Caramel Pumpkin Oatmeal Squares

  

 Here's an easy dessert that is perfect for all your little ghouls and goblins. Firstly, it's what I call a "picky uppy" dessert, which means you can just grab it and go. And secondly, the recipe uses one of my favorite techniques: one dough is used for the bottom crust as well as the topping! That just makes things so much easier. And they're delicious! Sort of like a cross between a pumpkin square and an oatmeal cookie. It comes together pretty easily too. 

Definitely keep this recipe readily available the next time you're feeling like a picky uppy pumpkin treat!

 

2 c. flour

2 c. old fashioned oats

1 1/2 c firmly packed light brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 cup (2 stick) butter, melted

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla extract

7 oz (1/2 of 14-ounce package) caramels, unwrapped

2 tbs milk 

 

 

Preheat oven to 350°F. 

Mix flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices in large bowl. Add butter; stir until mixture is well blended and forms coarse crumbs. Reserve 1/2 (about 2 1/4 cups) for the topping. Add pumpkin and vanilla to remaining mixture in bowl; stir until well blended. Press evenly into bottom of greased foil-lined 13x9-inch baking pan. Set aside.

Microwave caramels and milk in medium microwavable bowl on HIGH 2 to 3 minutes or until caramels are completely melted, stirring after every minute. Let stand 1 minute. Pour over pumpkin mixture in pan, spreading to within 1/2-inch of edges. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Lift from pan. Cut into bars.

Tips:

This recipe is from McCormick. Ya know, the spice people. And I'm sure they're very excited to have you use cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. But I like to just use a tbs of pumpkin pie spice blend. It's just easier. Usually I make my own, which also includes allspice, but you can also buy it already blended. And I always add more than the recipe says. But you do you! 

Apple Dapple Cake

 Have you ever heard of an Apple Dapple Cake? I must confess that until very recently, I had never heard  of it, but apparently it's a thing. Who knew? I searched and searched for the origin of the recipe, but unfortunately didn't find many answers. All I could find is that it's an old-timey recipe that has been around for decades, and everyone's Grandmom had her own version of it. Works for me!

It's basically an apple cake with chopped nuts and a caramel glaze. Sounds amazing, right? I found many versions, and all of them were very similar. There was only a slight variation here and there. Some use walnuts, some use pecans, one even added shredded sweetened coconut (which I wouldn't mind at all). It also seemed that everyone had a different version of the caramel glaze that gets poured over the top. Another variation in all of the recipes was the kind of pan in which it was baked. Some used a tube pan, some used a bundt pan, some used a 9x13 pan. I decided to use the tube pan because it reminded me of the apple cake my Mom always made. And as much as I usually don't like using a 9x13 pan for cakes, I can see how using one for this recipe might be the smartest choice. It would work kind of like a poke cake, where you pour the glaze over a still-warm cake, and then let it sink in. YUM.

 I chose this recipe from a blog called A Family Feast. And it's delicious! The diced apples make it SO moist and the nuts added a little extra crunch. And the caramel turned out really buttery and decadent. AMAZING. Also it's a really easy cake to make! Honestly, I think dicing the apples is the hardest part. You can handle that, right??  I will definitely be making this cake again. I think you should too!

Cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 whole eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large Granny Smith apples (about 1 3/4 pound)
1 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped

Glaze:
3 tbs butter
3 tbs brown sugar
3 tbs granulated sugar
3 tbs heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking pan.
Preheat oven to 325ºF. Place rack in upper third of the oven. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl then sift a second time. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix vegetable oil with both sugars until well mixed. With mixer running, add one egg at a time and once mixed, add vanilla and mix and scrape the bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients with mixer running on low. Scrape the bowl again and mix. Peel, core and cut the apples into bite sized pieces and fold into the batter. Fold the walnuts into the batter then spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake in top third of the oven for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, put all glaze ingredients into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil and stir with a wooden spoon continuously for one minute. Remove from heat and pour over the top of the warm cake.

 

Tips:
Full disclosure, I didn’t sift the dry ingredients as the recipe directs. I just whisked them all together in a bowl. And, like I said, I didn’t use a 9x13 pan.
I used pecans  and honey crisp apples instead of walnuts and granny smith apples, Why? Because I like them better! You do you!

 

Creamy Caramel Flan

 This is one of those dishes that I made literally YEARS ago, but then never got around to posting. In fact, it was so long ago, I couldn't even remember which recipe I used. Luckily, my sister Cathy remembered getting the recipe from her friend, Marcy. It's actually quite popular because I've seen it on several websites. Clearly this one is a winner! 
 The custard is silky smooth, the caramel hits all the right sweet and bitter notes that you want and expect from a home made caramel, and the whole thing just SCREAMS special occasion! It's really not difficult to make, so go ahead and try it! I promise you'll impress everyone!




3/4 cup sugar
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
5 large eggs
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


 Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In a small, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, cook sugar, stirring, until golden.  Pour into a 10" round baking dish, tilting to coat bottom and sides.  Set aside. Put a kettle of water on to boil so it is ready when you need it for the hot water bath. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated.  Beat in condensed and evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth.  Pour into caramel coated pan.  Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel.  Place baking dish on towel inside roasting pan and place roasting pan on oven rack.  Fill roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the baking dish.  Bake in preheated oven 50-60 minutes, until center is just set.  Cool one hour on wire rack then chill in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.  To unmold, run a knife around edges of pan and invert on a serving platter. 




Tips:
First and foremost, be VERY careful when melting sugar. It is LAVA HOT, so make sure the little ones are occupied and entertained elsewhere in the house whenever you make caramel.
Instead of just throwing the sugar into a dry pan (which can sometimes burn too quickly), try adding a few tablespoons of water to the sugar. It gives you a little insurance, because the water will take some time to evaporate, and then you can control how dark you want your caramel to be. Instead of stirring the sugar, (which can cause it to crystallize), just swirl the pan around in a circular motion until it turns a lovely dark golden color. Once it starts to darken in color, it goes pretty quickly, so keep a constant eye on it, and immediately remove it from the heat when you reach the perfect caramel color!
 

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cookies

  Ok, I know I've said this before, but I have to say it again. I've never met a salted caramel ANYTHING that I didn't like. There's just simply nothing better than the combination of salty and sweet that you get from the simple addition of salt to a rich creamy gooey caramel. So when I was looking for chocolate desserts and happened to find this one on a blog called Gimme Some Oven, I knew I had to try it. (Full disclosure, I love that name and I wish I had thought of it! haha)
 These cookies taste as rich and delicious as a gooey caramel brownie. And that little pinch of salt over the top just sets everything off in the most perfect way. Enjoy them with a tall glass of ice-cold milk, and you'll be living your best life. I'm not even kidding. Bake up a batch or two, and I PROMISE you'll be a hit!



1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (or dark chocolate cocoa powder)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (11 oz.) bag Kraft caramel bits
1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
coarse sea salt



Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the caramel bits and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Press each cookie down slightly to flatten, then sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.



Tips:
Very often when baking cookies or a cake, the first step is to beat the butter and sugar together. I always make sure to let it go for much longer than you'd think, just so that it really comes together to make a creamy texture. It's been my experience that letting it go for at least 5 minutes is a complete game changer in all of my baking!
Instead of greasing the cookie sheet, I just lined it with a sheet of parchment paper. It's seriously a cookie baker's best friend. And you don't have to use a new piece every time you go into the oven. You can reuse a sheet many times!
Oh, one other thing...I didn't press mine down to flatten before baking as the recipe directs. TBH, every time I bake cookies they wind up being a little on the flat side, so I was happy that these came out perfectly just by dropping them with a cookie scooper.

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Cobbler

  In my never ending search for pumpkin recipes, I happened to find this one, which also falls right in line with my love of slow cookers. I was looking for recipes that could be deemed "Thanksgiving worthy", and I found this on a blog called The Gunny Sack. First and foremost, it's absolutely delicious. And as an added bonus, it uses the slow cooker, which frees up your oven for other things. That certainly sounds Thanksgiving worthy to me! And it's also so easy that any cooking novice can make it. The blog described it as "pumpkin pie without the crust", but I think it's so more than that. It's rich and decadent and screams for vanilla ice cream and/or caramel sauce. You should definitely consider this for your next holiday meal!
Ok so lets talk about the recipe for a hot sec.
I've listed the recipe and directions as I found them on the blog. But here's the thing.. Just like with many "Dump Cake" recipes, the dry cake mix is supposed to be just sprinkled over the top, and NOT stirred in. However, it's been my experience that sometimes the butter doesn't reach all of the cake mix and I'm left with powdery pockets of dry cake mix on top. My solution is to mix the cake mix with the melted butter to form a dough, chill it for a quick 10 minutes so it firms up a bit, and then crumble the dough over the top. Problem solved!

3 eggs 

29 oz can of pumpkin puree   

12 oz evaporated milk 

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger 

1/2 tsp salt  

1 tsp pure vanilla

1 box butter pecan cake mix  

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup melted butter

Beat the eggs slightly. Add the pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, sugars, cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla. Pour the mixture into a greased slow cooker. Top with the powdered cake mix and sprinkle with brown sugar. Drizzle melted butter evenly over the top. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Tips:
 When I served this, it was still piping hot, and therefore very soupy (which was not altogether a bad thing). It will set up more as it cools, just like any other custard. I think the sweet spot is where it's not piping hot, but still a bit warm. Then it's set up a little, but still good with ice cream!

I couldn't find butter pecan cake mix, so I just used a regular butter cake mix, and then topped it with a couple handfuls of chopped pecans. Use any kind of cake mix you like! Spice cake, white, yellow, even carrot. Btw, the added texture of the pecans was just the perfect thing! Just sayin'!
Also, I just used 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice blend instead of the cinnamon and ginger. All good! 

Side note, I think I may cut back on the butter just a bit next time. Maybe cut it to just 1/2 cup.

Here's a tip from 365 Days of Slow Cooking, which was passed on by The Gunny Sack: 

To keep the top of the cobbler from becoming too soggy, place a tea towel or a couple pieces of paper towel over the slow cooker, and then place the lid on top. This prevents any condensation from dripping back into the cobbler!

Caramel Pumpkin Poke Cake

  Whenever I start to blog about a recipe, I always try to find something creative to add to the story. It could be where/how I happened to find the recipe, or maybe it was for a specific event or something seasonally festive. But somehow my blogs all wind up sounding the same "this recipe is so easy!" or "it's the perfect recipe to make ahead of time!" or "it's so delicious!" and of course "You should try this!"
 But here's the thing.. Those are my FAVORITE kinds of recipes! I mean, that's pretty much the best kind of recipe, right? One that is easy, convenient, and delish!! So I'm making no apologies for sometimes sounding like a broken record. There. I said it.
 So this brings me to this week's recipe! It's SUPER easy to make, it's a total do ahead, and you won't even believe how delicious it is!! (you knew I was gonna say that, right?).
 I made this for Anthony, one of my dearest friends in the whole wide world, and he texted me the very next day saying "I NEED to try to make this cake! It's my new favorite thing!" hehehe That works for me! I also shared some with my friend Michelle and she immediately asked me for the recipe. So there you go. This one meets all of the CWJ criteria and I'm owning the fact that I often say the same thing about my recipes because it's all still true!
Oh, and one more thing... You should definitely try this!!!!!


Cake:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice blend
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole milk

Caramel Topping:
1/2 cup caramel sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream
pinch of salt


Whipped Cream Frosting
1/2 cup cold heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease an 8x8 square pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, spice blend, and salt. In another large mixing bowl, beat together on medium speed the oil, sugar, and brown sugar until combined. Beat in the egg until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin and vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, adding the flour in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions (begin and end with dry ingredients). Spread the batter into the pan and bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the caramel sauce with the cream and pinch of salt. While the cake is still warm, poke roughly 16 holes into the cake (4 rows of 4 holes each) with the bottom of a long and round handle of a wooden spoon or similar object.  Pour caramel mixture over the cake, making sure to fill the holes. Let the cake cool completely. Stir the powdered sugar and vanilla into the heavy cream until dissolved, then whip into stiff peaks. Top your chilled cake with whipped cream (be sure to fill up the holes!) and serve.

Tips:
  If you want to use a 9x13 pan, just double everything! Then you'll be able to use up the whole can of pumpkin instead of using just a cup and then having nothing to do with the rest. The can of pumpkin may be just shy of the doubled amount, but I think it'll be close enough that you can get away with it. Don't forget to double the caramel mixture as well!
If you like, you can add a little extra salt to the caramel and cream. Because, well, salted caramel.
  As always, whenever I'm baking something in a pan, I like to line it with parchment paper with a couple inches hanging over the edge. Then I can use the paper as a sling to lift the whole thing out of the pan at once. In this case, I left it in the pan, poured the caramel sauce over everything, then chilled it in the fridge before removing it from the pan.

Salted Caramel Butter Bars

OK, ok, I know everyone has New Year's resolutions, and many are to lose weight or at least to start eating better, cutting out the junk, going on a diet, etc. Am I right? Well before you do that, I think you should make these bars!!! Otherwise you'll be missing out! They are ABSOLUTELY NOT something you want if you're on a diet, but OMG they taste amazing. I'm not even sure where I found the recipe. Someone probably posted it on Facebook, and I've seen it on several cooking blogs. I think it's from a blog called Cookies and Cups. It's got my name written all over it! I seriously have yet to meet a salted caramel anything that I didn't love. And these are now right at the top of my list. They're very similar in technique to the favorite Chocolate Chip Caramel Brownies. You make one dough for the top and the bottom, then you melt caramels for the filling. Easy! I once made them for the cast and crew of the show I was rehearsing and everyone LOVED them! (Sometimes you just need a little treat to help you through a 10 hour rehearsal!) So whether you're rehearsing for a show, throwing a party, or just craving a yummy sweet and salty treat, you should whip up a batch!

For the Crust:

1 lb. (4 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbs vanilla
4 cups flour

For the Filling:

1 bag (14 oz.) caramel candies (about 50 individual caramels), unwrapped
1/3 cup milk or cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

To make the crust:
Preheat oven to 325°.
In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugars. Using mixer on medium speed, beat together until creamy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Sift the flour into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until a smooth soft dough forms.
Spray a 9x13" baking pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Press one-third of the dough evenly into the pan to form a bottom crust. Wrap remaining dough in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator.
Bake crust until firm and the edges are a pale golden brown approx 20 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool about 15 minutes.
While the bottom crust is baking and the remaining dough is chilling, make the caramel filling. Place the unwrapped caramels in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the cream. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth. If caramels are not completely melted, microwave on high for 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth. Once the caramel is melted add in your 1/2 tsp vanilla and stir until combined. Pour the caramel filling over the crust. If you are going to salt the caramel sprinkle it on caramel layer now.
Remove the remaining chilled dough from the refrigerator and crumble it evenly over the caramel.
Return the pan to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the crumbled shortbread topping is firm and lightly golden, about 25 - 30 minutes. Let cool before cutting into squares.

Tips:

As I do with all bars baked in a 9x13 pan, line the baking pan with parchment paper and let it hang over the sides. Then you can use the paper as a sling to lift the entire batch out of the chilled pan before using a big sharp knife to cut into perfect squares.

Yes, yes, I know that's a crazy amount of butter. Let's just embrace it and move on, shall we? You're not going to eat them every day, right? And you're probably not going to eat the whole pan, right? So, you're fine!! 

 Since I like a extra salt with the sweet, I sprinkled a little extra sea salt over the baked bars as I took them out of the oven. You do you!

 If you'd like to bake them in a half sheet pan, simply increase the ingredient amounts by half. If you don't need as many, cut the whole recipe in half and bake in an 8x8 pan.

 I'm thinking this same recipe can be used with other fillings, yes? What do you think? Maybe a raspberry jam? Or blueberry jam and a little lemon or orange zest? Or some sweet orange marmalade? Or how about peanut butter? That would definitely be a good thing with some chopped roasted salty peanuts on top! Yum.

 

Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake

  Usually, when you think of a Pineapple Upside Down Cake, you usually think of a sheet cake with pineapple rings, and a cherry in the center of each one, correct? Well how about making it in a bundt pan instead? Clever, huh? No, this is definitely not my own idea, but it's too good not to share! Actually, I'm not even sure where I originally saw it. (probably a video on Facebook).
 So, I decided to look into it, but it seems MANY recipes use a cake mix to start. Am I the only one who still prefers to bake a cake from scratch? I mean, seriously, baking a cake from scratch is really only one or two steps more than a boxed cake mix, and the results are just SO much better!  Well, I FINALLY found a couple recipes that looked pretty good, and this was the one I picked. (Actually, I was originally gonna try a different one, but then discovered that included corn starch in the cake batter. Any idea why one would add corn starch? If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them) Anyway, this is a tweaked version of a recipe that I found on a blog called Bundt Cake Season. It uses basic ingredients that you probably already have on hand, it turned out perfectly and it got rave reviews! And of course, it's a showstopper. Just look at how beautiful it is! It's just the thing for a special occasion, but simple enough for any Sunday supper. For an added treat, try serving it with a scoop of coconut ice cream. YUM.
If you're a fan of pineapple, then I KNOW you'll love this one!


Topping:
1 (20oz) can pineapple rings, drained
16 maraschino cherries

Cake
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter (softened)
1 3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tbs vanilla
1 cup whole milk 
1/4 cup pineapple juice from can

Caramel:
1/2 cup butter
1 tbp corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar

Heat oven to 350ºF.
Drain pineapples reserving 1/4 of the juice. Slice pineapple rings in half. Set aside.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Beat butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the sugar. Beat on medium speed until mixture is fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Add vanilla and pineapple juice to milk. Add sifted four mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, beating well after each addition.
Coat bundt pan generously with a baker's cooking spray that includes flour.
 Make the caramel by combining the butter, corn syrup, and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Pour into bottom of prepared pan. Stand half rings on end in the pan, then place a cherry in between each one, as shown.

Very gently spoon the cake batter over the pineapples, making sure they're still standing upright.  Bake for about 60-70 minutes or until an inserted tooth pick comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan for a good 20 minutes before inverting the cake onto a serving platter.

Tips:
-When you make the caramel, it will be SCREAMING hot. Please please please be careful not to burn yourself!
-Be sure to let the cake cool in the pan for a good 20 minutes. If you invert it right out of the oven, the caramel will spill out all over the place, which is potentially dangerous and not at all what you want. At the same time, you don't want to let it cool completely in the pan, because then the caramel will stick to the pan, and your design will be ruined. You want to find that sweet spot where the caramel has set up but is still soft enough to come out of the pan in one go. 20 minutes worked perfectly for me!
-If you dump all the batter into the pan at once, you'll knock over all the pineapples like dominoes. So that's the reason for spooning it in a little at a time. Just take your time, spoon some of the batter in between each slice of pineapple, right over the cherries. Then you can go ahead and pour the rest of the batter over everything. The cherries will also help to keep everything standing up straight.
-The caramel will bubble up the sides of the pan while it's baking, so be sure to put a sheet of foil or even a baking sheet on the rack below, in case any of it bubbles over. Easy clean up!

Millionaire Shortbread

 As I was searching for Irish recipes for St. Patrick's Day, I found a recipe called Irish Toffee Shortbread. It sounded great and looked delicious so I figured I'd give it a go. Then, after making it, I wondered "What exactly makes this dish Irish?" Is it the toffee? Well, no. One could argue that that is a British thing. Is it the shortbread? Nope. It's not that either. That's a definitely a Scottish thing.
 So I texted my sister in law, Claire (who just happens to be from the UK), and I asked her what makes this dish Irish. She said there is absolutely NOTHING Irish about it, and that it's usually called Millionaire Shortbread, also known as Caramel Shortbread. Well ok then! I guess it could be an Irish dish if you were to use Kerry Gold Irish butter, but other than that, not so much.
 So, even though it's not an Irish thing, I decided to post it anyway, simply because it's just too good to keep to myself! They're sweet, chewy, gooey, and buttery, and I love everything about them. They're absolutely delicious! I say make them anyway for St Patrick's Day. If you want it to be Irish, put a shamrock on it and call it a day. LOL! They won't last long anyway, so it won't even matter!


Shortbread
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream together the softened butter and sugar. Stir in the flour, mixing well. Press the batter into a nine inch square pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Let the shortbread cool.

Toffee
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, condensed milk, and corn syrup, and bring the mixture to a boil. 
Cook for five minutes, stirring continually. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. 
Pour the toffee over the cooled shortbread.

Topping
1 six ounce bag of chocolate chips
 
Directions:
Melt the chocolate chips in a double broiler or in the microwave. Pour over the cooled toffee shortbread. Allow the chocolate to set and cut into squares.

Tips:
The key to this recipe is to make sure you cool each layer before adding the next. Then once you have it completely assembled, let it chill for a couple hours before cutting into squares. Better yet, save time and make it the day before! The caramel will set up beautifully.
This is another perfect opportunity to line the baking pan with parchment paper and let it hang over the sides. Then you can use the paper as a sling to lift the entire batch out of the chilled pan before using a big sharp knife to cut into perfect squares.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce and Cream Cheese Glaze

Once upon a not so long ago, I invited a few friends to dinner. For some reason, I never seem to have a problem finding people to be testers for new recipes! LOL What can I say? I like to try out new recipes to get everyone's opinions, see if anything needs to be tweaked, etc.
 I was thinking I wanted to do a pumpkin bread pudding, but I needed to up the wow factor a little. A sauce, perhaps? a glaze? Hmm.. So I happened to be working with my friend, Mary, and I told her about my dinner menu plans. I said "OK, which one do you think I should do, a caramel sauce or a cream cheese glaze?" She looked at me like I had two heads and said "Um.. hello.. BOTH!" (as if this was the most obvious answer in the world, duh). So I went with it!!!
 Let me just say that I need to buy a vowel because O. MY. GOD. It's possibly one of the most heavenly desserts I've ever made. It's warm and comforting, and creamy and chewy and crunchy and gooey all at the same time! This is ABSOLUTELY gonna be your new favorite pumpkin dessert. I'll even go so far as to say that this might be competition for your Thanksgiving pumpkin pie! There. I said it. I'm not even kidding, it's just that good!
 So thank you, Mary, for suggesting BOTH sauces. LOL That was definitely the wow factor I was looking for! Make this for your next special occasion or holiday dinner and I just bet you'll agree!



For the bread pudding:
2 cups half and half
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
1 cup (packed) plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
10 cups 1/2-inch cubes egg bread (about 10-ounces)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans

 For the caramel sauce:
1 1/4 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream

For the cream cheese glaze:
 4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 to 4 tbs milk 

For bread pudding:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk half and half, pumpkin, dark brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and vanilla extract in large bowl to blend. Fold in bread cubes and golden raisins. Transfer mixture to 11x7-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle pecans over the top. Let stand 15 minutes. Bake pudding until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. While the pudding is baking, make the caramel sauce and cream cheese glaze.

To prepare caramel sauce:
Whisk brown sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Whisk in cream and stir until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes.

To prepare the glaze:
Beat cream cheese until very creamy. Beat in powdered sugar. Stir in vanilla. Add 3 tablespoons milk or enough to make it the right drizzling consistency.

After you remove the bread pudding from the oven, let it cool for about 10-15 minutes, then drizzle with caramel sauce and cream cheese glaze. Serve warm.

Tips:
Obviously, you don't have to do BOTH toppings. You can just do one or the other, but I highly recommend doing both!
Not a fan of nuts and/or raisins? Leave 'em out! 
If you'd like to save a little time, you have a couple options. You can make it up to the point just before you bake it, then cover it and keep it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, then bake it and top it as directed. You can also bake the whole thing as directed, then keep it in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Then pour your topping(s) over it just before you serve. You can heat it up a bit in the oven if you'd like to serve it warm, or just take it out of the fridge in time to serve it at room temperature.

Caramel Apple Dip

Here's a quick and easy recipe that is an absolute MUST for your next Halloween party. I've seen it bouncing around social media for some time now, and I figured I should give it a try. Actually, I already knew it would be delicious because I have yet to meet anything caramel that I don't absolutely LOVE.
 OMG I can't even tell you how delicious it is! I'm not even gonna lie, I was eating it out of the bowl with a spoon. Definitely a huge hit with my gang of friends. It was a good thing I made a double batch because we quickly needed to refill the serving bowl! And then we discovered that this dip is AMAZINGLY good on pretzels! It's that whole salted caramel thing, which I can never resist. Your guests won't be able to resist it either. Enjoy!

16 individual Kraft caramels, unwrapped
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 8oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Sliced apples

 In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt caramels with milk, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in salt and set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Fold in caramel mixture into the cream cheese mixture.
Serve with apple slices or pretzels.

Tips:
Obviously, if you add the hot caramel to the cream cheese mixture, it will melt the cream cheese and you'll wind up with a sauce, rather than a dip. But just let it chill in the fridge for a while. It will set up.
If you don't feel like unwrapping caramels, you can purchase caramel morsels instead. That's what I did! It's SO much easier!
To keep your sliced apples from turning brown, place them in a big bowl of water into which you've added some freshly squeezed lemon juice. You can also toss the apple slices with a little splash of orange juice. The citric acid will keep the apples from turning brown.
I bet this recipe would work equally as well with peanut butter as it does with caramel. I'm definitely gonna have to give that a try!

Brown Sugar Caramel Pound Cake

Here's an easy recipe that I first saw when my friend Roe posted it on Facebook. I have no idea where she got the recipe, but like I always say, since she's the one who brought it to me, she's the one who gets the credit! It's SO simple to make and it's REALLY delicious. I made it for a little family gathering recently, and it was a HUGE hit. Everyone immediately asked if the recipe was on my blog. Well now it is!! It's perfect for any occasion or holiday dinner, and it's really simple to make.
Give it a try! And thanx again, Roe!

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups butter softened
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
5 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1 8oz bag toffee chips
1 cup pecans, chopped

Caramel Glaze:
1 – 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 spray a 12 cup Bundt pan with cooking spray with flour.

Beat butter until creamy. Add sugars beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. In medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mix to batter alternately with milk, beat until just combined. Stir in toffee buts and pecans. Spoon batter into pan and bake 85 minutes or until wooden pick comes out clean. To prevent excess browning, cover cake with foil while baking.

Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and let cool completely on a wire rack. Spoon Caramel Glaze over cooled cake.

Directions for Caramel Glaze:
In a medium saucepan, combine condensed milk and brown sugar; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking frequently. Reduce heat, and SIMMER for 8 minutes, whisking frequently. Remove from heat; whisk in butter and vanilla. Let cool for 5 minutes before using. NOTE: Make sure you drizzle the caramel while it’s still HOT. When cooled the caramel does somewhat harden.

Tips:
 Substitute any kind of nuts or if you're not a fan, just omit them completely.
 Be sure to grease the pan extremely well. You can use butter or shortening and then dust it with flour if you don't have any floured baking spray. Just using regular nonstick baking spray probably won't work in this particular recipe because it's a very sticky cake.
 I always think it's a great idea to garnish with what is in the cake, so I decorated the top of the cake with pecans. Besides looking decorative, this lets everyone know that there are nuts in the cake, just in case anyone has an allergy.

Caramel Apple Trifle

 I've often said that my very favorite dessert in the whole wide world is an apple pie with ice cream and caramel on top. Mmmm.... apples and caramel... Seriously, is there anything better? So when I saw a recipe for a caramel apple trifle in Taste of Home magazine, I knew it had my name written all over it. Of course, I tweaked it a little, but I used theirs as my inspiration. I made it when Dan and Emma came for dinner and they absolutely loved it!
It's a great do-ahead dessert, it's easy enough for the novice chef because there's no cooking/baking required, it feeds a crowd, and it's perfect for any fall/holiday party. And it's a showstopper! I guarantee lots of OOOs and AAAAHs when everyone sees it!

1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 jar (12-1/4oz) caramel ice cream topping
Apple pie spice
1 container (12oz) frozen whipped topping
2 cans apple pie filling
2 loaf pound cakes, (10oz each), cut into 1-inch cubes
 
 
 In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in 1/2 cup caramel topping and a little sprinkle of apple pie spice, as much as you like. Fold in 2 cups whipped topping.

In a 3-1/2-qt. trifle bowl or glass serving bowl, layer a third of the cake cubes, cream cheese mixture and apple pie filling. Repeat layers twice. Garnish with remaining whipped topping and drizzle with remaining caramel topping. Sprinkle with additional apple pie spice. Chill until ready to serve.

Tips:

I chopped up the apples a little bit just to make it easier to spread the filling over each layer, and I added a drizzle of caramel over each layer. More is more!! I also didn't do the layers exactly as directed, but it really doesn't matter what order you do. Just be sure to make each layer nice and even around the edges so everyone will see nice clean pretty layers.

Btw, I usually don't mention specific brand names, but my very favorite caramel (other than my own home made) is Mrs. Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel Sauce. It is BY FAR the best. Just sayin!

 Yes, of course, you can do the whole thing from scratch. You can bake a Pound Cake and you can make your own Apple Pie filling and fresh whipped cream and home made caramel, but in this particular instance, I'm fine with going with the time saver method!

Ina's German Chocolate Cupcakes

Ok here's a fun fact. Did you know that German Chocolate Cake is not from Germany at all? Nope! It's as American as apple pie! The cake gets its name from an American chocolate maker named Sam German, who formulated a kind of dark baking chocolate which was originally used in the recipe. So, actually, it should be called German's Chocolate Cake. Crazy, huh? Who knew?!
 Here's a cupcake version. They're fabulous and yummy and, let's be serious, can anyone resist that caramel coconut frosting? I think not! SO delicious! This recipe is Ina Garten's and is now my go to recipe. I think I need to make these again!

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons freshly brewed coffee
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Coconut Frosting:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, lightly packed
4 extra-large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup blanched sliced almonds, toasted
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In a third bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the buttermilk and flour mixtures alternately in thirds, beginning with the buttermilk and ending with the flour. Don't overmix! Fold the batter a few times with a rubber spatula to be sure it's mixed.

Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners. (I use a 2-inch ice cream scoop.) Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:
 Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the evaporated milk, brown sugar, and egg yolks and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 15 minutes, until slightly thickened. If the mixture looks a bit curdled, beat it vigorously with a whisk. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla extract, almond extract, coconut, almonds, pecans, and salt. Allow to cool for about an hour. Frost the cupcakes with a knife or small metal spatula.

Tips:

For me, the key to the icing is the almond extract. Be sure to include it! Oh and also the kosher salt! It just makes everything SO much better. 

I didn't have sliced almonds, so I just left them out and they were still delish. Just sayin'.

Golden Oreo Cheesecake Bars

Here's a recipe that I found online. Actually, I think someone else found and pinned it or tweeted it or posted it on FB, I can't remember. I immediately wanted to try it because they had me at Oreo. Frankly, any recipe involving Oreos is fine by me. They're my very most favorite store bought cookie, and, well, lets just say it, I'm kind of a little bit addicted to them. Don't judge me....
 Anyway, you've probably tasted regular Oreos, but have you ever tried the golden ones? They're AWESOME. I love that they still taste like Oreos, even though they're not chocolate. Love 'em! If you haven't tried them, then here's the perfect excuse to go get some.
 At first,  I thought the cheese mixture wouldn't be sweet enough, but trust me, the caramel and cookies make up for it. They're easy to make and rich and just SO fabulous. You seriously need to try them.
 I doubled the entire recipe and baked it in a 9x13 pan and it turned out beautifully. Like I always say, more is more! Be sure to let it chill for several hours in the fridge so it'll firm up before you slice them, and keep them in the fridge until you're ready to serve. And as always with any Oreos, you definitely need an ice cold glass of milk to go along with it. Make 'em for your next party! Your family and friends will thank you!


28 Golden Oreos, divided 18 and 10
3 tablespoons, melted Butter
1 cup Caramel bits (or 24 wrapped caramels)
1 tablespoon water
2 pkgs (8 oz each) Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup Marshmallow Fluff
1 egg


 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush 18 Golden Oreos (cream and all) in a large ziplock bag or a food processor, until they are very fine crumb.

Pour crumbs into a 9 inch square pan. Add 3 tablespoons melted butter and combine using the back of a spoon to mix and press firmly into the bottom of the pan. Bake crust for 10 minutes or until golden. Let cool 10-15 minutes.

While crust is cooling unwrap your caramels, or if using caramel bits, pour into a bowl and add the 1 tablespoon of water. Set aside.

Now coarsely chop the remaining 10 Oreos. Set those aside as well.

 Beat the softened cream cheese and marshmallow fluff with a hand mixer on medium speed. Beat until combined and smooth, scraping down the sides half way through.

Add the egg and beat for 30 more seconds on medium speed until incorporated.

Stir in the coarsely chopped Oreos.

Pour the batter into the prepared crust. Spread evenly into the pan. Now melt your caramels and water in the microwave for 60 seconds. Stir halfway through. When melted, drop by spoonfuls onto the batter.

Using a knife, swirl the caramel into the cream cheese batter. Don't go too deep or you'll mess up the crust.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until center is set. Cool for 20 minutes on wire rack and then transfer to the refrigerator until they firm up, or overnight. Cut into squares when completely chilled. Enjoy!

Tips:
As always, whenever I'm making any kind of bars or squares, I like to line the pan with parchment paper, letting it hang over the edges a couple inches on each side. After it's baked and chilled, you use the paper like a sling to lift the entire batch out of the pan in one piece. Now you can place it on a cutting board, and (using a big sharp knife) you can make nice clean perfect cuts. It also saves your pan from being ruined if you try to cut the squares while it's still in the pan.
For the crust, I think it's easier to combine the butter with the Oreo crumbs before you put them in the pan, so I just threw the Oreos and the melted butter into a food processor and let it go until no large pieces remained.
For a little variation, obviously you could use regular Oreos instead of the golden ones.
I bet you could also do a slammin' peanut butter version of this recipe. Doesn't that sound good? You could use Nutter Butters (my other favorite sandwich cookie) instead of Oreos, and peanut butter instead of the caramel. I would thin it out and sweeten it a little, though.
Oh, btw, before you measure the Fluff, spray a rubber spatula and a measuring cup with nonstick spray. You'll find it'll be a lot easier to measure and it won't be as messy. Otherwise, it'll stick to everything and you'll have Fluff from one end of the kitchen to the other. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.....

Peanut Brittle

I recently saw Trisha Yearwood making this and it looked so yummy and caramelly that I thought "Hmm..I'm gonna have to try this.." (caramelly?) Then I saw on FB that my friend Abbe was about to make peanut brittle so I texted her that Trisha Yearwood has a good recipe, and she responded "That's the one I'm making!" Great minds, huh? So of course, I asked her to take a picture of her final product, and here we are!
 Just like I said, it's yummy and caramelly and so festive! But you don't have to wait until the holidays to make it. Make it any time!
Thanx Abbe!

1 tbs vanilla extract
1 tbs baking soda
1 tbs salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
3 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
3 cups shelled raw peanuts

 Measure the vanilla into a small bowl and set aside. Combine the baking soda and salt in another small bowl and set aside. Butter 2 cookie sheets with sides or jelly roll pan liberally with 1/2 stick of the butter. Set aside.

Combine the sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, attach a candy thermometer and cook over medium-high heat until the syrup spins a thread when poured from a spoon or reaches 240 degrees F on the thermometer. Stir in the peanuts and continue cooking and stirring until the candy becomes golden brown or reaches 300 degrees F.
Remove from the heat immediately and quickly add the remaining 1 stick butter and the vanilla, baking soda and salt. Stir only until the butter melts, and then quickly pour the brittle onto the cookie sheets, spreading the mixture thinly. When the brittle has completely cooled, break the candy into pieces and store in a tightly covered container.

Tips:
Instead of buttering the baking sheets, you can also use silicone baking mats. Nothing sticks to 'em!
Be sure to take the time to measure out the ingredients and put them in small bowls before you start, just as the recipe directs. Once you reach 240 degrees, things go very quickly and you don't want to spend the time measuring things.
 And one other thing... I know I don't have to say it, but I'll say it anyway. This gets VERY hot so PLEASE be careful and make sure your little ones aren't around when you make this! There. I feel better now.

Caramel Drizzled Apple Cider Cookies

 

 As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I wanted to try it. Right off the bat, they had me at caramel, but more than that, I wanted to try it because I had never heard of it! As much as I love all the favorite classic cookie recipes, I'm always up for trying new ones! So here we go. I found this recipe on a blog called Under the Table and Dreaming, whose author found it on another blog called Scrambled Henfruit, whose author slightly adapted it from a recipe on another blog called The Cooking Photographer. It kinda makes me wonder how many other blogs this recipe will find after this one!!! Don't you just love technology? LOL

  Ok, so, here's the thing...the original recipe was not for cookies drizzled with caramel...it was for cookies STUFFED with caramel. Yummy, right? Well, here's what I found...

 When you make them, you put a caramel in the center of a ball of cookie dough and bake. Then you remove them from your parchment and turn them upside down to cool, giving the caramel time to set (otherwise the caramel oozes out from the bottom of the cookie). That's fine, but it seemed to me it would be much easier to just bake the cookies without the caramel, let them cool, and then drizzle with melted caramel. It's much easier, must faster, and every bite gets a little bit of the caramel instead of just the center. Plus, you don't have to worry about the upside down cooling, etc. You do have to let them sit until the caramel sets, but I think this is the lesser of two evils. To melt the caramels, just unwrap them, place them in a bowl with a couple tbs of milk or cream, then microwave 30 seconds at a time until they're melted, then whisk it all together.

 I've posted the original directions as I first read them, just in case you'd like to do the stuffed cookies, or you can do them as I've stated above. The only down side to the drizzling is that the caramel stays kinda gooey. So, you'd have to store them in layers with parchment in between, but seriously, I'm thinking gooey caramel isn't the worst thing in the world! 

  Whichever way you make them, they're still amazingly delicious and fun and new and you'll still love them!

 

 3 cups all purpose flour

 1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix -not sugar free- all 10 packets (Find this in your grocery store near the hot chocolate mixes.)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 bag Kraft Caramels (14 oz)

 Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. (You really need the parchment!) 

In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside. With your mixer (or an energetic spoon) cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well. Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined. Refrigerate for about an hour. (If you're really impatient you don't have to do this, but it makes it so much easier to work with.) When you are ready to bake, unwrap your caramels. Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut. Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. Please don't over-bake! Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.) If you forget about them and they cool too much and stick to your parchment, put them into the freezer for a few minutes and they'll pop right off. 

Tip:

You definitely need to let these sit for a couple minutes before removing them from the pan because the caramel needs time to set. If you're drizzling instead of stuffing, be sure to let them cool completely before drizzling, then let them sit out for a good long while until the caramel sets.

For an extra added little something, add about a teaspoon of kosher salt to your melted caramel.  

You could also leave the caramel out of the picture altogether and sandwich some vanilla ice cream in between the plain apple cider cookies. It tastes like apple pie a la mode in the form of a cookie!!

Instead of using parchment paper, I used a silpat, which is a silicone baking mat the fits right into a half sheet tray. Nothing sticks to it!!

Banoffee Pie

 I first heard of Banoffee Pie on a cooking show that highlighted decadent desserts from different restaurants. Of course, it looked so good that I needed to get the recipe. Little did I know how popular the dish has been for decades! I had no idea that this was a classic British "pudding"!
I looked up the pie's origin and this is what wikipedia has to say about it:

  Credit for the pie's invention is claimed by Ian Dowding (chef) and Nigel Mackenzie (owner) at The Hungry Monk restaurant (now closed) in Jevington, East Sussex. They developed the dessert in 1972, having been inspired by an American dish known as "Blum's Coffee Toffee Pie", which consisted of smooth toffee topped with coffee-flavoured whipped cream. Dowding adapted the recipe to instead use the type of soft caramel toffee created by boiling a can of condensed milk and worked with Mackenzie to add a layer of bananas. They called the dish "Banoffi" and it was an immediate success, proving so popular with their customers that they "couldn't take it off" the menu.

 And there you have it. Actually, I do remember seeing this method on a cooking show many years ago called Two Hot Tamales, and they did the same thing with the cans of sweetened condensed milk. I never thought of making a pie with it, though. I just used it as a caramel sauce for ice cream (which is FABULOUS, btw).
So, I've listed two versions of the pie. The first is from Nigella Lawson, and is the classic British version (as least, as far as I can tell). It uses Digestive Biscuits, which are kind of like graham crackers. The second is from Paula Deen. It's slightly different, but it's still the same idea. Paula's method of caramelizing the milk is different, but is ready in half the time, and it also eliminates the worry of exploding cans!
 Give it a try!
 


Nigella's Version:
 2 cups crushed Digestive Biscuits
6 tbs melted butter
2 cans of sweetened condensed milk
4 or 5 ripe bananas
whipped cream
mini chocolate chips, if desired

 Melt butter and add crushed biscuits, spread on bottom of tin & chill. boil the tins of condensed milk for 2-2.5 hours. BE SURE THAT THE TINS ARE SUBMERGED IN WATER AT ALL TIMES - OR ELSE YOU WILL BE CLEANING THE CEILING!!!
When cool spread the toffee over the biscuit base. slice up a couple of ripe bananas on top of toffee whip up the cream and spread over the banana. Grate some chocolate or even chocolate curls, or drizzle melted chocolate over the top chill (or serve straight away) and serve to very happy people!

-BIG TIP- one can boil up a load of tins of condensed milk. Once they are cooked they will keep very safely for months in the larder or cupboard. Just keep an eye on water levels. This makes it the fastest dessert in town if one has the toffee already. Also the biscuit base mix freezes very well.

Paula's Version:
2 (14 ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
10 tablespoons butter, softened
 3 large bananas
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

 Mix graham cracker crumbs with softened butter and press mixture into 9" pie plate. Bake for 5-8 minutes at 350.
 To create toffee filling, caramelize the sweetened condensed milk. Pour the condensed milk into a 9x12x2 glass-baking dish. Cover with foil and place dish inside a larger poaching pan. Add water to poaching pan until half way up sides of baking dish. Bake at 300 for an hour and a half.
 Once both the crust and toffee filling are cooled, spread half of evenly inside crust. Slice the bananas and layer on top of filling. Pour remaining half of filling over bananas, spreading evenly. Whip the cream with the confectioners sugar and vanilla and spread on top of toffee filling and bananas.

Joey's Tips:
*You clearly don't have to remove the label from the cans before you boil them, but if you don't, the glue will melt and get all over the inside of your pot, which is kind of a pain to clean. It's easier just to remove the label in the first place. Then again, if you use Paula's method, you don't have to worry about that at all!
-For the crust, I used 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs (2/3 of a box) + 8 tbs melted butter. I found Paula's crust recipe to be a little too much butter and not enough crumbs.
-I prefer the graham crackers over the digestives because I find them to have a slightly different, more crispy texture. Just sayin!
-Use a second pie plate to press the crumbs into the first pie plate for an even crust.
-Digestive Biscuits are so named because of the belief that they had antacid properties due to the use of sodium bicarbonate when they were first developed.

Joey's Salted Caramel Apple Pie

  

One of the fastest growing flavor trends is the combination of salt and caramel. What originally started as an elite culinary obsession among French and American chefs, has now sprinted its way onto the menus of chain restaurants, gourmet coffee shops, and supermarkets. It's even a favorite at The White House! It makes perfect sense, though, when you think about it.  Everyone knows that salty and sweet compliment each other perfectly! Peanut brittle anyone?  Peanut butter cup? How about some kettle corn?

  I've often said that my favorite dessert in the whole wide world is a hot apple pie with caramel sauce. So, when I saw a salted caramel apple pie being made on a cooking show, I knew I had to try it for myself.

 When I started making it, I didn't really have a recipe. I just started adding things that sounded good to me, and VOILA! It turned out beautifully! As I told Paul, every so often I even impress myself!

   I really hope you'll give it a try!

Ready made pie crust for a 2 crust pie, or my Easy Pie Crust, or your own

1 bag of Kraft caramels (about 50)
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp sea salt

1 lemon
6 tart apples

1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbs flour

1 egg

1 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 big pinch sea salt


Heat oven to 375F.
Roll out one pie crust and gently place it in a Pyrex pie plate, leaving about an inch of crust hanging over the edge. Set aside.
Unwrap the caramels. Place them in a microwave safe bowl. Add the evaporated milk and microwave until melted. Whisk in 1 tsp sea salt until smooth. Set aside.
Slice the lemon in half, squeeze the juice into a big bowl of cold water, and add the lemon halves as well. As you core and peel the apples, drop them into the lemon water to keep them from browning.
In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour.
Now you're ready to put it all together.
Slice the apples as THINLY as you can. If you happen to have a mandolin slicer, even better! As you slice each apple, lay the slices in the pie crust, making sure to overlap so that there are no spaces. Sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of the sugar mixture, then drizzle with about a quarter cup of the salted caramel sauce. Continue layering apple slices, sugar mixture, and caramel until you use everything up, ending with the remaining caramel sauce.
Cut remaining pie crust into strips. (I like to use a pizza cutter). Arrange the strips of crust over the pie. Tuck the edges under, then crimp to make a decorative edge. Gently brush the crust with beaten egg. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle over the top. Finally, sprinkle a little more sea salt over the top.
Place the pie on a baking sheet (just in case it spills over) and place it in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let it stand for at least an hour before slicing. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Tips:
If you'd like to get a little fancy, you can use Fleur de Sel, which is a much more gourmet sea salt that is hand harvested in France. If you don't have regular sea salt, you can get away with using kosher salt. I wouldn't use regular iodized table salt because it has a completely different flavor, and it's not as coarse.
Be sure your apple slices are as thin as you can make them, and shingle them in the pie plate so that there are no gaps. This lets the apples cook down on top of each other, resulting in a meatier pie.
It's important to let it sit for a while after you bake it because it needs time to set up. You'll wind up with a much neater slice. Otherwise, it'll fall apart when you cut it.
Oh, and one other thing.... I listed the ingredients in groups just so it's a little easier to follow the recipe. Since the pie has different components, I figured it would be easier to follow if each component's ingredients were grouped together.