Salted Caramel Turtle Triangles

Double chocolate chunk, fudgy brownies meet ooey, gooey caramel and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Ingredients:

Cookie Base:

1        pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker™ double chocolate chunk cookie mix

1/4     cup butter or margarine, melted

2        tablespoons water

1        egg

2/3     cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Caramel Topping:

4        tablespoons butter

1        bag (14 oz) caramels, approximately 50 caramels

1/4     cup heavy cream

1/2     teaspoon vanilla

1/8     teaspoon coarse kosher salt, plus additional 1/2 teaspoon for top of bars

Directions:

• 1 Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 9 x 13-inch pan with cooking spray.
• 2 In medium bowl, stir together cookie mix, butter, water and egg until soft dough forms. Press dough evenly into prepared pan, sprinkle with 1/3 cup pecans. Bake 11 to 15 minutes or until set in center and edges just begin to pull from sides of pan. Set aside to cool.
• 3 Meanwhile, in medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter, caramels and cream, stirring frequently until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and 1/8 teaspoon salt.
• 4 Spread caramel evenly over cookie base and sprinkle with remaining pecans. Cool completely. Sprinkle top of caramel with additional salt right before serving. To serve, cut into 4 rows by 6 rows and cut each square diagonally into triangles. Store in refrigerator; bring to room temperature before serving.

Source:  bettycrocker.com

Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies

Ingredients:

For the Dough:
 
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup cold sour cream

For the Filling:
 
2 cups small diced (peeled) Granny Smith apples *
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
8 store-bought soft caramels, roughly chopped
Large flake sea salt (See Kelly's Notes)
Egg wash (1 egg lightly whisked with 1 Tablespoon water)
Crystal sanding sugar (optional)

Directions:

Make the Dough:

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.
Add the cubed butter to the bowl and use your fingers to work the butter into the flour until the mixture is the consistency of wet sand.
Stir in the sour cream (the dough will be very wet), and then turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface.
Knead the dough a few times until it comes together, adding more flour, 1 teaspoon at a time, if the dough is too sticky to handle. Roll the dough into an 8x10-inch rectangle and dust both sides with flour before folding it into thirds as if you were folding a letter.
Rotate the dough 90º and roll it out again into an 8x10-inch rectangle. Fold the dough again into thirds then wrap it securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes while you make the filling.

Make the Filling:

In a small bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar and flour, stirring until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.

Assemble the P
ies:

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and unfold it onto a well-floured surface, rolling it out to a 14x14-inch square. (See Kelly's Notes.)
Using a 3-inch circular cookie cutter or cup, cut out as many circles as possible. Re-roll the scraps and continue cutting out circles until you run out of dough, ensuring you end up with an even number of circles. (You should have approximately 20 3-inch circles.)
Place six of the dough circles on a Silpat or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Spoon a small portion of the apple filling into the center of each circle, leaving enough of a border around the filling. Top the apple filling with a portion of the chopped caramels and a pinch of sea salt. Place a second dough circle atop each filled circle then use a fork to crimp the edges together, sealing each pie.
Brush each pie with the egg wash, and using a sharp knife, cut two or three vents on the top of each pie. Sprinkle the pies with crystal sanding sugar (optional).
Bake the pies for about 15 minutes, or until they're golden brown.
Remove the pies from the oven and allow them to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Repeat the filling and baking process with the remaining dough circles.

*  Kelly's Notes:

The cubed apples should be no larger than the size of corn kernels to ensure they become tender during the quick 15-minute bake time.
Large flake sea salt is available in most supermarkets. My preferred brand is Maldon Salt.
If the dough is too firm to work with after refrigerating, allow it to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before cutting out the circular shapes.
If the sour cream in the dough makes it too sticky at any point in the rolling out process, just simply sprinkle a pinch of flour atop the wet areas and continue rolling.

Source:  justataste.com

Carrot Cake Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Whipped Cream!

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make cheesecake mixture first by mixing the following ingredients and then set aside.

2 (8 oz) pkgs. cream cheese
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour

Carrot Cake:

2 cups coconut sugar (or use regular)
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 pound baby carrots, grated in food processor. 

Directions:

With a hand mixer, mix sugar, oil and vanilla. Then add eggs. Add flour, cinnamon, soda and carrots and mix until combined. Spray a 9-INCH spring form pan with coconut oil (or non stick cooking spray) and pour in half the carrot cake batter. On top of it, dollop mounds of cheesecake mixture using only half the mixture. Pour on the rest of the carrot cake batter. Top that layer with mounds of the cheesecake mixture and only gently swirl it in a drop.

Place pan on top of cookie sheet and bake for 65-75 minutes or until done. For the last 10-20 minutes put a foil tent loosely over the cake if it is getting too brown. Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
4 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 tablespoons sour cream


Directions:

Beat all ingredients on high until smooth and creamy. Spread on top of cake and then decorate with pecan halves, if desired. Chill and serve with whipped cream and salted caramel, of course!

BEST SALTED CARAMEL RECIPE-

2 cups sugar
1 2/3 cups heavy cream, warmed in microwave
2 tablespoons salted butter
3/4 teaspoons coarse sea salt

Directions:

Spread the sugar in an even layer in a large metal pot, at least 6 quarts. Set over a moderate heat and cook without stirring, until the sugar near the edge just starts to liquefy.

Use a wooden spoon and begin stirring, encouraging the melted sugar around the edges toward the center, delicately stirring up any sugar melting on the bottom as well. The sugar will start to look pebbly as it cooks, but keep going until it is melted completely and an amber color. If you think it is cooking too fast, lower the heat and keep stirring. Be patient.

Continue to cook until the sugar turns deep brown. Once brown, take it off of the heat. Time to add the cream but here is my trick....only add a DROP at a time and stir, stir, stir. This will eliminate the seizing of your caramel. Keep adding a drop at a time and keep stirring until all of the cream is mixed in. Be patient...you have a lot of cream so this will take a few minutes. Once smooth, add butter and salt. Let cool. Will store in fridge up to one month. Makes 2 cups.