Apple Pie Caramel Apples

Melissa says, "Another recipe for the blog. I don’t know how this isn’t already on there! These are the only caramel apples we make! They are the best. You will feel like you’re in Disneyland. I also use this caramel recipe to make my caramel chocolate pretzel rods."

Click HERE for recipe!

Christmas Fudge

Melissa's comments: "I made this fudge for the first time at Christmas and it turned out so good. Easy pure fudge. Lot's of people at JD's work said it was the best creamiest fudge they had had."

Click HERE for recipe source.

Ingredients 

• 2 and 1/2 cups white granulated sugar 
• 3/4 cup butter 
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk 
• 12 ounce package (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips 
• 7 ounce jar marshmallow cream (also called marshmallow fluff) 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 

Instructions

Line an 8 or 9 inch square pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Coat with nonstick spray. Set aside.

In a 3 quart HEAVY saucepan over high heat, combine sugar, butter, and evaporated milk. Use a wooden spoon to stir slowly until butter melts, scraping sides of pan to get all the sugar crystals. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly with a long wooden spoon. Once it starts boiling, set a timer for 5 minutes and turn the heat down to medium so that you don't burn your fingers off--it should be boiling the full 5 minutes. Stir constantly.

When the timer goes off, remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Stir until all chips are melted and mixture is smooth.

Add marshmallow creme and beat with a wooden spoon until well blended. Add vanilla and mix well.

Immediately pour into the prepared pan. Let cool to room temperature. Slice and serve! Store on the counter covered.

Recipe Notes This recipe is easy to double, just use a 9x13 pan. Microwave your marshmallow creme for 10 seconds to make it easier to scrape out. (Be sure to remove all traces of foil from the safety seal.)

Volcanoes

Brittany shared this treat. They look yummy!!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of square pretzels
• 2 bags Rolo candies
• 1 bag M&Ms

Spread pretzels on a tinfoil-lined cookie sheet.  Add a Rolo on top of each pretzel. Bake in the oven 5-10 minutes at 400 degrees. You want the Rolos soft but not melting.  Take out of oven and immediately push an M&M down into the middle of each Rolo. Cool and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies II

We made these cookies to remember dad's birthday this past weekend. I know we already had a recipe for this on the blog, but I have been wanting a softer, less crumbly peanut butter cookie recipe. This is my new favorite recipe for these cookies!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 1 cup shortening
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup milk 
• 2 eggs 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white sugar, or as needed
• 2 (12 ounce) bags Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped

Directions:

Beat peanut butter, shortening, 2/3 cup white sugar, brown sugar, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract together with an electric mixer in a large bowl until creamy and smooth.

Spoon flour into measuring cup (don't scoop - it adds too much flour). Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. ( I don't sift, I just mixed well.)

Gradually fold flour mixture into peanut butter mixture to form a smooth dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 1/4 cup white sugar into a shallow bowl. Scoop dough into 1-inch balls, roll balls in sugar, and place 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 8 minutes. Open the oven door and press a chocolate kiss about halfway down in the center of each cookie. Bake for until chocolate begins to melt and lose form, about another 2 minutes. Cool on wire racks until chocolate hardens, at least 3 hours.

A few notes:

Refrigerating the dough at least 1 hour is not strictly necessary, but I recommend it because it makes the dough easier to work with when shaping balls and also helps retain the shape when baking and avoid too much cracking when adding kisses.

Prep kisses by unwrapping foils and lining them upright on a plate or cookie sheet for easy transfer to cookie dough. Baking dough too long before adding kisses can cause kisses to fall out of the cookie dough when cooled. Kisses need to bake long enough to adhere to the cookie base but not to the point that they lose shape. Do not over bake!

Stacking cookies before chocolate has fully cooled and hardened will cause them to squish and loose shape. If desired, freeze immediately when cooled. I've kept them up to 2 months and they taste as fresh as the day they were baked.

Homemade Hot Fudge

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 (15 oz.) can evaporated milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup flour

Combine butter, sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan on medium heat, stirring consistently until butter is melted.  It will be very thick and chunky. Add milk gradually, stirring constantly until smooth.  Add vanilla and flour.  Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.  Mixture will thicken as it cools.  Serve while sauce is still warm.  You can keep the hot fudge warm in a slow cooker set on the lowest heat setting.  Store leftovers in the fridge.  

Caramel Sauce

I make this homemade caramel sauce as an ice cream or crepe topping, or to dip apples in - delicious!!

Ingredients:

• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. corn syrup
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat and boil for exactly one minute.  The longer it boils, the thicker the sauce will become.)  Serve warm.  Store in the fridge.

Sea Salt Truffles

I wanted to make an extra nice treat for Valentine's Day this year for my sweetheart, people I visit teach, Katelee's teacher, and a few special friends.  So, I tried these amazing truffles by The Pioneer Woman.  They are to die for, and much easier than they look, though they do take some time.  But they are so worth it.  Truly. Amazing.

You can find the complete recipe and instructions, complete with beautiful pics here.

Here is her printable recipe:

Description

These are delicious and very easy-to-make chocolate truffles with an unlikely surprise: a sprinkling of light, fluffly sea salt. It’s a seemingly unlikely, but absolutely scrumptious and special, flavor combination that has to be experienced to be believed.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces, weight (up To 9 Oz.) Good Semisweet Chocolate
• 8 ounces, weight (up To 9 Oz.) Good Bittersweet Chocolate
• 1 can (14 Oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 8 ounces, weight Meltable Milk Chocolate
• Sea Salt

Preparation

Heat dark chocolates and condensed milk in a double boiler over medium low heat until chocolate is melted. Stir—mixture will have a slight marshmallow texture. Stir in vanilla.
Remove from heat, cover and refrigerate for two hours.
Once chilled, roll in balls, then roll in melted milk chocolate coating. Sprinkle with sea salt or other fine, coarse sprinkles.

Chocolate rolo cookies

These cookies are so good and easy to make!  One of Jd's Aunts made them for Jake's wedding and we all had to have the recipe.  I think they would be cute at Christmas with green and red frosting drizzled on the top
Chocolate fudge cake mix 1/3 C oil 2 eggs Rolo candies White chocolate or frosting drizzle (optional) Directions: Mix first 3 ingredients, form a very small ball of dough around a rolo candy. Spray cookie sheet with Pam. Bake at 350 for 7 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle with white chocolate or frosting. Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Servings: 36

'Lil Reeses PB Cups Cookies

I'm doing some baking for my piano recital this weekend, and tried out a new dessert I saw on pinterest.  This is the picture and link to the original article where I found the recipe, but I did make some changes to the original recipe.  Below is my personal version of these yummy treats!

Source: marcussamuelsson.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Ingredients:

• 36-48 miniature peanut butter cups 
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 tsp. baking soda 
• 1/4 tsp. salt 
• 1 cup salted butter 
• 1/2 cup white sugar 
• 1/2 cup firmly-packed brown sugar 
• 2 eggs 
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 

Instructions:

Place peanut butter cups in the freezer (there’s no need to unwrap them; just place the whole bag in the freezer) for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter. Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy (about 2 – 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture. Mix until a soft dough forms. Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray.  Using a spoon, scoop about a 1-inch balls into each mini muffin tin. Press dough balls into mini muffin tins, making an indentation in the middle with your thumb.(I had to dip my thumb in flour between each indentation, because the dough was soft and sticky.)  Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a miniature peanut butter cup in the center of each cookie. Cool and remove from pan. (I actually removed from the pan immediately and set them on a cooling rack to cool.)  YUM!

Cinnamon Bun Caramel Corn

12 cups popped popcorn (about 1/2 cup un-popped kernels, popped)

You can use air-popped or microwave popcorn. If using microwave, try to find a natural flavor that's low in butter and salt.

1 cup pecans

1 cup cashews

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup real butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup (honey makes a good substitution)

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3 squares almond bark

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

2. Place popcorn, pecans, & cashews in a large bowl & set aside.

3. Combine the brown sugar & cinnamon in 2 quart capacity microwaves safe bowl. Mix well. Chop the butter into chunks and place on top of the sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup over everything. Microwave on high for 30 seconds & then stir to combine. Return to microwave and heart for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more.

4. Remove from microwave and add vanilla and baking soda. Stir to combine. The mixture will foam and rise. Pour the caramel mixture over the popcorn and nuts. Stir well so everything is coated.

5. Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and stir again. Set aside to cool.

7. Melt the almond bark according to package instructions. Drizzle over popcorn mixture. When the almond bark is hardened and popcorn is cool, break into chunks and enjoy!

Tip: I always double the recipe - it makes 2 cookie sheets full. After I drizzle the almond bark I put it in the freezer for a few minutes to set up more quickly.

Candy-Making Tips

Temperatures for Cooking Candy

Some cooks prefer to use a candy thermometer and some prefer to use the old-fashioned cold-water way to test the doneness of candy. Below there are directions for both.

Thread Stage - begins at 230 degrees F. - Makes a long thread when dropped in cold water.

Soft Ball - 234 degrees F. - Forms a soft ball that doesn't hold its shape. Cream candies, fudge, fondants are done at the softball stage.

Firm Ball - 246 degrees F. - This ball will only flatten with pressure. Divinity and Caramels.

Hard Ball - 250 degrees F. - This ball will hold its shape when pressed. Taffy.

Soft Crack - 270 degrees F. - Separates into bendable threads. Toffee and Butterscotch.

Hard Crack - 300 degrees F. - Becomes brittle. Peanut Brittle.

Caramelize - 310 degrees F.

Mom’s Favorite Caramel Popcorn

I remember mom making this almost every Friday night when we were kids - it was such a special treat!

1 cube butter or margarine
2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. Karo syrup
popped popcorn

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the sugar and syrup and bring to a boil, while stirring. Pour over ready popcorn. Enjoy!

Better-Than-Baseball Cake

1 package German Chocolate cake mix
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 jar caramel or butterscotch topping
18 oz. container Cool Whip
4 or more Heath Bars or Skor bits

Mix and bake the cake mix as directed on the box. After cake has baked and cooled about 5 – 10 minutes, use the handle of a wooden spoon and poke holes all over the cake. Mix the milk and caramel together and pour into the holes in the cake. Top the entire cake with Cool Whip. Sprinkle with crushed Heath Bars or Skor bits. Store in refrigerator until time to serve.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Dad's favorite cookies

1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/4 c. flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
bag of Hershey’s Kisses

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix sugars, shortening, peanut butter, and egg. Stir in flour, soda, powder, and salt. Roll into balls and flatten the tops with the bottom of a fork. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 8 – 10 minutes. While still warm, press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie.

Reynolds' Monster Cookies

This is a Reynolds' family favorite.

2 cubes margarine
2 1/4 c. brown sugar
6 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 T. corn syrup
4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. peanut butter
1 1/2 c. nuts
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips
1 c. of M&M’s
9 c. oatmeal

Cream the margarine and brown sugar together. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, corn syrup, baking soda and vanilla. Add the egg mixture to the margarine mixture. Add peanut butter, nuts, chips, and M&M’s. Gradually stir in the oatmeal. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Delicious!

Marshmallow Popcorn

1 stick of butter
1/3 c. plus a bit more brown sugar
1/2 bag marshmallows
1 bag popcorn
popped popcorn

Melt the butter on the stovetop over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar and then add the marshmallows. Stir until the marshmallows are completely melted. Pour over ready popcorn.

Mom's Caramels

1 c. sugar
3/4 c. dark corn syrup
1/2 c. butter
1 c. light cream
1/2 c. walnuts
1/2 T. vanilla

Combine sugar, syrup, butter and 1/2 c. of the cream. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the remaining 1/2 c. cream and cook slowly until at the firm ball stage. Remove from heat and add nuts and vanilla. Pour into a greased pan to set.

Divinity

2 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. light Karo syrup
1/2 c. water
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp. vanilla
nuts

Bring the sugar, Karo syrup, and water to a boil. When it reaches 235 degrees, beat the egg white. At 250 degrees, add 1/3 of the cooked mixture to the egg whites and beat. At 260 degrees add another third of the cooked mixture of the egg whites, still beating. At 275 degrees, add the remaining mixture. Fold air into the mixture with a spoon. Add vanilla and nuts. When it begins to set, put on waxed paper like a drop cookie. Let cool.

Mom's Fudge

3 (6 oz.) bags of chocolate chips
32 large marshmallows, cut into fourths
2 T. vanilla
1 c. margarine or butter
nuts
4 1/2 c. sugar
1 can evaporated milk

In a small bowl, mix the chocolate chips, marshmallows, vanilla, margarine or butter, and nuts. Cook the sugar and evaporated milk over medium heat on the stovetop. Bring to a boil and let boil for 7 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour over the other ingredients. Mix until everything melts and is well blended. Pour into pan to set up.

Mom's Peanut Brittle

3 c. sugar
1 c. water
1 c. corn syrup
1/4 cube butter
2 3/4 c. raw peanuts
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine the sugar, water, corn syrup, and butter. Mix well and boil to 230 degrees or softball stage. Add the peanuts and cook until 310 degrees or hard crack stage. Remove from heat. Immediately add the salt, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into a well-greased shallow pan. When cold, break up into pieces and serve.