Caramel Squares

Ingredients

•2 cups Sugar
•1-½ cup Light Corn Syrup
•1 can (14 Oz. Can) Sweetened Condensed Milk
•¼ teaspoons Salt
•1 cup Butter
•2 teaspoons Vanilla
•1-½ cup Chopped Toasted Pecans, Optional

Preparation Instructions

Butter the sides and bottom of a 9×13-inch pan. Set aside.

In a medium heavy saucepan, add sugar, corn syrup, half of the sweetened condensed milk, salt and butter. Over medium-low heat, stirring constantly to ensure the sugar is completely melted, bring the mixture to a boil and add the rest of the sweetened condensed milk when it begins to boil. Once the second half of the condensed milk has been added and the mixture is boiling again, stop stirring to prevent sugar crystallization (which means the caramels will have a grainy texture). Boil the mixture still at medium-low heat, without stirring until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage on a candy thermometer (234 degrees F). If you like your caramels a bit firmer, you can cook them up to 248 degrees F, which is firm ball stage, but I prefer mine really soft.




When the caramel reaches the right temperature, immediately remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and toasted pecans (if using). Carefully pour the hot mixture into the prepared pan. Let the caramel cool completely before cutting into squares and wrapping in waxed paper.




http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/my-mome28099s-famous-caramels/?print=1

SUPER BOWL CAKE POPS!

Joanna and I made some awesome cake pops for the super bowl...

I know my steelers didn't win but they sure were a lot of fun to make!!

Here are some pictures!

Muffins that taste like donuts!

Muffins that taste like donuts---
but i dont think they taste like donuts! lol



Here is what you need:
•1-¾ cup Flour
•1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
•½ teaspoons Salt
•½ teaspoons Nutmeg
•½ teaspoons Cinnamon
•⅓ cups Oil
•¾ cups White Sugar
•1 whole Egg
•¾ cups Milk
•_____
•FOR THE TOPPING:
•¼ cups Butter
•⅓ cups White Sugar
•1 Tablespoon Cinnamon




Preparation Instructions


Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.





Combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.


Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl. Combine the white sugar with the cinnamon in another bowl.


Shake muffins out while still hot. Dip muffins in butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Let cool.





Okay so my review:

I got this recipe of Thepioneerwoman.com! She has some great recipes and so I thought I would try this one since I love to bake and I had everything I needed on hand. Well they are pretty yummy but I dont think they really taste like donuts but then again I always get kolaches! :O) For the topping I used the premade mixter that I had in the kitchen. I also did Mini muffins... and as you can see it didnt make all 24... it made about 20!

Hope you enjoy! --- I ended up making two batches so I can share them with some friends this weekend! :O)

Grandmommies Banana nut bread-- minus the nuts!

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
4 or 5 (very ripe) bananas
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans





Cream butter and sugar. Add salt, egg and mashed bananas. Stir in sifted flour and baking soda. Add nuts.



Pour into greased and floured loaf pan.



Bake 60 minutes at 325 degrees. Makes 1 loaf

Peanut Butter Ice Cream!!

This is all you need:
2 can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup natural peanut butter
1 quart of half and half... See More
1 t vanilla
about 3/4 bag of peanut butter cups- chopped and frozen


Whisk all but the pb cups together in a large bowl.


Add mixture to ice cream maker.

Add pb cups when appropriate for your ice cream maker. For my kitchen aid it says to add mixers when the ice cream is almost ready.

Freeze and EAT!

-- On a side note!! DO NOT MAKE THIS IF YOUR HOUSE IS WARM AND THE AC IS NOT WORKING.... I did this and when I added the ice cream mix to the ice cream mixer it defrosted to quickly and made the ice cream icy. So make sure it is very cold!!

But it sure was yummyyyyy!!

Strawberry Cake Balls

So on the drive back Dallas last night all I could think of was CAKE BALLS! I have never made them before... Why?? I feel like I have made so many things out of cake box mixes. Last week Joanna made some for a party she was going to and I also love www.Bakerella.com and she has some amazing cake balls and pops that she makes. So here I am sharing with you the recipe I used to make strawberry cake balls ...


Here is what you will need:

A box of cake mix... any flavor!
1 Jar of icing (i used strawberry for this one)
1 pack of vanilla bark or chocolate bark





Prepare box cake mix as instructed on box instructions

When cake is done and still warm crumble into a large bowl

Stir in frosting until well blended

Roll cake into balls about an inch large.


Put in fridge over night or for hours so they can maintain their shape when dipped.

Melt coating in small bowl.. I only did 3 squares at a time so that it didn't get hard before I finished dipping them.

Dip ball using a fork and spoon or whatever combo works best for you.

Set on wax paper to harden

EAT EAT EAT

Congo bars

Okay so I was home all alone this weekend... a little weird but it was all good! We officially go the townhouse we were looking to rent and I got to do laundry. WHOOO! fun i know! Well I have been pretty obsessed with Bakerella.com lately.. She makes some amazing sweet treats. Well last night (sat) I wanted to try a recipe for her Congo Bars... They are a mix between cookies and brownies. YUM! So I mix all the ingredients and then bake... well 30 minutes later they were supposed to be done... but they were all gooey inside and not cooked yet the tops were getting brown... I had no idea what to do.. Maybe I made an error when measuring. I am human and could have made a mistake. So today I tried again. It went better. LoL You have to cook them longer than 3o minutes! After 30 I covered them with foil and baked for about another 10 or so minute or until it wasn't gooey in the middle anymore.

Congo Bars (bakerella.com)

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup butter (softened)
1 lb of light brown sugar (i think its about 2 1/2 cups packed)
3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla
12 ounce pack of chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together

Combine butter and sugar using mixer until blended

Add eggs, one at at time to sugar mixture, on low

Add vanilla then mix

Add flour slowly and mix until combined

Stir in chips and pecans

Spray 13x9 pan with cooking spray and spread batter evenly

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes if not done... cover with foil and bake until center is no longer gooey.

EAT AND ENJOY!!! ( I am going to have mine with some ice cream! Maybe even my cinnamon ice cream that i have left!!) YUMM!