THE best caramel brownies, imho

It's all about pinterest people, pinterest. :0) I have found lots of yummy, yummy recipes in the last few weeks

from this site. YUM!

And now I give you, YUM-O caramel brownies. Make these. Make them now. And then enjoy THE entire pan!

Ingredients: 

For the brownies:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped {I used ghirardelli baking chocolate--one bittersweet, 

2 bars of semi-sweet}

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups pecan, coarsely chopped (optional) 

{I've yet to put the pecans in. Kod isn't too much of brownie/nut guy and I'm not all the time either}

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the caramel filling:

14 oz. caramel candies, unwrapped

1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with foil and grease the foil well with butter or cooking spray. Combine the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth. (Alternatively, microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until completely melted.) Remove the bowl from the heat. Whisk in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla until incorporated. Stir in the flour and salt just until combined. Spread about half of the brownie batter in the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven, maintaining the oven temperature, and let cool for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, add chopped pecans (if using) to a medium skillet over medium heat. Toast, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and light golden brown. Remove from the heat and set aside. To make caramel filling, combine the caramel candies and cream in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Stir in half of the pecans. Immediately spread the caramel mixture over the bottom brownie layer. Pour the remaining brownie batter over the caramel layer, taking care to pour and spread it evenly otherwise it will be difficult to spread evenly over the caramel layer. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and the 

remaining pecans on top of the final brownie layer. 

Bake for 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cook completely before slicing and serving. (To speed cooling, chill in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.)

Lift the brownies from the pan using the edges of the foil.  Remove the foil and cut the brownies into individual squares. Store in an airtight container. 

The first time I made these I used the aluminum foil in the pan with cooking spray on top. The next time I just sprayed a nonstick pan with cooking spray and I felt like they were much easier to handle and cut apart.

Either way, YUM! ;0) 

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

Recipe from Lucy Staples {my MIL}

Crust: Mix 1/2 cup toasted coconut, 2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs, and 6 Tbsp. melted butter. Press into a 9" spring form pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Set aside.
* Note: BEFORE you begin preparing cheesecake, preheat oven to 350 and toast 1/2 cup coconut and also 1 cup chopped pecans (keep separate).

Filling: Over low heat, melt 14 ounce package of Kraft caramels with 5 ounces of evaporated milk. Stir together and set aside.

Mix 2 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla.  Add 2 eggs, beat well. Blend in 1/2 cup of melted chocolate chips.


When you have baked the crust and mixed together the chocolate filling, layer in the crust:
Caramel mixture
Toasted pecans
Chocolate cheesecake mixture

Bake 40 minutes at 350. Remove from oven and loosen spring form pan.  cool cheesecake in pan on rack. Then, remove pan and side and chill on insert.

Serve with whipped topping, mini chocolate chips and pecans on top. {I had some hot fudge and caramel ice cream toppings that we put on top. You obviously can dress it up with anything!}

Yum, Yum, Yummy!!!

Brownie covered Oreos

Variations of this recipe have been circulating the internet recently. Here is the one I did. SUPER simple and a SUPER yummy and QUICK treat. YUM!

Make a brownie mix from a box {any kind will do}. Follow the directions on the box. Leave the mix in the bowl and dip one oreo after another into the mix, coating the oreo completely. Coat the Muffin tin generously in cooking spray. Drop the brownie covered oreo into a muffin tin and repeat until tin is full. Cook 10-12 minutes at 350 F {Don't overcook the brownies. Brownies are ALWAYS better gooey. ;0) }

You can sprinkle powder sugar on top or drizzle white chocolate over the brownie for aesthetics. I didn't do either and they were still yummy. 

I had a difficult time getting these out even after I drenched the pan in cooking spray.  Perhaps it'd help to line the muffin tin with cupcake liners? 

The Oreo cookie turns into a cake like consistency and the Oreo cream is SO yummy and a nice surprise in the middle. 

Mmm...

Apple Gruyere Pie

I just renewed my Netflix account two days ago and started watching the short lived but critically acclaimed television series Pushing Daisies. It is very fun and quirky and I wish it had found an audience so it would have been on longer than two seasons.

The show is about a pie-maker who can bring the dead back to life with a touch–and kill them again with a second touch. Needless to say, the hapless pie-maker brings a dead woman back to life and falls in love with her, realizing that he can never touch her. In addition to all the macabre antics surrounding reanimated corpses and the like, the show features two spinster aunts who are afflicted both with social anxiety disorder and a great love of expensive cheese. Make sense? No…? Well, like I said, it’s quirky.

Well, anyway, Chuck, the pie-maker’s undead girlfriend sends her cheese-loving aunts an apple pie with Gruyere baked into the crust. In an attempt to cheer them up and alleviate their social anxiety disorder, she laces the pie with homeopathic anti-depressants. I was inspired by Chuck’s pie and decided that I must make this pie, although sadly, without the homeopathic anti-depressants.

Searching the internet I soon discovered that I wasn’t the only inspired to try and make this pie so I read several of the recipes and combined different parts of each one and came up with this recipe. The pie turned out absolutely delicious so I decided to share it on the Humble Pie.

(The next thing in my Netflix Queue is Babette's Feast, which helped inspire this blog; Maybe it will inspire me to post more often.)

Apple Gruyere Pie

Crust Ingredients:

1 - 1/2 cubes (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/4 cup vegetable shortening cut into 1/2-inch pieces

5 to 7 tablespoons cold water

12 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 2 3/4 cups, plus extra for dusting

1 teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

3 ounces Gruyere cheese finely grated

Directions for the crust:

Place the butter, shortening and water into the refrigerator for 1 hour.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, salt, Gruyere and sugar by pulsing 3 to 4 times. Add the butter and pulse 5 to 6 times until the texture looks mealy. Add the shortening and pulse another 3 to 4 times until incorporated.

Remove the lid of the food processor and sprinkle in 5 tablespoons of water. Replace the lid and pulse 5 times. Add more water as needed, and pulse again until the mixture holds together when squeezed. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Filling Ingredients:

5 Tart Peeled Apples (I used Granny Smith apples)

1 cup Sugar

2 tablespoons Flour

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1 tablespoon Cider Vinegar

1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

Directions for filling:

Peel and slice your apples. Soak them in water with a tablespoon of lemon juice. This will prevent the first apples cut from turning a funky color.

In a large mixing bowl mix the remaining ingredients. Drain the water off of the apples and mix them with the spices.

Roll out the bottom piecrust put in glass pie plate. Cut the excess dough off so the crust is on the edge of the pie pan but not over. Puncture the crust with a fork.

(Making my own crust scares me and I normally just use the Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust but since I had to add the Gruyere cheese I had to bake my own. This tutorial was very helpful, if you feel you need step by step instructions for pie crusts watch this tutorial.)

Add the pie filling to the pie plate, dot with pieces of butter, and then roll out the top crust. Make 4 slits in top piecrust to let the steam out of the pie. Lay the piecrust over the top of the pie then cut the excess dough from the top crust so that there is a one-inch overhang off the pie plate. Roll top crust over the bottom crust and then in and then press to make a decorative edge. Grate a little more Gruyere on top of the pie crust.

Directions for baking the pie:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place pies on a cookie sheet to catch any drips, put in oven, and bake for 60 to 80 minutes, or until you can see the filling bubbling up between the slits in the crust. I put foil around the edge of the crust so it wouldn’t get too brown and took off the foil for the last 15 minutes of baking. Cool on a wire rack at least 20 minutes before serving.

strawberry crumb tart

It's strawberry season here in North Carolina and I bought my first strawberries this week and I can't wait to go pick some more this weekend. So I found this fantastic recipe courtesy of Emeril and The Food Network and had to share. He calls it a pie, but it's really a tart. Since he called it a pie I didn't bother to read the directions until I was well into it and saw that I needed a tart pan. Alas, I didn't have one so I used my spring form pan which worked fine. I also think just a pie pan would be fine as well.

I also don't have a food processor so I just made the crust with my Kitchenaide and had no problems.

Enjoy!

Ingredients
Pie Crust:

* 1 stick butter
* 3 ounces cream cheese
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* Pinch salt

For the crumb topping:

* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup oatmeal
* 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly

For the filling:

* 6 cups (2 pounds) quartered strawberries
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
* 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest

Directions

In the bowl of a food processor combine butter and cream cheese and process until smooth. Add flour and salt and process just until mixture comes together to form a ball. Remove dough from the processor and shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

While the pie crust is chilling, prepare the crumb topping. Combine the 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and the oatmeal in a small bowl and toss to combine. Add the melted butter and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Working on a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough out to a thickness of 1/8-inch and fit it into a 9 or 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Return pie crust to the refrigerator for 20 minutes, then blind bake until lightly golden, about 18 minutes. Remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool while you assemble the strawberry filling. Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl combine the strawberries with the sugar, lemon juice, orange zest and cornstarch and toss to combine. Spoon the strawberry filling into the prepared piecrust and spread the crumb topping evenly over the top of the filling. Bake in the middle of the oven for 1 hour, or until filling is bubbly and crust and crumb topping are golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature before serving.

Cookie Pie

That's right: Cookie Pie!
It's the best of both worlds! A marriage as wonderful as pumpkin square potato soup, only good. Trust me.

2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 c melted butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
dash of salt
1 t vanilla
1 c. milk chocolate chips

Pour into unbaked pie shell
Bake@325 for 1 hr.

who doesn't love a no-bake cookie?

My aunt posted this recipe on Facebook the other day and I gave it a try. I mean who doesn't love a no bake cookie? Any cookie that resembles a cow pie is a winner in my book. Since I'm not a huge fan of the peanut butter I was glad to see a different recipe than the more traditional no-bake. They were quite delicious and I'm pretty sure I consumed the whole batch pretty much by myself.

I used butterscotch pudding and added chocolate chips. However, I should have let them cool a bit more before adding them as the chips melted quite a bit.

Unbaked Caramel Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cup sugar
• ¾ cup butter
• ½ cup (4 oz) evaporated milk
• 3 oz pkg. instant butterscotch pudding mix
• 3½ cup quick- cooking oatmeal

Method:

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, butter and evaporated milk. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add butterscotch pudding mix and oatmeal; mix together thoroughly. Cool 15 minutes. Drop by spoons onto waxed paper. Makes 4 dozen After cooling, before you spoon onto the waxed paper you can add 1 cup of any or all of the following: butterscotch chips, nuts (any kind) raisins, coconut or chocolate chips. You can change the flavor of these cookies by changing the flavor of the instant pudding.

pumpkin gingerbread trifle

I haven't actually made this myself, but someone made it at enrichment this week (Christmas themed) and it was delish so I thought I would share the recipe. It would be a perfect holiday dessert.

2 (14 oz) packages of gingerbread mix
1 (5.1 oz) box cook and serve vanilla pudding mix
1 (30 oz) can pumpkin pie filling
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 tsp. cinnamon
1 (12 oz) container of frozen whipped topping

Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions and cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare the pudding according to the package directions and set aside to cool. Stir the pumpkin pie filling, sugar, and cinnamon into the pudding.

Crumble 1 batch of the gingerbread into the bottom of a large bowl. Pour 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the gingerbread, then add a layer of whipped topping. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Refrigerate overnight.

Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

This little gem comes from the Vineyard cook book courtesy of Rose Marie Morris.

2 c. quality shortening ( this is the secret ingredient....use the shortening, it's delicious I promise)
1 c. brown sugar, packed
2 c. white sugar
4 eggs beaten
2 tsp. salt
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. nuts (optional)
4 c. sifted flour
1 1/2 c. quick oats
2 tsp baking soda

I always add ingredients in order they are listed.

Drop on Cookie Sheet. Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes

Key Lime Pie

I just posted this recipe to my ward's recipe blog. We have an enrichment focus group recipe exchange once a month it's lots of fun to meet with all the ladies and chat and eat. This month's theme was Summer Favorites. Nothing is more summery to me than Key Lime Pie. This is my family's (I think Devry made it first) adaptation of Martha's recipe. Enjoy!

Key Lime Pie – Martha Stewart
Martha says, "Look for brightly colored, smooth-skinned limes that are heavy for their size. Small brown areas on the skin won't affect flavor or succulence, but a hard or shriveled skin will. You'll know the pie is done when the center is set but still quivers when the pan is nudged. Before serving, chill the pie in the freezer for 10 minutes; this will make slicing easier."

* 1 1/2 cups graham-cracker crumbs
* 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 5 tablespoons sugar
* 1 (14 ounces) can sweetened condensed milk
* 4 large egg yolks
* 1/2 cup freshly squeezed key-lime juice
* 1 tablespoon grated key-lime zest, plus more for garnish
* 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine graham-cracker crumbs, butter, and 3 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl; mix well. Press into a 9-inch pie plate, and bake until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and transfer to a wire rack until completely cooled.
2. Lower oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, gently whisk together condensed milk, egg yolks, key-lime juice, and zest. Pour into the prepared, cooled crust.
3. Return pie to oven, and bake until the center is set but still quivers when the pan is nudged, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
4. Shortly before serving, combine cream and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed until soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon over cooled pie; garnish with zest. Serve immediately.

Dana’s Substitutions:
Because I’m not as hard-core about my ingredients as Ms. Martha and in the interest of saving time I use a few short cuts. I use a ready made graham cracker crust and I use bottled key lime juice. The brand I can find the most is “Nellie and Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice”. Also for the zest I use a lemon because key lime juice is yellow so it’s not such a jarring contrast in the baked pie as the zest from a regular lime.

Grilled Fruit

Halve the peaches. Sprinkle generously with sugar. Let them sit for a bit while the sugar dissolves. Grill the peaches flesh side down for about 2 to 3 minutes. Then turn over and grill for about 1-2 minutes more. Take them off the grill and then drizzle with molasses. Serve with crème fraîche. I don't think I had really ever had crème fraîche before as it is not widely available and because of the cost is mainly used in high end cooking. So I decided to make some of my own. It is sort of a lighter tastier version of sour cream. It was totally worth it. I was the perfect compliment to the grilled fruit.

Crème Fraîche

To make your own is very easy. Using a glass container, start out with heavy cream (i actually just used regular whipping cream and it was fine). Then add buttermilk.

I added 2 tablespoons of buttermilk to my one cup of cream. I stirred it up a bit covered it with plastic and then let it sit overnight at room temperature. Everything I read assured me this is perfectly safe and that the good bacteria cultures in the buttermilk help stave off the bad ones. About 16 hours later it was a thick delicious cream.

I plan on making it all the time now. I plan on trying this with nectarines, plums and apricots. Yum, yum!