Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints

Do you ever see a picture of a cookie and you just have to have it? Well that's what happened when I spotted these "Sandies by the Sea" in a recent issue of Cook's Country. But I wasn't really happy with any part of the recipe, more just the inspiration, so I set about to create my own, delicious, version.

Caramel Apple Pie Cookies

Deep dish pizza is a pretty popular food in many parts of the country. Deep dish cookies? I'm thinking they'll catch on soon. Especially if they're filled with flecks of diced apple, caramel, and oh, is that a hint of bourbon? I think it is. 

Chocolate Caramel Tart

They say your brain can react to pain before you even feel it: you jerk your hand away from a hot flame before the pain registers in your mind. Basically, your brain is telling you to stop doing something really stupid before you seriously hurt yourself. Unfortunately, my brain doesn't stop me from doing other really stupid things in the kitchen. Things, that just moments after they happen, make me smack my hand against my forehead and wonder why I'm even allowed to go near the stove. This is the tale of the two Chocolate Caramel Tarts. 

Caramel Bars

I wanted to love these. I really did. They look great, don't they? But they just didn't taste as amazing as they look. And it's all my fault.
See, I found this recipe over at Piece of Cake, and it looked amazing. Actually, everything over there looked amazing, but I chose this one to try. But I changed it up. Though I used her crust recipe, I found a different recipe online for the caramel filling. Why, you may ask?
Well, basically, I wanted to make this recipe non-dairy, and her recipe called for sweetened, condensed milk, an ingredient that is basically impossible to substitute for. So instead I found one that called for butter - for which I used margarine, and heavy cream - for which I used non-dairy whip topping (Rich's is great).

We'll get back to the cookie later, but now that we're discussing caramel...oy.

My first trial at making it did not go particularly well. See, though the instructions clearly stated not to stir once it began boiling, I, clearly having a far superior intellect, could not prevent myself from stirring, and the whole thing quickly seized up in to a big, white mess. Finished product = disaster.
By try two, I reluctantly admitted that I may be human after all, and have to follow the instructions of mere mortals. Guess what? It worked perfectly. Thick, beautiful, delicious caramel was mine.
So after patting the crust into a pan, I got to pour it on top.
And pour.
It was at this point that I realized I hadn't paid enough attention to the recipe. The crust recipe called for 2 1/2 cups of flour, so when it came time to add the flour to the other ingredients, that's what I added. Only afterwards, did I realize that I was only supposed to add 2 1/4 cups, and save 1/4 to add to the reserved crumb topping.

Oops. I forged on anyhow.
Now here's where things get interesting once more.
When I pulled the baked bars out of the oven, I was a little nervous because the caramel seemed very soft and runny. And perhaps a little too plentiful as well. Even when it cooled to room temperature, it still didn't look like it would hold together when I cut it up. So I stuck it in the fridge.
When refrigerated, they totally held their shape, but biting in to them, I wasn't...thrilled. They weren't bad, but they were just a little too...much. There was too much caramel, I didn't love how it tasted cold, and the crust was a little too oily and heavy.

Basically, it was all my fault. I think that the amounts of filling didn't stand with my switching out recipes, and the filling itself was a little runnier than the original would have been.

I strongly recommend that you try the original recipe out - and let me know how it is!
Tip of the Day: Always use a non-stick saucepan when making sauces, syrups and toppings. And if your non-stick pan is scratched and worn, realize that it's likely lost much of it's "non-stickness."

Recipe: (adapted from Piece of Cake and Recipezaar)

Crust:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour (spooned and leveled), divided

Caramel:
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream, heated
2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp vanilla

Crust:
Beat the butter, sugar and salt together. Add in the vanilla.
Gradually mix in to low and gradually mix in 2 1/4 cups of flour.
Press 3/4 of the dough in to the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan.
Chill the pan in the fridge while you prepare the topping.

Caramel:
In a saucepan, stir together the sugar, corn syrup and water.
While stirring constantly, heat about 5 minutes until it begins to bubble.
Stop stirring, and allow to boil undisturbed until it turns a deep amber color.
Remove from the heat and slowly pour in the heated cream.
Stir until smooth, making sure to mix well.
Stir in the butter, mixing well.
Allow to cool for three minutes, then stir in the vanilla.

Pour most of the caramel topping over the chilled pan.
Top with the remaining 1/4 of the crust, mixed with 1/4 cup of flour and crumbled.

Bake on 350F for about 30 minutes. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes.

Turtle Bars?

These are turtle bars. Well, my version anyway. You'll see why.

(Yes, those are the classy paper plates with flowers)

I wanted to make something new and a little different, and so when I stumbled across the recipe, and realize that it was something unlike anything I'd made before, and that I had all the ingredients already, I was hooked.
For those of you who don't know, Turtle Bars are a bar cookie that generally have a cookie base, a caramel and nut middle, and a finishing chocolate layer. I got my recipe here.
So - adjustment number one: I don't really like nuts. I love peanut butter in almost anything, but real chunks of nuts in my food - not my thing. So, in these, I actually just sprinkled a layer of rice krispies in place of the nuts.
But the most important part of this recipe was the caramel: I got to make it myself! I'd never done that before. It basically involved melting butter and brown sugar together until it looked like this:
Exciting no? Although I was a little concerned that there just didn't seem like enough. If I were to make these again, I would probably double or least make 1.5 times the amount of caramel.
All in all, they were pretty good, and definitely something I'd try again, but maybe with a few more modifications.

Tip of the Day: If you're looking to substitute the nuts in a cookie or cake recipe, try rice krispies or a cereal like grape nuts - so you don't lose the crunch factor.