4th Day of Bloggy Christmas: Microwave Caramels

   

Deliciously Simple Microwave Caramels

My Grandmother made homemade candy every year when I was growing up.  I have delved into making fudge and a few other recipes, but as a busy Mom sometimes it's hard finding the time to make really good candy.  My friend Kerry shared her recipe with me for Microwave Caramels! You heard it right, homemade caramels made in the microwave.  Super easy, super delicious.  Try this recipe, I promise you won't be disappointed :) This is one I will be making again and again. And since this pan is already gone, I will have to make more to actually hand out...

Ingredients:

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter

1 cup brown sugar (I used dark)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light Karo syrup

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Melt the butter in a 2 quart glass bowl.  Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, Karo syrup, and sweetened condensed milk.  Stir well, incorporating all ingredients until a smooth consistency.  

Place the glass bowl on a large plate, and cook for 7 minutes on high power.  Meanwhile butter a 9x13 pan.

Carefully remove caramel from the microwave and stir well again.  

Return to the microwave and cook on high for another 7 minutes.  It may boil over, which is why you want to put a plate underneath the bowl.  Just let it continue cooking anyway.

When done carefully remove from the microwave, add the vanilla extract and stir.  

Pour the caramel into the prepared pan.  Cool.  (I found that the caramel cuts easiest after about 2 hours) 

Cut the caramels with a sharp knife to your desired size. I cut 1x1.5-2" rectangles.  

Cut 3-4" strips of wax paper, stack together and then cut in half horizontally.  So you will get two rectangles out of every strip.  This size works perfectly for the 1x1.5-2" caramel rectangles.

Then wrap the caramels in wax paper.  Lay the caramel in the middle of the wax paper rectangle on the bottom horizontal edge and roll it up to cover completely.  Twist the ends to seal.

Voila! Who knew candy making could be so easy!

Merry Christmas!            

Krista @ A Handful of Everything

      

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The 7th Day of Bloggy Christmas!

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On the 7th Day of Bloggy Christmas Miss Lorraine gave to me Snickerdoodles and a Cinnamon Caramel Frosting to go on top!

In celebration of A Handful of Everything's 1st Blogiversary (it was on October 25th!), 13 bloggers are getting together to post recipes for the 12 days of Bloggy Christmas! Every day there will be a new post on each of our pages sharing a bloggers recipe. Afterwards on the 13th of December please join us for a Christmas Cookie Exchange Link Party! Bring your family favorite recipe, or a new cookie you wanted to bake for Christmas! I know, I have a few I'd love to share!

Christmas is my favorite time of year! Eggnog is out, the smell of cinnamon is in the air in stores, and the rainy season is in full swing (we don't get snow here unless somehow it makes its way to the Valley floor, which is never.), and the month I feel okay about making tons of sweets!

Today I'll be sharing one of my favorite sugary cookies -Snickerdoodles and a Cinnamon Caramel Frosting to go on top! I love the taste, and smell of cinnamon, so this was fun coming up with a frosting to be paired with the cookies! Really, you could put this frosting on any dessert and it would taste amazing.

Snickerdoodles
Yield:  24 cookies
America's Test Kitchen recipe

1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2oz) all purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
8 Tbsp vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs

Adjust rack to middle and preheat oven to 375F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.  Combine 1/4 cup of sugar and the cinnamon in a shallow dish or pie plate.  Whisk flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

Using a stand mixer, beat butter, shortening and 1 1/2 cups of sugar together on medium until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, 30 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.

Reduce the speed to low, slowly add flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds.  Give dough a final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

Working with 2 Tbsp of dough at a time, roll into balls.  Working in batches, roll half of the dough balls in cinnamon sugar to coat and set upon prepared baking sheet spaced 2 inches apart. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.

Bake 1 sheet at a time, until the edges are set and just beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, 10 to 12 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet halfway through baking.  (Cookies will look raw between the cracks and seem underdone).  Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

Cinnamon Caramel  

1 cup sugar

4 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons butter1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, water, and the corn syrup in a large saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
2. Cover the saucepan and let it cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.
3. After 3 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.
4. Do not stir from this point on, but instead swirl the liquid around the pan so that the caramel doesn’t burn.
5. Continue to cook until the caramel turns an even amber color then remove from the heat and let stand for about 30 seconds.
6. Be careful here  Pour the heavy cream into the mixture. The mixture will bubble up significantly and is very hot.
7. Stir the mixture, again being careful. Add the butter, lemon juice, and salt. Stir until combined.
8. Measure 1 cup into a Pyrex measuring cup. Stirring occasionally, allow to cool until thick like molasses and warm to the touch, about 20 minutes. Save any extra in a sealed container in the refrigerator. 

Frosting

2 sticks butter at room temperature
8 ounces of cream cheese
3-4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 cup Cinnamon Caramel (recipe above)

1. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.
2. Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar into the butter/cream cheese mixture and beat to combine.
3. Add 1 cup of the cinnamon caramel and beat to combine.
4. Add additional powdered sugar until the frosting is the sweetness and consistency you desire.

 

Persimmon Gingerbread Muffins with Caramel Drizzle

My neighbor has a beautiful Persimmon tree that is full of cute little "pumpkin" fruits this time of year.  I had never actually eaten a persimmon before but I was intrigued.  So when the fruits were ripe Miss Jen generously brought over a few for us to try.  I was excited to eat one of these beauties and since it is time again to bake with my #Twelve Loaves ladies, I thought that this would be the perfect Fall Treat! (I mean bread...) I don't know if this recipe truly qualifies as a muffin, really it is probably more like a cupcake, but I'm going to go with muffin since it does have "bread" in it's name after all!

This recipe was adapted from the Gingerbread recipe in one of my favorite cookbook's, Lion House Recipes.  Seriously this book is awesome, I use it all the time...

For November the #Twelve Loaves group is baking with Spices! Every month is a new theme and we make yeast or quick breads.  Look for the Linky below to share your November Spice Bread! The temperatures are dropping and it is my favorite time of year to bake especially with different spices! Here is what the #Twelve Loaves ladies are baking!

• Cinnamon-Cardamom Buns by Heather at girlichef
• Cinnamon Crusted Pumpkin Bread by Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins by Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
• Cinnamon, Orange and Chocolate Chip Bread by Deepti at Bakingyummies
• Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Rolls by Karen at Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cocoa Clove Pumpkin Bread by Renee at Kudos Kitchen by Renee
• Ginger Pull-Apart Bread by Lora at Cake Duchess
• Honey Spice Bread by Holly at A Baker's House
• Persimmon Gingerbread Muffins with Caramel Drizzle by Krista at A Handful of Everything
• Pumpkin Cardamom Bread by Dionne at Try Anything Once Culinary
• Spiced Buns by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Sumac Spicy Crackers by Rossella at Ma chetiseimangiato
• Sweet Potato Spice Swirl Bread by Paula at Vintage Kitchen Notes

Print Recipe

Persimmon Gingerbread Muffins with Caramel Drizzle

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg, well beaten
1 cup molasses
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 persimmon
1 cup water, divided
1 bag caramels, or your favorite caramel sauce

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.  Peel and core the persimmon.  

Finely dice or pulse in a food processor.  

The persimmon should yield a generous 1/2 cup.

In a small saucepan combine the diced persimmon (generous 1/2 cup) and 1/2 cup of water.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer about 15 minutes until all the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a Kitchen Aid cream the butter and sugar.

Add the beaten egg and molasses and beat well.

In a separate bowl sift together the salt, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

Heat the remaining 1/2 cup of water to a boil.  Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture in two additions.

Add the persimmon from the saucepan and the hot 1/2 cup of water and beat until smooth.

Line 2 muffin pans with paper liners and spray each with non-stick cooking spray.  Using a large scoop transfer the batter to each of the cup.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for 5 minutes.  Then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Drizzle with melted caramels or your favorite caramel sauce.

(To melt the caramels unwrap the caramels and melt with 1-2 Tbsp of water over medium heat until melted and stirs easily.  Drizzle over the muffins with a spoon.)

If you’d like to add your bread to the collection with the Linky Tool this month, 

here’s what you need to do!

1. When you post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, make sure that you mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post; this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone's posts. Please make sure that your bread is inspired by the theme!

2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of my blog. It must be a bread baked to the Twelve Loaves theme.

3. Have your Twelve Loaves bread that you baked this November, 2013, and posted on your blog by November 30, 2013.

#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess. #TwelveLoaves runs so smoothly thanks to the help of the lovely Paula from Vintage Kitchen Notes and Renee from Magnolia Days.