Saltine Toffee

Ingredients:
37 saltines cracker squares
1 c. butter, cubed
3/4 c. sugar
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1 ounce white baking chocolate
1 t. shortening

Directions:
Place crackers in a single layer in a foil-lined 15-in. x -10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. In a large saucepan, bring butter and sugar to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes or until mixture is thickened and sugar is completely dissolved. Spread over crackers.
Bake at 350° for 7-8 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with chips. Bake 3-5 minutes longer or until chips begin to melt; spread chocolate evenly over top.
In a microwave, melt white chocolate and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over toffee. Chill for 15-20 minutes or until set; break into pieces. Store in the refrigerator.

Makes 1 3/4 lbs. Total time 30 minutes.

Verdict:
When we first made these we ate them right out of the oven. Then we put them in the fridge to cool. They taste much better cold. Not that they weren't good warm because they were. It made for a sweet/salty fast treat.

Pretzel Pancakes With Caramel Sauce

For the pancakes:
1/2 c. crushed pretzels, divided (1 heaping cup or 25 tiny twist pretzels)
3/4 c. flour
1 T. sugar
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. kosher salt
1 egg, separated
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. buttermilk
vegetable oil

For the caramel sauce:
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
2 T. water
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 T. butter

For the pancakes:
Whisk together 1/4 c. crushed pretzels, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
Using a hand mixer on med. speed, whip egg white in a bowl to soft peaks; set aside.
Whisk together egg yolk, milk, and buttermilk in a bowl until frothy. Stir into dry ingredients only until ingredients are moistened. (Small lumps are OK.) Let batter stand for 10 min. Fold in whipped egg white, stopping when thin, white streaks still remain in the batter.
Heat a griddle or nonstick skillet over med. heat. Brush griddle with a thin layer of oil.
For each pancake, pour a scant 1/3-1/2 c. batter onto the griddle; sprinkle each pancake with some of the remaining crushed pretzels.
Cook until bubbles form on surface of pancakes, about 2 minutes. Flip pancakes; cook until golden, about 2 minutes more.

For the caramel:
Boil brown sugar and water in a small saucepan 5 minutes, gently swirling occasionally to prevent scorching. Whisk in cream. (Mixture will bubble furiously and begin to harden into candy-like pieces; keep whisking and it will melt again.)
Boil mixture 2 minutes more, then whisk in butter until melted. Set caramel sauce aside; keep it warm.

Makes 4-6 pancakes. Total time 30 minutes.

Verdict:
Oh these were so yummy. I only made one batch and I should have made two. Our kids ate 2 or 3 pancakes each. They just kept eating. The caramel sauce was good and tastes great on ice cream (I tried it.) I will warn you that the batter is a strange consistency but they turn out good so don't fret. Make a double batch. Seriously.

Caramel Corn

Ingredients:
3 bags of popped microwave popcorn
2 sticks of butter
1 cup corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar

Directions:
Combine all ingredients together in a pot (except popcorn) and bring to a boil.
Boil until it reaches a soft ball stage on a candy thermometer.
Pour mixture over popcorn and mix together well.

Total time 30 minutes. Serves a lot.

Verdict:
My friend Cathy used to make this for me. She would send a bag home with me and I would eat it all myself. Because it is gooey, sticky, yummy goodness. If you are one of those people, like Blake, that like crunchy popcorn then this is not for you. But you "only like crunchy caramel corn popcorn eaters" are silly. That being said...when I asked Cathy for the recipe this was included in the directions and I thought it was funny.

"If you're feeling a whole lot of love for your family, it helps if you try to sift out the kernels that didn't pop before you pour the caramel over it."

Caramel Pecan Tart With Chocolate Sauce

For the dough:
Cream; Add:
1 stick butter, softened
1/4 c. sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
minced zest of 1/2 an orange

For the filling:
Bring to a boil; Add and fold in:
1 1/2 sticks butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. light corn syrup
3 T. sugar
3 T. heavy cream
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 c. pecan halves, toasted

For the chocolate sauce:
Simmer; Pour over:
1/3 c. heavy cream
1 T. light corn syrup
3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips

For the crust:
Coat a 9 inch tart pan with nonstick spray. Line a baking sheet with foil.
Cream one stick of butter and sugar in bowl with a hand mixture until light. Add yolk and vanilla, beat until combined, then add flour, salt and zest. Mix just until a dough forms.
Press dough evenly into tart pan, trimming excess from the edges. Chill until firm, 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350.
Place tart on prepared baking sheet and bake until crust is dry to the touch but hasn't begun to brown, 12-14 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly.

For the filling:
Mix all ingredients for filling in a pan except for pecans and bring to a boil. Boil until it reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Off heat stir in pecans.
Pour mixture into tart shell, return to the oven and bake until filling is bubbly and crust is brown, about 20 minutes. Let tart cool completely before slicing.

For the sauce:
Simmer cream and corn syrup for the sauce in a small saucepan. Pour mixture over chocolate, let stand 2 minutes and then whisk until smooth. Serve tart with chocolate sauce over top.

Makes one 9 inch tart. Total time 1 1/2 hours + cooling.

Verdict:
Oh this was so good. I had to give away the remainder so I wouldn't eat it all. Because I would. Every last bite. It tastes like a turtle candy bar. Good.

Peanut Butter and Caramel Cheesecake

For the crust:

1 1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c. crushed Oreo cookies
1/4 c. sugar
6 T. butter, melted
3/4 c. creamy peanut butter

For the filling:
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, warmed to room temperature
1 c. sugar
1 c. sour cream, warmed to room temperature
3 eggs, lightly beaten, warmed to room temperature
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 c. chocolate fudge topping, divided
1/2 c. caramel ice cream topping

6 peanut butter cups, cut into small wedges

Directions:
Combine cracker crumbs, cookie crumbs, sugar and butter in a small bowl.

Press on the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a greased 9 inch spring form pan.
Bake at 350º for 7-9 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
In a microwave safe bowl, heat peanut butter on HIGH for 30 seconds or until softened. Spread carefully over crust to within 1 inch of edges.
Beat cream cheese, sugar and sour cream until smooth in large mixing bowl. Add eggs and beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in vanilla. Pour one cup of cream cheese batter into a bowl and set aside. Pour remaining filling over peanut butter in crust.
In a microwave safe bowl, heat 1/4 cup hot fudge topping on HIGH for 30 seconds or until thin.

Fold into reserved cream cheese batter. Carefully spoon over filling and cut through filling with a knife to swirl being careful not to disturb peanut butter layer or the crust.
Bake at 350º for 55-65 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen but do not remove sides. Cool 1 hour longer on wire rack.

Microwave remaining hot fudge and caramel, separately, for 30 seconds or until warmed.

Spread over cheesecake. Garnish with peanut butter cups.
Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan and serve.

Total time 1 1/2 hrs. + warming time for ingredients and cooling.

Verdict:

Blake loves the peanut butter cheese cake from The Cheesecake Factory so I was on a mission to find one similar to that. Mission accomplished. This cheesecake is so rich and decadent that you may be only able to eat one piece...every hour. Trust me you are going to want to have this to share with people other wise you will want to eat the whole thing by yourself. There are a couple of things to note that will help in the success of this. First: make sure that the ingredients are all at room temperature. I can't stress this enough. I leave my ingredients out for 6 hours or so. Second: Don't over mix. Third: Don't cook too long. You want to have the center jiggly when you touch it. Last: Let the cheese cake sit in the fridge for a day until you eat it. You won't regret waiting.

Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake

For the caramel:
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. heavy cream
pinch of salt
1 c. pecans, toasted and chopped

For the streusel:
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
4 T. unsalted butter, sliced
1 1/2 T. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. table salt

For the cake:
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. low fat vanilla yogurt
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter,, softened
3/4 c. sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 9" cake pan with nonstick spray.
Stir together brown sugar, cream and salt for caramel. Pour into the pan and spread to coat the bottom of pan. Sprinkle pecans over top of caramel.
Process ingredients for the streusel in a food processor. Pulse until small clumps form. Set aside.
Whisk buttermilk, yogurt, and eggs together for the cake.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt onto a paper plate.
Cream butter and sugar with a mixer just until combined. Alternately add dry and wet ingredients, starting and ending with dry. Blend each addition just until incorporated.
Spread half of the batter over the caramel than sprinkle with half the streusel. Carefully spread remaining batter over that and top with the remaining streusel. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool cake for 5 min. and then invert on to a serving dish.

Makes one 9" cake. Total time 1 1/2 hours.

Verdict:
I had problems with this cake. When I first put the batter on top of the caramel it pushed it up the sides of the cake pan. Then when I was cooking it the caramel bubbled over and burned on the bottom of the oven. When we finally ate it the cake was a little dry and the caramel was hard around the sides. I think I am going to try it again but I will be smarter the second time around because I think it would be good.