Salted Caramel and Peanut Banana Bread
February 13, 2012 in cake
I made this ah-mazing banana bread with caramel and peanuts and coconut but… you have to go visit Not Rachael Ray to check it out!
You are browsing the Blog for caramel.
Coconut Thumbprints with Salted Caramel
January 12, 2012 in cookie
I have a bone to pick with Martha Stewart.
I looooove Martha. I mean, I really love her. I watch her show almost every day, hers is the only magazine I subscribe to, she’s my “If you could have dinner with anyone…” person. But we have a problem.
There are mistakes all over her cookbooks/magazines!
I pulled this recipe out of her magazine and was so excited to try it that I got working on it the very next morning. The cookie dough, as written, never came together! I mixed it and mixed it and finally got so worried about overworking the flour that I added a couple eggs and it turned into a real cookie dough.
(Edited to add: I’ve had a few readers email and say the cookies have worked and a few who have said they also had to add eggs. So be aware if you decide to attempt this one!)
Anyway, the cookies are fantastic! I had no idea that coconut and caramel would be so good together but they are amazing! I finally had to tell my husband not to let me back in the kitchen after having more than my share.
If you tried (or plan on trying) this recipe as written in Living, please let me know if you have any luck with it.
| Coconut Thumbprints with Salted Caramel |
|
Yield: about 54 cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart Living
Ingredients
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 eggs, divided
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 12 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
- 44 small caramel candies (12 ounces), unwrapped
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Beat together butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and 2 of the eggs.
- With mixer on low, gradually add flour and the 1/2 teaspoon salt, and beat to combine.
- Press dough together in plastic wrap, then roll into 1 1/4-inch balls. Beat the 2 remaining eggs in a small bowl. Dip each ball in the beaten egg and roll in coconut. Place balls on parchment-lined baking sheets, and press an indentation into each with your thumb.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then remove sheets from oven, and re-press indentations. Bake cookies until golden, 9 to 10 minutes more. Let cool on wire racks. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Place caramels and heavy cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the caramels are melted and mixture is smooth, 4 to 6 minutes. Spoon into indentations in cookies, and sprinkle with sea salt. Rewarm caramel if it hardens before all cookies are filled.
Caramel-Pecan Cheesecake Pie
November 23, 2011 in pie
Only one day left! Are you prepared?! I saved the best recipe for last in my Thanksgiving series – a Caramel-Pecan Cheesecake Pie! It’s a pecan pie and caramel cheesecake in one!
Super simple – I started with a Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust but feel free to make your own if you have time. You could make your own caramel too but the jarred stuff sure makes life easier when you have a lot going on. The whole pie took about 15 minutes to throw together! So if you’re looking for a last minute treat to take to Thanksgiving or even a Thanksgiving Eve party, this is perfect!
| Caramel-Pecan Cheesecake Pie |
Ingredients
- 1 sheet refrigerated pie pastry
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1-1/4 cups chopped pecans
- 1 jar (12-1/4 ounces) fat-free caramel ice cream topping
Instructions
- Line a 9-in. pie plate with pastry. Trim and flute edges. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and vanilla until smooth. Spread into pastry shell; sprinkle with pecans.
- In a small bowl, whisk remaining eggs; gradually whisk in caramel topping until blended. Pour slowly over pecans.
- Bake at 375F for 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned (loosely cover edges with foil after 20 minutes if pie browns too quickly). Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight before slicing.
from Taste of Home
Snickers
October 24, 2011 in candy
Halloween is fast approaching, y’all. Ready?! I am. Kind of. I got the costumes months ago but I still haven’t been able to find all our Halloween decorations! I need to get on that. And I haven’t begun buying candy. Because I will eat all of it. In one day. I’m definitely that person that goes to the store on Halloween afternoon looking for whatever candy is left. I just can’t be trusted before then.
But since it’s getting so close to Halloween, I wanted to do a week of fun Halloween-y treats and we’re kicking off the week with Snickers! Because who doesn’t love Snickers?!
I’m not a candy maker, you guys know that, but I thought these came together beautifully. There are 3 steps – the nougat, the caramel, and then the coating. The nougat was fairly simple as long as you’re okay with a candy thermometer. Same with the caramel. It’s the chocolate that got me. I am just no good with melted chocolate. But it’s not appearance that matters, right?
They taste almost exactly like a Snickers. I think my caramel is a little chewier than the store-bought version but that’s to be expected with homemade caramel. They were a lot of fun to make and really upped my candy-making confidence.
| Snickers |
Ingredients
- For the peanut nougat:
- 1 large egg white, at room temperature
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup natural crunchy peanut butter (no added sugar)
- For the caramel:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups roasted salted peanuts
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For the chocolate coating:
- 2 pounds chopped milk chocolate or chocolate melts
Instructions
For the peanut nougat:
- Spray a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with cooking spray, then line the pan with parchment paper, leaving a few inches of overhang on each side. Set aside.
- Place egg white in the base of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Spray a rubber spatula with cooking spray and set aside.
- Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in a small saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer and place over medium-high heat. Stir mixture until sugar completely dissolves.
- Once sugar mixture is at 270°F, add salt to egg white and beat at high speed to stiff peaks, about 2 minutes.
- Once sugar mixture reaches 275°F, remove from heat. Keeping the mixer on high speed, very slowly pour 1 tablespoon of the hot syrup in a thin stream down the side of the bowl (avoiding the whisk) and let it completely incorporate before adding more. Repeat until you’ve added all the syrup; it should take about 2 minutes. Continue to mix until nougat pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 1 minute more. Turn off the mixer and, using the oiled spatula, stir in peanut butter; mixture should be thick and spongy.
- Immediately turn nougat into the prepared pan and, using the oiled spatula or your hands, spread mixture evenly. Let sit uncovered while you make the caramel, at least 5 minutes.
For the caramel:
- Combine all ingredients except peanuts and vanilla extract in a heavy-bottomed 4-quart saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer and place over medium-high heat. Stir mixture until sugar completely dissolves, about 2 minutes. Wash down the inside of the pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystallization. Boil mixture, swirling pan occasionally (but not stirring), until syrup is at 248°F, about 8 minutes.
- Immediately remove the saucepan from heat, stir in peanuts and vanilla extract, and mix until peanuts are evenly distributed. Pour caramel mixture over nougat and, using an oiled rubber spatula, spread evenly in the pan. Let cool until caramel is no longer warm to the touch and is opaque, about 70 minutes. Remove nougat-caramel mixture from the pan, transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and place in the refrigerator until caramel is cool and gives slightly when pressed.
- Remove nougat-caramel mixture from the refrigerator and place on a cutting board, caramel side down. Cut into 4-by-1-inch rectangles (you need at least 24). Return to the parchment-lined baking sheet and place in the refrigerator to harden while you melt the chocolate.
For the chocolate coating:
- Melt chocolate in a double boiler (or the microwave).
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove undipped candy bars from the refrigerator and drop them one at a time, nougat side down, into tempered chocolate. Cover caramel side with more chocolate, then remove candy bar. Use a fork to remove the bars to allow the excess chocolate to drip.
- Place bars on the baking sheet by tilting the fork(s) so the edge of each candy bar touches the parchment-lined pan, then smoothly pull the fork(s) out. Repeat until all candy bars have been dipped. Let sit at room temperature until completely set, at least 20 minutes.
- Trim any excess chocolate from edges of candy bars and place in an airtight container.
from Chow
Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
July 7, 2011 in breakfast
My husband’s birthday was a few days after we finally got settled into our house and at that point we’d only been to the grocery store for the staples. There were no fancy baking ingredients, not even any chocolate chips, so a birthday cake was pretty much out of the question. Lucky for me, he enjoys cinnamon rolls as much as cake especially if they include apples and caramel sauce!
Fantastic does not even begin to describe these! The dough is so soft and the apples on the inside are a nice surprise. The caramel sauce on top is what makes them though! Needless to say, the husband was pretty happy with his birthday treat.
(The recipe includes instructions for how to make the dough with a stand mixer but remember, you can do it by hand. It will just take a little longer and a lot more muscle.)
| Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls |
Yield: about 12 large rolls
Ingredients
- For the cinnamon rolls:
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch ground nutmeg
- 5 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 large egg, slightly beaten
- 1 tsp. lemon zest
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoon instant (rapid rise) yeast
- 1 cup plus 2-4 tablespoon whole milk or buttermilk, at room temperature
- For the filling:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼-inch slices
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch ground nutmeg
- pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- For the glaze:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- 3 tablespoon caramel sauce
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter on medium-high speed until smooth. Mix in the egg and lemon zest until incorporated. Mix in the flour, yeast and milk until a dough forms. Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed, about 8 minutes until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky. (You may need to add a little extra flour or liquid to achieve this texture.) Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, make the filling. To make the caramelized apples, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apple slices, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix until the apples are evenly coated. Cook about 18 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Set aside to cool. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon to blend; set aside.
- Mist a work surface with spray oil. Roll it out into a rectangle with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the dough with flour if needed to keep it from sticking (about 12 x 14 inches for larger rolls or 9 x 18 inches for smaller rolls). Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix to blend. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the surface of the dough. Evenly distribute the caramelized apples over the top of the dough. Starting with the wide edge, roll up the dough into a cigar-shaped log, creating a cinnamon sugar spiral as you roll. Pinch the seam shut, and with the seam side down, slice the log into your desired number of rolls. Transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, placing the rolls about ½-1 inch apart.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 75-90 minutes, until the rolls have grown into each other and have nearly doubled in size. At this point, the rolls can also be covered and retarded in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Pull the pan out of the refrigerator 3-4 hours before baking to let the dough proof.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool in the baking about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
- To make the glaze, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in the caramel sauce, milk and vanilla extract. Add confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Swirl the glaze over the top of the cinnamon rolls. Let cool at least 15-20 minutes before serving.
adapted from Annie’s Eats
