Salted Caramel Sauce

Oh my gosh - how in love with this sauce am I???  I could not stop licking the spoon, bowl, saucepan, you name it.  I could have poured it into a glass and drank it!  

It's creamy and glossy and sweet and perfect for swirling in brownies or Salted Caramel Blondies (which I can't wait to make).  Both recipes come from the blog Add a Pinch.  So glad I found it!  I made enough for about 1 1/2 cups - just store in the fridge in an airtight container and use some whenever you are in the mood!

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Salted Caramel Sauce

1 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 tablespoon sea salt 

In a medium saucepan, add brown sugar and melt over medium-high heat until sugar begins to melt and clump together.  Lower the heat to low, add butter, stir constantly until melted and sugar and butter are smooth.  

Remove from heat and gently stir in cream and salt.  Stir until caramel is smooth and glossy.  Let cool slightly and store in an airtight container.  Will keep in the pantry for a week or the fridge for up to a month. 

(Source:  Adapted from Add a Pinch)

Chocolate, Caramel and Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

So. Unbelievably. GOOD!  Rice Krispie Treats are awesome as is, but these are just over the top.  A couple of things - the original recipe calls for wrapped caramels.  Since I didn't have them, but had a tub of caramel sauce in the fridge for the kiddos to dip their apples, that's what I used.  I think the caramel probably would've hardened in the fridge if I used the wrapped ones, but these remained a bit gooey for that layer.  Didn't bother me!! 

The treats with the caramel peanut butter layer smothered on top.  Looking good already...

Store these in the fridge to keep the chocolate layer from getting too melty.  You can wait until they get room temperature or slightly chilled to eat, but I don't have that kind of patience!  For us, these were fantastic cold.

Makes 24 treats

Chocolate, Caramel and Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

3 tablespoons butter
1 (10 oz ) bag of marshmallows
1 tablespoon vanilla
7 cups Rice Krispie cereal
1 (16.5 oz) tub of Caramel Sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups peanut butter, divided
1 (12 oz) bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.  It's also helpful to grease the pot and utensils you are using to melt the marshmallows.

Combine the butter and marshmallows in a large saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until melted.  Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla, then the cereal.  Stir until cereal is completely coated and pour into greased pan.  Wet hands to press the mixture into the pan.  Place in refrigerator to chill.

In a small saucepan, heat caramel sauce and water over medium-low heat, until warmed.  Stir in 1 cup of the peanut butter until completely smooth.  Pour over chilled cereal mixture and spread to the edges.  Place pan back into fridge.

Over medium-low heat, melt chocolate in a small saucepan, stirring frequently so as not to scorch the chocolate.  When melted, add the remaining 1/2 cup peanut butter, stirring until smooth.  Pour chocolate mixture over the caramel layer and spread to the edges.  Place pan in the fridge to chill for about an hour or until chocolate is firm.  Cut into squares.  Keep in fridge.

(Source:  Adapted from piarecipes.com)

Caramel Sea Salt Brownies

My husband loves most things that I make, but let's face it...he just doesn't have the sweet tooth that I have.  I have to eat something sweet after lunch and dinner.  I have to have some chocolate at least twice a day.  Whether it's homemade or store bought, there is always some form of cookie or candy in our house (although I am trying to get better, but it's a long road ahead).   He does taste everything I make, but honestly I end up eating most of whatever the dessert is...yikes!  These brownies were a different story...he flipped over these!  And so did I.  I literally had an "Oh.my.God" moment when I bit into the chocolaty, gooey, salty goodness.

Did you ever see that show on the Food Network called "The Best Thing I Ever Ate"?  Each episode has an ingredient or a theme and the celebrity chefs talk about...wait for it...the best thing they ever ate.  I think this was the Salty episode and Claire Robinson (5 Ingredient Fix) was talking about this Sweet and Salty brownie she had somewhere in Brooklyn.  It looked to die for.  And I had to figure out how to make it!  Turns out, it wasn't that hard!  Using brownie mix from a box (make sure it's extra fudgy) and wrapped caramels, I think I was able to create a pretty good thing here.  I don't own a candy thermometer, although I need one, so I couldn't make my own caramel.  If you do and you want make it a bit more homemade, go for it!  Be sure to look on your box of brownies because often they will have a way to make cake-like or fudgy brownies...you definitely want as fudgy as possible for these guys.     

                                                                                                                                                                                          

Makes 16 Brownies

Caramel Sea Salt Brownies

1 box of fudge brownie mix (I used Duncan Hines Dark Fudge Chunk)

ingredients as it calls for on the box (egg, water, oil)

1 bag of wrapped caramels

1 teaspoon of sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x9 pan with cooking spray.  Mix brownies according to instructions on box and pour half into the 9x9 pan.  Bake until just set, about 15 minutes.  

Meanwhile, unwrap all the caramels and place in a medium saucepan with 2 tablespoons of water.  Heat over medium-low heat until completely melted and stir in sea salt.  Once the first layer of brownies is done, pour melted caramel over the top.  Then, over the caramel, pour the rest of the brownie mix.  Bake for another 15 minutes until the top brownie part is done (do not overbake!!).

Let cool completely (I know it's hard to wait but otherwise they won't cut well!) and cut into 16 squares.