Tag Archives: caramel

Peanut Caramel Crispy Treats

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I recently made some Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cup Crispy Treats and still had quite a bit of rice cereal left over, so I decided to try another kind of crispy treat. I love peanuts and caramel, especially together…so I tried a version using these ingredients. What can I say but “Yum”? If you like peanuts and caramel too, you’ll have to try these out!

PEANUT CARAMEL CRISPY TREATS by NancyCreative

Makes a 9×13″ pan

  • 5 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 (10-ounce) package marshmallows
  • 5 cups crisp rice cereal
  • 1 1/2 cups salted peanuts
  • 1 (11-ounce bag) Kraft® Caramel Bits

Grease a 13 x 9″ pan; set aside.

Melt butter in large microwaveable bowl on high for 45 seconds or until melted. Add marshmallows, tossing to coat. Microwave marshmallows 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until marshmallows are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after 45 seconds.

Add crispy cereal to melted marshmallow mixture, then stir in nuts and caramel bits. The mixture will get sticky quickly, so you have to work fast!

Press mixture onto bottom of greased 13 x 9″ pan. (Because the mixture is so sticky, you may want to use some waxed paper to help press the mixture in the pan. I used the waxed paper wrapper from a stick of butter that still had a smidgen of butter on it, and that worked great!) Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Stovetop Directions: Melt butter in a 3-qt. saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until they are completely melted and mixture is well blended. Then follow the rest of the directions above, adding in the rice cereal, peanuts, and caramel bits.

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Have you tried any unique add-ins for crispy treats?

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Chocolate-Caramel Layered Brownies

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I hadn’t made brownies in awhile, and I wanted to make something different from the typical brownie. I pretty much love any kind of brownie, but it’s always nice to try something different. :)  So when I saw this recipe over at VeryBestBaking.com, I just had to try it! It was a finalist in the 2000 Share The Very Best Recipe Contest, and for good reason. This rich, decadent brownie has 3 yummy layers…(1) a brownie base, (2) a middle layer of vanilla-flavored chips, pecans, and caramel, and (3) a top brownie layer that also has semi-sweet chocolate chips mixed in. If that doesn’t satisfy your sweet tooth or any chocolate craving you may have, I don’t know what will!

So here’s the recipe, along with some suggestions of mine on how you can modify it. This recipe calls for an 8″ square baking pan. I actually made it twice–the first time, in a 9×9″ pan (thinking it was an 8″ pan by mistake!) and then in an actual 8×8″ pan, to see if there was much difference in the appearance. With the 9×9″ pan, the brownies are thinner and the layers are not as apparent, but I actually liked the thinner brownies better. They are good either way, though, so you’ll just have to try them for yourself! The first two photos I’ve posted are of the thinner brownies, and the last photo is of the thicker version.

CHOCOLATE-CARAMEL LAYERED BROWNIES (Layers of Love Chocolate Brownies) slightly adapted from VeryBestBaking.com

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs (you’ll be using 2 for the first part of the recipe and 1 later)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 cup chopped pecans (or substitute walnuts)
  • 3/4 cup vanilla-flavored chips (or substitute butterscotch or peanut butter chips)
  • 1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping (or substitute butterscotch or hot fudge topping)
  • 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or substitute milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking cocoa, and salt; set aside. In large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until creamy. Add in 2 of the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and blend well. Gradually beat in flour mixture from small bowl. You’ll have a pretty thick batter. Reserve 3/4 cup of this batter for your top layer. Spread the remaining batter on the bottom of your prepared 8″ baking pan. Sprinkle the pecans and vanilla chips over the batter, then drizzle the caramel topping over everything.

Beat the third egg into the remaining 3/4 cup batter until well blended. Fold in the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Spread this mixture evenly over the caramel/pecan/vanilla chip layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack, then cut into bars.

Take a look at look at those vanilla chips and chocolate chips…yummm…

Here’s part of the batch I made in the 8×8″ pan…you can see that they’re a little thicker and the middle layer is thicker, too…

My friend and taste-tester Ann had a great idea for serving these as a fancy dessert–serve each brownie on an individual dessert plate and sprinkle additional chopped pecans and vanilla chips on top. Then lightly drizzle additional caramel topping over everything–doesn’t that sound great? Something else you could do is serve each brownie with a scoop of ice cream on top, sprinkle with chopped pecans and drizzle with caramel topping…there are so many ways you can enjoy these brownies! :)

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Caramel-Banana Muffins

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This is one of those recipes that I’ve had in my “stack of recipes to try” for some time now, meaning to try it and just never getting around to it. But the good news is, I finally got around to it, and I’m glad I did–this is a really good muffin recipe! It’s from Midwest Living. I only tweaked a few tiny little things in the recipe, which I’ve noted below. The recipe makes 12 regular muffins or 6 jumbo muffins. The only thing the recipe was missing was the baking time for the jumbo muffins, but I just added about 8 minutes to the baking time for the regular-size muffins, and they turned out great! My friend Ann sampled one and said the caramel in the muffin was a nice touch–and added that you could almost call it a “Bananas Foster Muffin.” Isn’t that a great name for a muffin? It sounds so gourmet! :) Whatever you call it, it’s good!

CARAMEL–BANANA MUFFINS

  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 2 Tbsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 3-oz. package cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 medium banana, peeled and mashed (1/2 cup) NOTE: I just had some small bananas, so I used 1 1/2 small ones which came to almost 2/3 of a cup, mashed.
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 2 Tbsp. caramel-flavored ice cream topping
  • 1 medium banana, peeled and thinly sliced (if you’re making the 6 jumbo muffins, 1/2 banana will be enough)
  • 1 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • Caramel-flavored ice cream topping for drizzle

Line 12 regular-size or 6 jumbo-size muffin cups with paper liners. In a small bowl, mix pecans, 2 Tbsp. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, blend softened cream cheese, softened butter and 2/3 cup sugar until well combined. Add egg and mix well. Add in the mashed banana and vanilla until combined.

In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the banana mixture and blend well, but don’t overmix. Then stir 1/4 cup of the pecan mixture from the small bowl into the batter.

Spoon half the batter into prepared muffin cups (1 rounded Tbsp. for each regular muffin cup or 2 rounded Tbsp. for each jumbo muffin cup). Drizzle 1/2 tsp. caramel topping over batter in each cup (you can drizzle a little more if you’re making the jumbo muffins). Top with remaining batter. Then top each muffin with 2 thin banana slices. Drizzle each with a little melted butter and sprinkle with remaining pecan mixture.

Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes for regular muffins, or 25-28 minutes for jumbo muffins, or until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pan. If you want to eat the muffins while they’re warm, drizzle with more caramel topping and serve. If you’ll be serving the muffins later, you can let them cool completely and then add the caramel topping; that way the topping won’t all soak into the muffin. They taste good either way!

You can find more recipes at Cupcake Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday!