Salted Peanut Chews

I know the trend right now is to make things with salted caramel.  I personally love the combination of salty and sweet.  These bars satisfy that need when my tastebuds cry out for it.  They aren't quite as salty as the salted caramel goodies I've tried, but they're pretty addictive for me.  I hadn't made these in some time and decided to resurrect the recipe for our recent beach trip, as I used to make them all the time for our annual seaside trip and thought the 20th anniversary would be the perfect time to do so.

I found this recipe years ago in one of those small recipe magazines found near the checkout stand in the grocery store.  I can't even find the original recipe to give credit for where it came from; all I have is the paper I typed to share the recipe with friends.  Like me, my youngest son thinks these bars are addicting and overall the guys rate these bars 7's and 8's.

After preheating the oven to 350°F, I began by combining the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.

Then I added the softened butter, beating to thoroughly combine.

Next, I add the wet ingredients, including two egg yolks.  Helpful Hint:  I always drop any egg I'm about to use in a short glass of water to make sure it is fresh.  If it sinks, it is perfectly fresh.  If it floats, throw it out immediately!  Try not to break it, as it would smell foul!  The reason the bad eggs float is because as they spoil, the air pocket just inside the shell becomes a gas, which is lighter than air and causes the egg to float.

Now I want to show you the fastest and most amazing way to separate eggs!  I found a video showing this method on Pinterest and couldn't believe my eyes.  I've captured the process here in still shots for you.  First, I cracked a fresh egg into a saucer.  Then, taking an empty, clean water bottle, I squeezed the sides of the bottle as I neared the yolk.

As I touched the yolk gently with the lip of the bottle, I released the squeeze on the bottle and the yolk began to travel inside the bottle!

Once the yolk was fully inside the bottle, I lifted it away from the white and had a perfect separated egg.  I keep washing the same small water bottle, as it is my new egg separator!

I simply squeezed the bottle again over the mixing bowl to release the egg yolk and repeated the process for the second egg.  It only takes a matter of seconds to separate an egg.  I also added the vanilla here and beat the ingredients together.

The result is a moist, crumbly mixture.

Using my clean hands, I pressed this crust mixture into my 9- x 13-inch baking dish and put it in the oven for 15 minutes.

As you can see, the crust became a pretty golden brown and raised a little bit.

Once out of the oven I added the marshmallows.  My marshmallows got a little sticky because of the hot weather, which makes it harder to make an even layer, but I did the best I could.  I placed the dish back in the oven for another 2 minutes.

The marshmallows puffed up and almost completely covered the crust in this step.  When the peanut mixture is added, it helps move the marshmallow around, so each bar has some marshmallow.

I apologize, my pictures of the next step are missing.  Basically, in a large saucepan, I combined the corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and peanut butter chips.  I cooked this mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly until the chips were melted and the mixture was smooth.  I then removed the pan from the heat and added the peanuts and rice cereal.  This is a stiff mixture to stir, but everything needs to be combined thoroughly.  I then used a soup spoon to drop this mixture as evenly as possible over the marshmallows.  I then refrigerated the dish for 1 hour until firm, then cut them into 1- by 2-inch bars.

To me, this is just the right combination of salty and sweet.  Enjoy!

Salted Peanut Chews

CRUST                                                                     TOPPING

  1 ½   cups all-purpose flour                                   2/3   cup corn syrup

   2/3   cup firmly packed brown sugar                   1/4   cup butter

   1/2   teaspoon baking powder                                  2   teaspoons vanilla

   1/2   teaspoon salt                                                      1   (10 oz.) pkg. peanut butter chips

   1/4   teaspoon baking soda                                       2   cups crisp rice cereal

   1/2   cup butter, softened                                          2   cups salted peanuts

       1   teaspoon vanilla

       2   egg yolks

       3   cups miniature marshmallows

Heat oven to 350°F.  Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off.  In a large bowl, combine all crust ingredients except marshmallows at low speed until crumbly.  Press firmly in bottom of ungreased 9- x 13-inch baking pan.

Bake at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.  Remove from oven; immediately sprinkle evenly with marshmallows.  Return to oven; bake an additional 1 to 2 minutes or until marshmallows just begin to puff.  Cool while preparing topping.

In large saucepan, combine all topping ingredients except cereal and peanuts.  Heat just until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat; stir in cereal and peanuts; combine thoroughly.  Immediately spoon warm topping over marshmallow; spread to cover.  Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.  Cut into bars.

Snickerdoodle Turtle Dessert

Whenever I ask my guys what dessert they think I should make for a particular occasion, this is always what they say they want.  The most recent time was for my youngest son's birthday.  They can't seem to get enough of this one!  This dessert will satisfy anyone's sweet tooth for sure!

My sister got this recipe from her mother-in-law, Sina Gage, and quickly shared it with me close to 30 years ago.  It has to sit for 24 hours before serving, so I don't ever make it on a whim.  If my guys ever gave out 10's for anything I make, this for sure would get that score, but it definitely gets high 9's from all of them.

To begin, I preheat the oven to 350°F.  Then, in a large bowl, I place the German chocolate cake mix and 1/2 cup of the evaporated milk.  It's important that you use evaporated milk as opposed to sweetened condensed milk.  I begin to stir these ingredients together . . .

. . . before adding the melted butter so that the milk doesn't react in any way to the hot, melted butter. 

I continue to mix until the ingredients are fully incorporated.

I then spread and press half of the cake mixture into a 9- x 13-inch baking dish and place it in the oven to bake at 350°F for 7 minutes.  I set the remaining cake mixture aside to use later.

When done, it should not resemble a baked cake, but it will have puffed up during the baking time.  I leave this to cool a bit while starting the caramel layer.

After unwrapping the caramels, I place them in a medium saucepan and combine them with 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk.  I melt these together over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

As the caramels melt, at first it looks as though they are just coloring the milk, but after a couple of minutes, you'll see that they are actually melting into the milk.  At this point, I start to stir more frequently.

The result should be a completely smooth caramel mixture.

I pour the caramel mixture directly on top of the cake mixture.  

I usually have to spread it a little bit to get it to the edges of the pan.  I learned the hard way not to start melting the caramels before the cake comes out of the oven.  It was too soft to spread the caramel to the edges and started lifting and making a mess when I tried.  That's why I always wait until the cake comes out of the oven before melting the caramels to allow it to cool enough before adding the carmel mixture.

I sprinkle 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips directly on top of the caramel layer, trying to add them as evenly as possible.

Then, I add the chopped pecans in the same manner.

The reserved cake mix becomes a bit stiffer as it sits, which makes it easier to handle for this next step.  Taking a small amount of the dough, I roll it into about a 1-inch ball, using my hands.

I then flatten it out on my hand.

I remove it from my hand and place it on top of the pecan layer.

I repeat this until the top of the dish is covered with the flattened dough balls.  Back into the oven the dish goes for an additional 10 minutes at 350°F.

As with the first layer of the cake mix, this layer puffs up during baking.  The dish needs to sit out on the counter for at least 24 hours before serving.  This allows time for the caramel layer to set, otherwise it will ooze when the dessert is cut into pieces.  After it cools completely, I cover it with plastic wrap until I serve it.  This dessert is pretty rich, so I don't cut the pieces very big.  I figure people can always take a second serving, if they can't live without it!  That is the case with most people!  Enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Turtle Dessert

1 German chocolate cake mix

1 (12 oz.) can Carnation evaporated milk, divided

¾ stick (6 tablespoons) butter, melted

14 oz. package Kraft caramels

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a medium bowl, mix the cake mix, ½ of the evaporated milk, and melted butter together.  Spread half of this mixture in a 9- x 13-inch baking dish, setting the other half aside.  Bake at 350°F  for 7 minutes.

Unwrap caramels and combine them in a medium saucepan with 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk over medium-low heat.  Stir often until all caramels are melted and mixture is smooth.  Spread over cake layer.

Sprinkle pecans and chocolate chips evenly over caramel layer.  Form remaining cake mixture into 1-inch balls and flatten them out.  Place on top of pecans and chocolate chips.  Bake an additional 10 minutes at 350°F.  Cool completely and let stand for 24 hours before serving to let caramel set.

German Apple Cake

There are a few recipes that I always go to when I need to make a good dessert that travels well.  This is one of those recipes.  Because I use my Pampered Chef Apple Peeler Corer Slicer machine, this cake is easy to assemble.  It's not pretty to look at, but the flavor more than makes up for it.

I made this cake to send to a reception following a funeral and forgot to take a picture once I had it frosted.  I also didn't get a photo of it once it was cut, sorry.  More than 20 years ago, the little church I was attending was putting on their first ladies' luncheon and we decided to share our favorite recipes with those in attendance.  This recipe was shared by Cheri Walters, our pastor's wife and my friend.  It has been a hit every time I've made it over the years.

This cake is unusual in that it doesn't begin by creaming butter and sugar together.  After I preheat the oven to 350°F, I begin by combining the oil and eggs in a large bowl.

Using a hand mixer, I beat the eggs and oil until foamy.

Then I add the sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, vanilla and cinnamon.

These ingredients need to be mixed in my hand, as the batter will be thick, almost like a cookie dough in consistency.  I like to use my Pampered Chef Mix 'N Scraper (I call it a spoontula!) because it works like a spoon while acting like a rubber spatula to keep the sides of the bowl scraped.  It's one of my favorite utensils!

After peeling, coring and slicing my apples using my Pampered Chef tool, I add them to the batter.  I've found that 1 regular medium size Granny Smith apple equals 1 cup of sliced apple for this recipe.

Using my spoontula, I fold the apples into the batter, trying not to break too many of the apples.

I transfer this mixture to a greased 9- x 13-inch baking dish (in this case an aluminum pan so nobody had to worry about returning my pan) and place it in the oven to bake at 350°F for 55 minutes.  After that, I check the middle for doneness by sticking a cake tester in it, before removing it from the oven.  Sometimes it needs an additional 5 minutes baking time.

I place the cake on a cooling rack to cool completely before adding the cream cheese frosting.

To make the frosting, I combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl using a hand mixer.

To that, I add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing until smooth after each addition.

The last thing I add is the vanilla, beating until smooth.  I then spread the frosting evenly on top of the cooled cake.  It's ready to take to a pot luck meal or any other event.  Depending on how big the pieces are cut, it serves a minimum of 15 people.  This cake is a great way to end any meal!  Enjoy!

German Apple Cake

1 cup vegetable oil

3 small or 2 large eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups thinly sliced green apples (Granny Smith or Pippin)

Preheat oven to 350°F.  In  large bowl, beat oil and eggs with a mixer until foamy.  Add sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and vanilla; stir by hand.  Batter will be thick, almost like cookie dough in consistency.  Fold in apples carefully.  Transfer to a 9- x 13-inch baking dish.  Bake at 350°F for 55 minutes, or until done in the middle.  Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients until smooth.  Spread on cooled cake.