From Two Peas & Their Pod, this recipe is a recent favourite of mine. The cookie dough is delicious (no doubt I'll be making it in the future to eat straight from the bowl) but with the salted caramel, words can't describe the yummyness! Can you see the caramel oozing out of the middle? AARRGHHH! If you can wait until these bars are cool before inhaling them, you have serious skills in the art of self-control.
The other night I made something so gooey and decadent I could have cried. The chocolatyness? Insane. The salted caramel? *drools speechlessly* The combination of the two is so rich and indulgent - just imagine digging in to the picture above, taking out a gooey spoonful of warm deliciousness and eating your way to dessert heaven. Excuse me while I have a mental breakdown. This recipe is adapted from this month's edition of Woman & Home Magazine. Brace yourself.
I don't like salt. I don't like adding a large amount in baking, and I don't like sprinkling it over food. Yet this recipe, from the Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days book, looked interesting as I had heard about the wonders of salted caramel. I was curious as to how salt would work in caramel, let alone this cake, so I made it. It took hours - I started at around 5:30pm on Wednesday, first making the salted caramel, then the silky chocolate caramel frosting. Then it was time to bake three layers of intensely chocolaty cake, one layer at a time as I only had one tin. After a thorough cleaning of the kitchen, it was almost midnight, so I thought I would wait until the morning to assemble the cake. The frosting had hardened in the fridge overnight - waiting on it to soften was agonizing as I couldn't wait to put all the yummy elements together (as it turns out, I love salted caramel). Assembling the cake was exciting. Each layer of chocolate cake was spread first with the salted caramel, then the frosting. The result? A moist chocolaty cake with a twist: caramel that oozes from each layer with salt that only serves to complement a unique, decadent flavour. After one bite, my sister declared it the best thing I have ever made. And I've made a lot of stuff.
Another recipe from The Pastry Chef's Baking, this is a delicious brownie with a caramel topping and a sprinkling of nuts and chocolate. The intensely chocolaty, fudgy brownie goes perfectly with the chewiness of the sweet caramel - and it's all baked in a round dish. Doesn't it sound better to say "I ate half the pie" than "I ate all the brownies"? No? Oh well.
Sticky toffee pudding is one of my favourite desserts; the moist, sticky sweetness is just irresistible. After the success of Cookie Dough Cupcakes from Making Cupcakes With Lola, I decided to try another of their recipes. The cake part is essentially sticky toffee pudding - delicious. The topping is not the traditional butterscotch sauce but a luscious mixture of home made rum-infused toffee with white chocolate ganache. It certainly puts the 'sticky' in sticky toffee! If you don't already own the book, this is just one reason to buy it, as it's filled with loads more delicious recipes like this one. If you like sticky toffee pudding, you'll love these cupcakes.
This recipe is from The Pastry Chef's Baking and let me tell you now, you should be putting your apron this very minute - the sooner you start the sooner you will be able to eat the entire tray of enjoy these amazing brownies. The brownie batter is dark, rich and gooey, and it's common knowledge I can't resist a gooey brownie. If that's not mouthwatering enough, sweet caramel runs all the way through the middle, which balances perfectly with the dark chocolate. But wait - there's more! Chopped snickers bars are sprinkled over the top. This combination means you are looking at a top 5 candidate in my list of favourite ever brownie recipes.
When browsing the awesome My Baking Addiction I came across a recipe that I could not ignore: Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. I know it's the third stuffed cookie recipe this month, and the second involving Rolos, but seriously, Rolos and Chocolate Chip Cookies? Can you blame me? The cookie dough is divine; you'll want to eat it straight from the bowl - not that I know from experience or anything... Even if you don't have rolos, they would be awesome on their on their own - but the rolos provide a chewy chocolaty caramel-y centre. That's right. Now go forth and make these cookies!
I love rolos. And it goes without saying that I love fudge, which is why I thought I'd try this Rolo Turtle Fudge recipe from Shugary Sweets. It turned out to be a smooth, chocolaty fudge with the perfect texture and the occasional bite of chewy caramel from the rolos. I made a few changes to the recipe, like omitting the walnuts, and I ran out of milk chocolate so had to use a combination of milk and dark. Next time I'll be more prepared and use all milk, as although the fudge was rich and delicious, I can't help but wonder how much more so it would have been without the dark chocolate. Living in the UK, where marshmallow fluff isn't available, I bought it from Amazon.
Have you subscribed to Laura Vitale on Youtube yet? If not, do it now. Otherwise you might miss out on such delicious as this: Triple Chocolate Caramel Brownies. If the name isn't enticing enough, watch Laura's tutorial video which gives you step-by-step instructions so you know what yours should look like. You know how I named the Chocolate Chip Cookie Oreo & Brownies as my favourite brownie recipe? Here's it's biggest competition. So rich and decadent, these brownies take indulgence to a whole other level.
Rolos are delicious: chewy caramel encased in smooth milk chocolate. But why not take it to the next level of indulgence - bake them in a hazelnut-studded chocolate cookie dough. Yes, you read correctly. They are equally nice cold than they are out the oven, but you can't beat the gooey caramel that floods into your mouth when they are warm...
Fridays are usually a good day, but yesterday was awful: Higher English prelim exams. *Shudders miserably* It's too depressing to reflect on...it's still too soon. Let's just say I think know I've failed.
But there's a light at the end of the tunnel, a cure to turn around even the worst of days: take that awful day of yours and smother it in a crunchy, oaty, nutty, chocolaty tray-bake oozing with a layer of caramel. It works!
'Baked In America' is one of my most cherished baking books. The smooth front cover, the enticing layout, the mouthwatering photos...I highly recommend it, if not for the delicious recipes then just for the pleasure of reading it.
Tinned caramel is one of those luxuries in life that you wish with all your heart could be discovered as 'healthy' so that when you eat loads of it with a teaspoon, you'll feel no guilt whatsoever. But let's face it: there's gonna be some guilt involved. So why not make the most of it and swirl that tin of heaven into a dreamy combination of chocolate brownie and Dulce de Leche? Out of the few trillion brownie recipes I've tried so far, this is one of my favourites. Visit the original source for cup/ounce measurements.
