3 minutes.

6. Lightly spread the marshmallows with a butter knife and let cool.

7. In a double boiler melt chocolate chips and peanut butter over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in cereal.

8. Gently spread chocolate peanut butter mixture over marshmallow layer and cool in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before cutting into bars.

Chocolate Haystack Surprises

I have recently tread into the dangerous waters of co-workers expecting treats. I do love to bake and am happy to share with my work peeps, but I'm not quite sure how I feel about the random visits that are purely to check out if I'm harboring a baked good.....for now I'll just be flattered that people like my treats and keep my fingers crossed that they don't get angry when their blood sugar gets too low. I decided to whip up these chocolate haystacks last Friday to satisfy the sweet tooth's in my office and start everyone's weekends off right. There are a lot of things to choose from for the 'surprise' in the haystack, but this time I went for marshmallow's.....not only did I have some left over from the 'Disaster Bars', but I LOVE marshmallows! This is also a great summertime recipe since you don't have to turn on the oven. You will need some refrigerator space to cool the chocolate and 'set' the haystacks. I hope you enjoy my super technical 3 step recipe!

Ingredients:

-1- 12oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

-1/4 C butterscotch chips

- 1 C mini marshmallows

-7 C chow mein noodles

1. In a double boiler melt the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips over low heat.

2. Pour over chow mein noodles and marshmallows.

3. Scoop stacks onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets and cool.

Disaster (Waiting to Happen) Bars

I have been putting a lot of thought into the next mail order treat that I was going to make, and since I can't afford to send things overnight, I have to come up with things that will ship well and stay delicious for 3-5 days. I thought these layer cookie bars may be the answer.......with the only dry ingredients being crushed up nilla wafers and cocoa and everything soaked in sweetened condensed milk, these may be a bit over board (I am trying to avoid using the word moist, because I hate it, but the more I bake the more I realize I may have to come to terms with the word. If anyone has a good synonym please let me know). I have named them 'Disaster Waiting to Happen Bars' because I figure one of three things will happen.

1. They will arrive in perfect condition and be delicious

2. They will meld into giant bars that will still be delicious but only edible by eating out of the container with a fork.

3. A goopy disaster will arrive that could only be served as perhaps an ice cream topping at your own risk.

After getting rave reviews on my 'skilz' from the Bike and Build crew I am slightly nervous to send such a questionable goodie, but it's really the thought that counts, And how picky can people be that are biking 90 miles a day and building houses on their days off?

I will have to update you all on how these bars arrive. However, if I wasn't shipping them I would just rate them as a darn right tasty treat.

Ingredients:

-3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
-1-3/4 cups nilla wafer crumbs
-6 tablespoons cocoa
-1/4 cup sugar
-1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
-1 cup dark chocolate chips

-3/4 cup toffee bits
-1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Melt butter in 13x9x2-inch baking pan in oven. Combine crumbs, cocoa and sugar; sprinkle over butter.

2. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly on top of crumb mixture. Top with chocolate chips and toffee bits; press down firmly.

3. Bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle marshmallows on top, Bake additional 5-6 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

I want S'more!

One lazy afternoon a few weeks ago I came across an easy recipe for S'mores cookie bars on Baking Bites and have been waiting for a good opportunity to make these for a group. Since I got back from Austin on Saturday night and had a not so productive day on Sunday, I needed a quick dessert to make for a girls dinner on Monday night. The cookie dough was super simple and assembling the chocolate and marshmallow fluff was done in a snap. The toughest part about this one was my lack of equipment (i.e. I don't have a food processor or rolling pin) so I had to crush the graham cracker crumbs with the outside of my 'adjust-a-cup' measuring cup. That still only took about 30 seconds, so I think I will be making this one anytime I need a quick, gooey treat. This will probably be the first of many pictures that is less than appealing due to my remembering I need to document my creations after the roomies and I have already dug in. We only do this to make sure they are not poison before bringing them to a gathering......

S’Mores Cookie Bars

-1/2 cup butter, room temperature

-1/4 cup brown sugar

-1/2 cup sugar

-1 large egg

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

-3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs*

-1 tsp baking powder

-1/4 tsp salt

-2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)

-1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick.Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff.Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned.Cool completely before cutting into bars

Makes 16 cookie bars.
*Note: 3/4 cup crumbs is approx 7 full-sized graham cracker sheets