Hazelnut Carmelitas

So call me crazy, but Pinterest is one of the best things that's ever happened to me.

To say that I'm obsessed with it is a serious understatement.  I have wasted spent hours upon hours on this website, scrolling through pins.  Salivating over delicious foods.  Simmering with jealousy over other people's fabulous sense of style.  Willing my pea brain to remember all the handy tips I've read.  And wishing I had more time to make all the neat crafts I've seen.

(In a more practical sense, I also love Pinterest because it has brought so many new visitors to my blog.  Yay! I like new friends!)

Now, I recently noticed a very popular Pinterest recipe, for Carmelitas from Lulu the Baker, that I have been dying to try.

I'm sure the original recipe is amazing, but I wanted to put a slightly different spin on it - so I added some Nutella and toasted hazelnuts.

Oh my word.  These things are dangerous.

My dad and stepmom had Mr. Vittles and I over for dinner, and we brought these for dessert.  My stepmom specifically asked to be quoted on V&B that she "thoroughly enjoyed" this dessert.  Which, might I add, is a lot coming from a person that doesn't much care for sweets.

My dad... well that's another story.  I only brought a few because they don't like to keep bad-for-you food in the house, but he quickly determined that the two leftover bars would definitely not be going home with us.

I did have a couple more left at our house though, so I brought one to my friend (and cube buddy) Joe at work.  He loves caramel, so I figured he would enjoy it.  It lasted until about 8:30AM on his desk, when I heard a muffled "These are amazing!" over my cubicle wall, amidst lots of chewing.

So please, do me a few favors.

One, get on Pinterest if you aren't already.  

And two, make some carmelitas.  Plain, hazelnut, whichever - just please make them!

I can't be the only one wearing pants with an elastic waist around here.

Hazelnut Carmelitas

• 16 caramel squares, unwrapped
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 C. nutella spread
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 C. semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 C. chopped hazelnuts (I recommend toasting them first, but that's up to you)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a large bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda. Pat half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8x8" pan.  Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

While crust is baking, melt caramel squares with heavy cream and nutella in saucepan over low heat.  Stir until melted & smooth.

Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips and hazelnuts over baked crust. Pour caramel mixture evenly over pan. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.*

*The original recipe says you can put these in the fridge to speed up cooling if you are short on time. The bars shouldn't be served cold, but the caramel takes a long time to cool down.  I would wait until they are cooled a little bit though first if you used a glass pan (don't want it to crack).  Bars should be stored and served at room temperature.  Mine were good for about 5 days in an airtight container.  Makes 1 8x8 square pan.

Recipe Adapted from Lulu the Baker

Take 5 Brownies

Yep, you saw right.  Take 5 Brownies.

Right now you're probably wondering.... where have these been all my life?

And also... how many of these can I eat without having to incorporate stretchy pants into my holiday wardrobe?

Or, um, maybe that's just me?

But since Take 5 bars are one of my favorite candies, I've had this idea brewing for a while.  

And this is not my first attempt.

Round 1 was largely disappointing.  It used cake mix bars instead of brownies, and incorporated peanut butter chips and peanut butter cups.  Which you'd think would be better, because let's face it who doesn't love a Reese's cup?  But honestly they just got lost in all the mess of caramel and chocolate.

I still brought the bars to Thanksgiving, and overall people seemed to like them, but I was not impressed.  

They were sooo much better in my mind than in reality.

(Ugh.  HATE that.)

I knew I could do better.

So it was back to the cutting board, if you will - and Round 2 was infinitely times better.

I'm only sad that I made them to take to a party and not to eat the whole pan.

By myself.

In one sitting.

Then again, since Cardiac Arrest was not on my Christmas list this year, perhaps it's all for the best?

Take Five Brownies

• 1 box (family-sized for 9x13 pan) milk chocolate brownie mix
• 1 C. crunchy peanut butter
• 2/3 C. powdered sugar
•  1 1/2 C. ‘snaps’ or waffle pretzels (approximate- you may need a few more or less)
• 1 C. milk chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
• 1/2 C. butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 C. light brown sugar
• 6 T. light corn syrup
• 2 T. heavy cream
• 1/2 t. pure vanilla extract

Bake milk chocolate brownies as directed on box in a 9x13 pan.  Allow to cool completely, then combine crunchy peanut butter with powdered sugar in a large bowl.  Beat until combined, then spread evenly over cooled brownies.

Arrange pretzels over top of peanut butter in a single layer.  Sprinkle milk chocolate chips over top of pretzels and set aside.

Prepare caramel topping: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and heavy cream.  Bring to a boil and stir, making sure all sugar is dissolved.  Stir 5-10 minutes more, until caramel is thick & bubbly (about 230 degrees on a candy thermometer).  Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and pour caramel evenly over brownies.  Run the tip of a knife or the back of a spoon over the top in swirl patterns to create a design.  Refrigerate pan for about 1 hour to set.  Then remove brownies by lifting foil, and cut into bars.

Note: These are rich, so in this case less is more. I’d cut 4 columns down the short end, and 8 rows down the long end to make 32 bars.  Also, I like to cut the edges off first – totally optional, but it makes the bars look nicer!

Original Recipe; Caramel Topping recipe adapted from What’s Gaby Cooking 

Pumpkin Caramel Snickerdoodles

Today is Mr. Vittles' birthday.

His favorite cake is very simple (angel food cake filled with chocolate whipped cream) so I tend to feel guilty if that's the only thing I make for him. 

Especially since he also wants to go out to dinner tonight!

So last night we had one of his favorite meals (steak with garlic mashed potatoes) and I decided to make these cookies.

He likes anything pumpkin (one year I made him a Pumpkin Spice cake) so I thought this recipe would be a no-brainer.

When I took the dough out of the refrigerator, I gave him a taste and he said "It's good.  I have to say I was a little worried when you said they were going to be pumpkin snickerdoodles."

I guess he thought the taste would be too strong? 

Luckily, it's very subtle.

Then about a third of the way through the batch, I had him try just a piece of one of the finished cookies.  He tried to take a bite out of the half, but all the caramel came out with it. 

I asked him what he thought, and he said "It's ok.  The caramel is kind of a pain in the #*$ though."

Really?

I know someone else that's kind of a pain in the @#$.

I'm so sorry that gooey caramel deliciousness was just too much trouble for you, Mr. Vittles.  

(We should all have such problems.)

But since it is his birthday, I decided I better make a batch of just plain ones.  And for the record, they were also very delicious. 

...even though I forgot to put cinnamon in the rolling sugar until the last batch.

Oops!

Anyway, if you think the caramel is too daunting, feel free to leave it out :)

Pumpkin Caramel Snickerdoodles

Dough:

• 3 C. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 C. whole wheat pastry flour (you can just use all-purpose for all the flour if you prefer)
• 1 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 t. allspice
• 1/8 t. nutmeg
• 1 C. (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 1/2 C. granulated sugar
• 3/4 C. canned pumpkin puree
• 2 t. vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 24 soft caramel candies (such as Kraft)

Coating for Rolling:

• 1/2 C. granulated sugar
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. ground ginger
• 1/8 t. ground cloves
• 1/8 t. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 t. allspice

Make Dough: In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.  Set aside. 

In large bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium-high until light & fluffy (2 or 3 minutes).   Add pumpkin puree, and beat until well-combined.  Add egg and vanilla, and beat until combined.

Scraping down sides as necessary, add half of flour mixture and beat on low speed until just incorporated.   Add remaining flour mixture and beat only until no streaks remain.  Do not overmix.  Cover and chill dough thoroughly, for at least an hour, until consistency is easy to roll without sticking to your hands.

When dough is almost done chilling, unwrap caramels and slice each one in half.  Set aside.

Make Coating:  Mix sugar with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice in a small bowl and set aside. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and prepare baking sheet with parchment or non-stick spray.

Using a large cookie scoop or rounded tablespoon, scoop out dough into 6-8 balls (return bowl of unused dough to refrigerator.)  Break each ball in half and place caramel piece on one half of dough.  Top with other half and shape back into a ball (so the dough completely surrounds the caramel). 

Roll each ball in spiced sugar coating and place on prepared sheet (if you're like me & want an extra-crispy coating on the outside, you can re-roll all the balls again before baking.) 

Bake 11-13 minutes, until edges are lightly browned.  Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.  Repeat with remaining dough.  Store in airtight container up to 1 week.  Makes about 36-48 cookies. 

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Recipe adapted from DLYN, and Caramel-Center inspiration from The Baker Chick

Salted Caramel Nutella Brownies

Is it just me or has something been a little off the last few days?

I can't put my finger on it but I have just been getting a weird vibe, and odd things have been happening.

Work has been totally insane - or more specifically, the people I encounter at work have been insane.  I don't even want to get into it, so you'll just have to trust me on that.

But even at home, it's been a bit strange...

For instance, I came home from work a couple days ago to find the police parked in front of my house, "helping" a very old & very inebriated gentleman remove himself from my neighbor's lawn.

Nothing like getting sassy on a random Wednesday afternoon, and stopping for a little nap in the grass on your walk home!

Then yesterday evening, our living room ceiling started leaking water out of nowhere.  A huge patch of ceiling became saturated & discolored in a matter of minutes, and was dripping from all different parts.

Our landlords have a plumber coming to fix it and I'm sure it will be totally fine but... ahh!

Probably weirdest of all though is that my husband has not been sleeping.

Now I know a lot of people have this problem - but for Mr. V, it's like the cosmos have come to a screeching halt and turned his life upside down.

Typically, he sleeps like a rock... on tranquilizers... that's been hit over the head with a frying pan.

However, the house we recently moved to is on a bit of a busy street, and he's been having trouble sleeping with the sound of the passing cars.  So the slightest movement from me now wakes him up. 

Like... the sound of the lightswitch on the lamp.

??

Seriously.  I don't even know this man.  For years, not only could I turn off the light, I could probably unscrew the lightbulb and throw it at his head without him noticing a thing.

So now with his newfound problem, he's been setting up a sleeping bag in the only room in our house where you can't hear traffic driving by outside - our (large) closet. 

Which means I get to step over 7 layers of sleeping bags & random blankets in order to get to my clothes in the morning.

Crazy, I tell you.  Just crazy.

What's also crazy is that I have never put together Nutella, brownies, and salted caramel before this week.

On Monday I bought a fresh jar of Nutella at the store and was contemplating what to make with it.  I decided on brownies, and I found a good recipe on Noble Pig for Peanut Butter-Nutella Brownies.

But I was shooting for a more Nutella-y brownie, so I replaced the peanut butter with more Nutella.

Because I can.

Surprisingly, though, the Nutella flavor is still fairly subtle.  Maybe it's overpowered by the salted caramel (that was a complete afterthought)?

But who cares.  They're fudgy, rich, gooey, and absolutely delicious.

I need something to keep me sane in this mad, mad world!

Salted Caramel Nutella Brownies

• 1/2 C. flour
• 1/2 C. unsweeteend cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• 1/4 t. baking powder
• 1 stick (8 T.) butter, melted
• 3/4 C. + 2 T. sugar
• 1 t. pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C. Nutella spread

Caramel Glaze

• 1/4 C. heavy cream
• 1 C. sugar
• 1/4 C. water
• 2 T. butter, cut in pieces
• 1/2 t. kosher salt, divided

Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Grease an 8x8 square pan (or you may line with foil & grease, if desired - will make it easier to serve later after glazed).  In small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In large microwavable bowl, melt butter in 20 second intervals, stirring after each until smooth.  Add sugar & vanilla, and whisk until well-combined.  Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition.  Add cocoa mixture and whisk until fully combined. 

In glass measuring cup or other microwave-safe bowl, melt Nutella in 20-second intervals, stirring after each, until smooth and pourable consistency.  Stir into batter.  Pour into prepared pan and bake 27-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Allow to cool completely, then make glaze: in small saucepan over low heat, warm heavy cream - do not boil.  In separate medium saucepan, combine sugar & water but DO NOT STIR.  Place over medium-high heat & bring to a boil.  Cook until mixture turns an amber color, but not too dark that it looks like the sugar is burning.  (For me this took 5-7 minutes, but keep an eye on it.) 

Remove from heat and add warm cream, butter, and 1/2 t. kosher salt.  Stir gently until smooth & well combined.  Pour over cooked brownies, tilting the pan to coat.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 t. kosher salt.  Allow glaze to set before cutting/serving.

Brownie Recipe Adapted from Noble Pig; Caramel Glaze Slightly Adapted from Pioneer Woman

Nutella Caramel Corn

So I don't know if anyone else has noticed this trend, but I feel like recipes using Nutella have been EVERYWHERE recently.

For anyone that doesn't know what that is - Nutella is a hazelnut & chocolate spread that's smooth, like creamy peanut butter.  It's sort of like a spreadable Ferrero Rocher candy. 

In other words- incredibly delicious.

I've been dying to get in on the Nutella action for a while now - I had a little bit left in the cabinet from some recipe I made months ago.  But I wanted to make something I haven't seen yet & nothing has really come to me.

Until now.

This week I had a serious hankering for popcorn... which, actually, happens on almost a daily basis... but this time I wanted caramel corn specifically.

Then I got to thinking - what if I made a Nutella caramel corn?  That could be awesome.

And... it is.

I only had a half of a cup of Nutella left, though, so be aware that caramel corn made from the recipe below only has a hint of the chocolate hazelnut.  Mr. V really liked it, and he said he could tell that it was not regular caramel corn - but he was not able to pick out the Nutella flavor specifically.

I think if you wanted a stronger flavor, you could probably increase the amount to 2/3 or even 3/4 of a cup and still have a caramel with the right consistency.

But hey - "experimenting" will just give you a good reason to eat a bunch of caramel corn.

What could be wrong with that?

Nutella Caramel Corn

• 4 quarts plain popped popcorn*
• 6 T. butter
• 1/2 C. light corn syrup
• 1/2 C. brown sugar
• 1/2 C. Nutella spread (see note above)
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. vanilla

Place popcorn in large roasting pan and preheat oven 250 degrees.  (I covered my pan in foil first to minimize cleanup).

In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, Nutella, and salt, stirring to blend.  Bring to a boil, then boil five minutes while stirring constantly.  You will see large bubbles in the mixture.

Remove saucepan from heat, then stir in baking soda and vanilla until combined.  Mixture will become light and foamy.  Pour over popcorn, and mix with a spatula to coat.  You will be cooking & stirring the popcorn a few more times, so don't be too concerned with covering all the corn fully at this point.

Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Line your countertop with a few sheets of waxed paper and dump corn out onto paper.  Being careful not to burn your fingers, separate the pieces as desired.  Store in an airtight container.

*Note: 2/3 C. of unpopped popcorn should yield 4 quarts of popcorn for you.  You could also use microwave popcorn, but just make sure you get one that's plain NOT buttered.

Original Recipe

Caramel Apples

This is going to have to be another short post because the power cord on my computer broke again (this time not my fault - just faulty design!)  So I am on borrowed time here until the new power cord I ordered arrives in the mail.

Luckily this one has a 2-year warranty because I can't believe the piece of crap I bought 3 months ago is already broken!!

Grr.

Something to look forward to when I get full power - Mr. Vittles and I celebrated our first anniversary and I made a double-crust apple pie from scratch!

I'm not sure which event was more monumental ... I guess I have a few business days to ponder that ;)

In the meantime, enjoy this recipe for caramel apples in time for Halloween!

Caramel Apples

• 1/2 C. brown sugar
• 1/4 C. light corn syrup
• 2 T. butter
• 1/2 C. sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 t. vanilla extract
• 3 popsicle or craft sticks
• 3 medium tart apples, washed & dried

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and spray with nonstick spray (or butter it).  Stick popsicle sticks halfway into tops of apples by stem.

In saucepan, combine syrup, sugar, and butter.  Stir well.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Slowly stir in milk (so as not to stop the boiling) and continue to stir constantly until mixture reaches 235 degrees (soft ball stage) on a candy thermometer.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Allow caramel to cool about 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly.

Dip apples one at a time, tipping saucepan on it's side if necessary, and set coated apples on prepared waxed paper. Allow to cool or refrigerate to set.  Serve within a day or refrigerate up to 3 days to keep fresh.


Recipe from Justapinch.com by Wendy Rusch

Caramel Corn

You know what they say... when the hubby's away, the wife will play :)

Ok wait.  Not like that. 

It's all very innocent.

I'm just eating my weight in popcorn, watching bad reality tv, and going to Target at 9PM.

And... dancing around the house in my pj's and doing laundry at midnight and writing blog posts at 2AM.

Mr. Vittles is at a bachelor party tonight in Atlantic City, so he's probably getting into waaay more trouble than I am.

I'm sure it involves lots and lots of alcohol.

Although tonight is actually just the pre-party festivities, so maybe it's a bit more low-key?

...

Nah.

But more importantly - this caramel corn is amazing.  I mean, I could seriously eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Is popcorn a food group?

Well, at least it's a whole grain.

...covered in buttery, sugary goodness.

Which reminds me - what you definitely don't want covered in buttery, sugary goodness is your finger.

Ouch.

Or as my dad used to say, "Ooch McGooch."

?? 

Me, I always manage to burn the #%$* out of my hand at least once with anything involving hot caramel.

And while its sooo worth it in the end, it totally sucks every time.

So let that be a warning to you.  Just "go easy" with the molten sugar, ok?  For Pappy V's sake and mine. 

Now.  Back to the Real Housewives :)

Caramel Corn

• 3 quarts plain popped popcorn (1/2 C. unpopped kernels)
• 1 C. brown sugar
• 1/4 C. light corn syrup
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 C. butter (1 stick)
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 1 C. dry roasted peanuts (optional)

Preheat oven 250 degrees and place popped popcorn into 2 shallow greased baking pans (I usually line a roasting pan with foil becuase it can get rather messy).  Add peanuts to popcorn, if using.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in saucepan and stir occasionally until mixture starts to boil.  Boil 5 minutes while stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, and stir in baking soda and vanilla (mixture will be light and foamy).  Immediately pour over popcorn and stir to coat.  Note: at this point, there is no need to go crazy making sure all the corn is covered - the baking process should take care of that.

Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes to evenly coat the corn.  Line the countertop with waxed paper, dump out corn, and break any clumps into pieces to separate.  Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight containers or resealable bags.

Recipe barely adapted from Allrecipes.com

Butter Pecan Turtle Bars

Alright people, enough with this Facebook stuff.   Let's get back down to business, here.

I realized that I forgot to post the other special recipe from Momma Vittles' brunch, which was actually the most requested recipe of the day - Butter Pecan Turtle Bars.

I know I said I made 5 desserts which includes these bars, the mini cupcakes, and the lemon sables...

...but in case you were wondering, the other two desserts were brownie bites and chocolate chip cookies.

Someday I will share the chocolate chip cookie recipe with you, because it is pretty awesome.  But since there are already so many good CCC recipes out there, we will save that for a rainy day.

As for the brownies, those were from a box.

Eww, don't judge, ok?  They were lovingly mixed, spooned into mini muffin cups, and sprinkled with coarse sugar by my very dutiful helper (and BFF) Lauren Vittles.

(She is preggers, at the moment almost 18 weeks, but her hubby Tyler Vittles let me borrow her for the weekend to help prepare for and attend the brunch in Momma Vittles' honor.  And... I loved every second!)

Now, as for the butter pecan turtle cookies, this is actually a recipe that Momma Vittles used to make at Christmas time.

Why, I have no clue.  Really, they are delicious any time of year.

But unfortunately I lost the recipe, so I had to go searching for one on the internet that sounded similar.  I found one on About.com that seemed to do the trick.

Now I will admit, I am not a big fan of nuts (especially the dreaded walnut - yucky!!) but I really like this dessert.  So if nuts aren't your thing, don't be scared - I promise, the big, bad pecan won't hurt you.

Butter Pecan Turtle Bars

Crust

• 2 C. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 C. light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 C. butter (1 stick), softened

Topping

• 1 1/2 C. pecan halves
• 1/2 C. light brown sugar, packed
• 2/3 C. butter
• 1 1/2 C. chocolate chips (I like semi-sweet, but you can do milk if you prefer)

Combine flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup butter; blend until crumbly. Pat mixture firmly onto bottom of ungreased 9x13-inch baking pan. Sprinkle pecan halves over the unbaked crust. Set aside.

In small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2/3 cup butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to boil. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Drizzle hot the caramel mixture over pecans and crust.

Bake at 350° for 18 to 20 minutes or until caramel layer is bubbly and crust is light brown. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips. Use a small spatula or butter knife to spread chips evenly as they melt. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Recipe from About.com, by Diana Rattray