Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

I tend to judge a recipe by it's name. The more adjectives in a sweet treat, the better in my opinion. I was hoping to put this up sooner, but my laziness kicked in. But at least I was consistent these last two posts. This one and the last one were both posted on the 21st of the month. Maybe that should be my goal for now. I wanted to post weekly, but that's not working so well. Although a month from now all my time will be spent packing because we are moving into a house! We are pretty excited. But for now, back to my sweet treat full of adjectives.

Think of a thick chocolate chip cookie stuffed with salted caramel...now make this recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod because that is essentially what you get. These rich bars keep well and are perfect for potluck desserts, parties, or just taking the pan to the couch and digging in.

Yield: 9x13 pan, cut however you'd like
Time: 45ish minutes

Ingredients
12 Tbs melted butter, cooled
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla 
2 1/8 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
 2 cups chocolate chips
10 oz caramel candies, unwrapped (it's not quite a whole  bag)
3 Tbsp heavy cream
Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 325 and prepare a 9x13 glass pan with a bit of cooking spray or butter.

In a large bowl use a mixer or beater to combine cooled melted butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.

Slowly add in the flour, salt, and soda. People always say to mix the dry ingredients and then add them in to the wet, but I almost never do that. I add in 1 cup of flour to the wet and mix it up. Then I measure out the 1/8 cup flour with the salt and baking soda and add that in. Finish up with the last cup of flour.

When the dry ingredients are mixed in, time to stir in the best part, the chocolate chips!

Once the batter is ready, press about half the dough into your prepared pan; cover the whole bottom.

Now get those caramels and add in the heavy cream. Microwave that gooeyness until they are melted. It normally takes about 2 minutes on high, stopping to stir every 20-30 seconds. As soon as the caramels are all melted and the cream is absorbed, it's ready.



Pour the melted caramel all over the dough pressed in the pan. Use all that gooey goodness to cover the dough.

 
Once that's done, sprinkle as much sea salt as you want on top of the caramel. I tend to put more than I think is necessary, because there is a lot of flavor in these bars and I want the salt to be tasted and not hidden.

Once it's covered with your desired amount of salt, press the rest of the cookie dough on top of the caramel. I like to take chunks of the dough and flatten it with my fingers before placing it on top of the caramel. You won't completely cover the caramel, just cover what you can.

Finally, sprinkle some more salt on top and stick that pan in the oven!

Let the bars bake for about 30 minutes or until the top of the bars are golden and the edges pull away from the pan. Sadly, you have to let these bars cool to room temperature on a cooling rack before you can cut them, otherwise they become a ridiculous mess.

 
Cut at your own risk.

Watch how fast these bars disappear and enjoy!



Original post at http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/chocolate-chip-salted-caramel-cookie-bars/

German Chocolate Brownies - Waldman Family Style

It's been a month since my last post...you would think with school out that I would have posted much more. However, since school has ended I have had oral surgery, attended my grandfather's 80th birthday, started and finished a Master's course, and gotten a new puppy! It's been a busy month! But I had a bit of downtime and thought it was time to share another recipe.

For my grandfather's birthday, he requested these German Chocolate Brownies. He had a big party at his house with all his friends and the whole family. It was a wonderful time and it was an excuse for me to bake! I baked four different things and came home with very little. One item was the Slutty Brownies that I shared not too long ago. Those were a hit among the little old ladies and they though the name was a hoot! My grandfather's friends are pretty great. So anyway...back to these brownies. I don't really know where this recipe came from but my mom has been making it for years. If you love chocolate, caramel, and brownies, you will love these brownies!

Time: 45ish minutes
Ingredients
1 package of wrapped caramels (14 oz size)
2/3 cup evaporated milk, divided
1 package German Chocolate Cake Mix (any brand will work)
2/3 cup butter, melted
1 package chocolate chips (12 oz)

Preheat oven to 350.

The first thing you have to do is unwrap all those caramels. It takes a while and I know you will be tempted the whole time, but it must be done. As you unwrap the caramels throw them into a microwave-safe bowl or into the top part of a double boiler. Now melt those sticky pieces of awesomeness using whatever method you choose. Once they are melted, stir in 1/3 cup of evaporated milk.

Once that is all mixed well, set it aside.

  

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the German Chocolate Cake mix with the melted butter and the remaining 1/3 cup evaporated milk. It will seem thick, but remember, the desired outcome is brownies, not cake. 

Now, press half of the batter into a greased 9x13 pan. You can use a spatula, spoon, or whatever, but as you can see from the picture, I may have used my hands...and left finger indentations...

Pop it in the oven for about 6 minutes or until it is slightly firm.

While this layer is still warm, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the whole pan.

Remember that caramel mixture you set aside? Get that and spread it on top of the chocolate chips. Run a spatula over all of it until the whole bottom layer is covered.

Now comes a tricky part. You have to take the rest of the batter and spread it on top of the caramel. It's tricky, because the batter doesn't spread very easily. I take chunks of it in my fingers and squish it before I place it on top. Try your best to cover as much of the caramel as possible.

 It looks awkward, but it will bake to deliciousness...I promise.

I thought it looked cool, so I took another picture...

Now stick the whole thing in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the brownie portion has set and has browned around the edges. 

Here comes another tricky part...you must let these cool completely before cutting in! If you don't, they will be a gooey mess. An amazing gooey mess, but not finger food. However, my family has been known to scoop the goo in a bowl and eat it with ice cream. But these are meant to be brownies. So, cool and then cut. Please make these...you won't regret it. They are chewy, chocolatey, and delicious!

Slutty Brownies....Finally!

So looking at my blog, I can see that I have not posted since the beginning of April...it is now towards the end of May. That lack of activity can be attributed to a hectic schedule. But, school is over for the year! The end of the year is a time of ridiculous crazyness, but it is over! To catch up, I have ended my last year as a Kindergarten Dual-Language teacher and will be teaching K-6 Spanish in a different district. As for TBDH, he is still figuring out what he wants to do. Currently is is interning with a computer repair service and looking for jobs. We will see what happens.
As school was coming to an end, I decided I needed to take something special to the staff. These brownies seemed perfect. Oreos were on sale and I had an idea. I found these Slutty Brownies on Pintrest from several different sources, but they were all essentially the same. One source actually did give some reason for the name. She says that these are easy and just a little bit dirty. One source also called them Lasagna Brownies, but I'm a fan of the Slutty moniker. I tried making these brownies once and they turned out pretty good, but I knew they could be better. I tried a second time but they weren't as good as the first time. So I had an idea to help these reach their full potential. Essentially these brownies are cookie dough, Oreo, and brownie. The first and second time I made these I discovered the cookie dough bakes much faster than the brownie, creating a drier crust and with a very moist top. I was hoping for more moisture in the cookie layer too.
My brilliant idea was to make these in muffin tins instead of a large pan! Brilliant, right?! It's not that exciting until to taste them. So moist and delicious. You must try these!

Time: 40 minutes
Makes about 2.5 dozen brownies with extra cookie dough
Ingredients
Full recipe of your favorite chocolate chip cookie dough (I use the Nestle Tollhouse recipe for these, with slight alteration)
Brownie batter (I'm a fan of Betty Crocker's Fudge Brownie Mix)
1 package of Oreos

Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
1 stick of soften butter
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cup chocolate chips

Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies
1 brownie mix
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375

For the cookies
Cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla extract until all combined. Beat in the two eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet until all is mixed. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips. Let that sit aside while you make the brownie batter and try to not eat all the dough. Cookie dough is my weakness...

For the Brownies
Combine brownie mix, water, oil, and eggs until all the mix is moistened. It's ok if their are some lumps.

Assembly
You can either line muffin tins with papers or spray them very well with cooking spray. Press cookie dough into each muffin well until it is about half full. Next, press an Oreo into each well.

Finally, top the wells off with brownie batter until the Oreos are covered.

Place the deliciousness into the oven for 16-18 minutes or until brownie top is done. Let the pan cool for about 5-10 minutes before lifting the liners out. If not using liners, let the brownies cool even longer before trying to remove them. You can let them cool completely before eating them, but you might as well try one while they are warm. I have also heard these are good with vanilla ice cream on top, but I never make it that far. My only regret is that I didn't take a picture of this sliced open...it's beautiful when you see the layers.

I was testing liners vs. non-liners..both are amazing :)