chocolate pecan caramel thumbprint cookies

Mmmhhh....caramel!  You can't say that you're surprised that it's shown up again so soon. Ha!

We made these cookies for Christmas (yeah yeah...I'm working on the whole procrastinating thing), and they were a huge hit.  Definitely a bit more work than your average cookie...but well worth it when you want something extra special.

These cookies have so many wonderful textures going on...from the crunch of the nuts, chewiness of the chocolate cookie, and finally the smooth creaminess of the caramel!

Chocolate Pecan Caramel Thumbprint Cookies

adapted from: taste of home

Yields: ~2.5 dozen

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg, separated

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup finely chopped pecans (walnuts would be a great alternative!)

FILLING:

12 to 14 caramels

3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2)  In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3)  Beat in the egg yolk, milk and vanilla.

4)  In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder and salt.  Gradually add to the creamed mixture.

5)  Shape dough into approximately 1-inch balls.  Place egg white in a shallow bowl and beat.  Place chopped pecans in another shallow bowl.

6)  Dip dough balls into the egg white, then pecans.  (You may need to pat the pecans on to help them stick to the dough)

7)  Place on a greased baking sheet and press a deep indentation into each dough ball.  (We used a measuring spoon, which worked well!  Your thumb would also be a good option...haha).

8)  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set.  As soon as you remove from the oven, re-press your indentations to make sure they're deep.

9)  In a medium saucepan, melt caramels with cream on low and stir until smooth.

10)  Fill each cookie with the caramel mixture and allow caramel to cool and set. (Work as fast as possible here as the caramel tends to set very quickly.)

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey

tasty tuesday: hunky bills

Now Hunky Bills are actually something we make at Christmas time, but since I'm an excellent procrastinator (and life was nuts around Christmas), I'm just blogging about them now!  Really they would be a delicious treat all year round, we just happen to only make them once a year.  Which is probably good for my waistline!

Funny story:  their real name is definitely not Hunky Bills....but rather: Uncle Bill's Cuban Lunch.  Somehow, someway, over many many Christmases.....they slowly morphed into Hunky Bills.  

My family all knows it's not right, but we can't help that we call them that!  It's pretty hilarious.

Moving on.  These babies are another easy peasy recipe, where all you do is melt chocolate and stir deliciousness into it!  (Deliciousness being chips and peanuts....yum.)  

Man, I'm such a sucker for anything  sweet and salty!  Just so darn good.

Hunky Bills

from: my Auntie Bobbi

Ingredients:

3 cups chocolate chips

3 cups reese's peanut butter chips

200 grams plain Ripple Chips, crushed (these usually come in a 200 gram bag, so measuring is easy!)

2 1/2 cups salted peanuts, chopped

Directions:

1)  In a very large saucepan, first melt the peanut butter chips.  Add chocolate chips once the peanut butter chips are melted.  Stir together.

2)  Allow mixture to cool slightly, and then add crushed chips and chopped peanuts (you want the chunks of chips and peanuts pretty small).

3)  Line a mini cupcake pan with mini cupcake papers, and spoon the mixture into the papers.  Let them cool until firm enough to remove from pan.  

*We always pop ours in the freezer for a few minutes until hardened, remove the hunky bills, and then do another pan until all of the mixture is gone.

Soooo....once you've finally caved on your healthy New Year's Resolutions, you know where to find this recipe.  Ha!  They're totally worth it.  Promise.

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey

Christmas baking: cranberry almond bark

We really really love bark in our house (

as you may remember:

peppermint bark

,

coconut bark

,

toffee pretzel bark

.

).  Maybe because sometimes we're a little bit lazy, and maybe because it just tastes so darn good!

The toasted almonds and dried cranberries are such perfect flavors for winter, and we always make some for Christmas!  But honestly, there is no right or wrong time to make this bark.

p.s. Christmas is in 3 days....say what?

I'd just like to recommend you bringing this bark to the next party, family gathering, dinner, or potluck you go to.  So simple, but it looks so fancy.  Impress your friends, co-workers, boss, or in-laws.  They'll love you for sure!

(I'm so not ashamed to bribe people with food....a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right?)

Cranberry Almond Bark

Ingredients:

1/3 cup slivered almonds (blanched)

1/2 pound milk chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 oz white chocolate

Directions:

1)  Spread your almonds out on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes, or until toasted, and set aside.

2)  Melt milk chocolate in a double boiler.

3)  Remove chocolate from heat, an stir in almonds and dried cranberries.

4)  Pour onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper.  Spread evenly to about 1/4" thickness.

5)  Melt white chocolate in double boiler.

6)  Drizzle white chocolate over milk chocolate before the milk chocolate has set, and use a fork to swirl designs in the white chocolate.

7)  Refrigerate until firm.  Break up into pieces and store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer until ready to serve.

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey

Christmas baking: triple chocolate shortbread cookies

Soooo much chocolate.  We've come to the realization that nearly all of our Christmas treat have chocolate in them....and we're totally okay with that!  These triple chocolate shortbread cookies have been my all-time favorite for many Christmases now, and are still going strong.  The shortbread is chocolate, there are mini chocolate chips inside, and then they're dipped and drizzled in chocolate to make them pretty.  So...if you're not a fan of chocolate, these aren't for you!

But let's be real here.  Who isn't a fan of chocolate?

What I love most about these cookies is how the melt-in-your-mouth shortbread goes so well with the chocolate shell covering it.  It's oh so good!

Triple Chocolate Shortbread

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (softened)

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 oz square of unsweetened semi-sweet chocolate [melted]  

2 1/4 cup flour

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions:

1.  Mix together softened butter, icing sugar, vanilla and melted chocolate until smooth.

2. Add flour and chocolate chips and mix.

3. Roll dough into 1" balls (or whatever size preferred) and place onto a baking sheet.

4. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Decorating:

You can choose to dip these in any kind of chocolate you want; we usually dip ours twice (once in white and once in semi-sweet chocolate).  

Also, if you spoon a small amount of melted chocolate into a ziplock bag, you can drizzle a zig-zag pattern onto the top!  The drizzle looks the best when you cut the smallest hole you can in the ziplock.  Good luck!

Are you sick of Christmas baking yet?  I hope not.  We still have a few more Christmas-y recipes to share, so stay tuned!

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey

Christmas baking: toasted coconut shortbread

Why is toasted coconut so much better than regular coconut?

Like, it's ridiculous how good it is.  Toasting things is the way to go I guess.  It makes everything better.

Anyways, since we're both majorly into coconut, my mom and I made cookies with toasted coconut inside them, as well as on top!  So much wonderfully crunchy and delicious coconut.  If you're in a serious hurry, you can leave off the chocolate and extra coconut, but I'd advise against it.  You'd really be missing out.

These cookies were a new addition to our annual Christmas baking, and man are they a winner.  Our family always bakes up a giant storm of goodies in late November/early December since we love to give away plates of baking as presents.  We love it because we love baking, and our friends love it since we're not giving them stuff they don't really need!  Win win.

Toasted Coconut Shortbread

from: family circle magazine

yields: ~3 dozen

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1 cup butter

1/4 cup icing sugar

1/4 sugar

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt (only add this if your butter is unsalted)

for dipping:

chocolate (doesn't matter what kind)

extra toasted coconut

Directions:

1)  Spread out your coconut evenly on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees until golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Keep an eye on it, and stir every couple of minutes, otherwise you'll burn it!  *You can add a bit more coconut to the pan if you're planning on doing the chocolate and coconut topping.

2)  Place the butter, coconut, and sugars in a medium bowl and mix well.

3)  Add flour and salt, and mix again.

4)  On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, form a 1-inch-diameter log and cover with plastic wrap tightly.  It can be hard to make the log completely round and not flat on the bottom, so just do your best.  Place in the fridge for an 1hr minimum, or up to two days.  (You can also freeze it for up to 2 months.

5)  Take your log out of the fridge and cut 1/4 to 1/2-inch slices and place them about 2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

6)  Bake at 350 degrees until cookies are just starting to brown on the edges, about 18-20 minutes.

7)  As the cookies are cooling, melt your chocolate for dipping either in the microwave (being extra careful not to burn it!), or by using a double-boiler on the stove.

8)  Dip the edge of your cookie in the chocolate, press into the extra toasted coconut and allow to set.

9)  Serve and enjoy!

Served with milk, these are perfection!

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey

Christmas baking: turtle bars

So here I am, more than halfway through December, about to start blogging about Christmas desserts.  Better a late than never, eh?

These turtle bars look beautiful on a plate of Christmas baking, and are a sure way to impress your friends, family, or maybe if even your boss! Ha!

Seriously, just look at those swirls.  I'm totally in love.  Plus, there's chocolate, pecans and caramel involved. Oh yum.

Turtle Bars

Bottom Layer:

1 cup Butter (room temperature)

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups of flour

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup pecans

Directions:

1)  In a medium bowl, mix together butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla.

2)  Mix in flour and salt.

3) Grease a 9x13 pan and line with parchment (this makes removing and cutting your bars way easier).

5)  Dump your crumbs into the pan, spread out evenly, and press down gently.

6) Press pecans lightly into crust.

7) Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned.

8) Let cool, and prepare caramel.

Caramel:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

4 tbsp corn syrup

Directions:

1)  In a large saucepan stir together brown sugar, butter, sweetened condensed milk and corn syrup.

2)  Cook on medium-high heat stirring constantly.  Boil for 4 minutes.

3) Let stand 2 minutes, and then pour over crust.

4) Place in the fridge to set.

Chocolate layer:

1 1/2 cups Chocolate (good quality)

1/2 cup whipping cream

White chocolate:

1/2 cup  (about 4 oz) White Chocolate - good quality

2 tbsp whipping cream

Directions:

1) In a small sauce pan (or a double boiler), melt down your chocolate and cream, watching carefully to make sure it doesn't burn.  Melt your white chocolate and whipping cream at the same time.

2)  Pour chocolate over the caramel layer.  Smooth evenly.

3)  Drop spoonfuls of white chocolate over this layer, and then run a knife through it to make swirls.  Starting from the middle of the white chocolate and spiraling seemed to have good results.

*One tip about marbling is to stop early!  It's easy to overdo it, and then it just looks messy.

4) Pop it in your fridge to let it set, and you're ready to go!  We store ours in the fridge/freezer, otherwise they get a bit soft.

Your crumbs might be a bit crumbly when you dump them in your pan.  Don't panic, that's completely normal, just press them in gently and they'll be fine.

We placed our white chocolate on in 6 equally spaced blobs, and then used a butter knife to swirl them around.  Be careful not to go too deep and hit the caramel layer.

Happy baking!

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey

tasty tuesday: toffee pretzel bark

I take pictures of food a lot....and thank goodness my family puts up with my craziness.  Today was no different, and even involved balancing the above plate of bark on a table, on top of two chairs.  My excuse? That's where the best light is!  Naturally, I ended up knocking everything onto the floor with a huge crash.  Story of my life.

*Nothing/nobody was permanently damaged during the creation of this blog post.

 Moving on to more important things....you must make this bark asap!  It's such a wonderful combo of sweet and salty, and toffee makes it stand out from the average bark found on Christmas platters everywhere.  Not that I don't love any kind of bark...because I do!  All bark is welcome in my life!

Our family loves to bake, and we go a little nuts at Christmas.  Awesome Christmas platters are one of our signature gifts, and these babies were added to our arsenal of treats this year.  My mom is always trying out new things, and she gets all the credit for discovering this winning recipe!  Jordyn and I are so grateful for her enthusiasm and help when it comes to blogging...so, thanks mom!

---

Toffee Pretzel Bark
adapted from: livelovepasta blog
Yield: 1 sheet of bark

Ingredients:

1 cup Butter

1 cup Brown Sugar

mini pretzels (the crossed ones!) - enough to line an 10x15 baking sheet

2 cups of Chocolate Chips (*or 16 oz of Callebaut chocolate)

sea salt, for sprinkling on top

Directions:

1)  First, line an 10x15 baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with Pam.  Then place pretzels on the sheet in a single layer.

2)  Then, melt 1 cup of butter in a small saucepan on low-medium heat, and add in brown sugar.

3)  Stir sugar and butter until incorporated.  *combining these ingredients at a low temperature helps to keep them from separating!

4)  Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer (NOT a boil), and let it cook for about 3 minutes once bubbling; this will allow the butter and sugar to carmelize.

5)  Pour this mixture over your pretzels, and use a spoon/offset spatula to help spread this layer out.

6)  Bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes.  Allow to cool.

7)  Melt your chocolate chips in the microwave (checking and stirring often), or by using a double boiler.  Once melted, pour over the pretzel-caramel layers, and use a spoon/offset spatula to even it out.

8)  Sprinkle with sea salt, and allow the bark to cool in the fridge until completely set.

9)  Once completely cooled and hardened, break the bark into pieces and serve. 

*Store any extras (pfftt...yeah right) in the fridge!

---

We found that we didn't quite have enough caramel mixture to quite cover our pretzels....but once you bake it in the oven, it evens out!  So just do your best when pouring and spreading, but don't worry about it too much!

After your caramel-pretzel mixture comes out of the oven, you may notice that some of your pretzels have shifted during the baking!  We just used a fork to poke them back down/into place.

Some of you may have noticed my love for anything to do with salted caramel....and this dessert just feeds my addiction so well.  And there's chocolate too!  Chocolate is always welcome in our house.

The only bad thing I can say about this recipe, is that it gets a little stuck in your teeth.  But hey...that's toffee for you!  And it's definitely worth it in the end. Ha!

In other news, it snowed while we made this!  You can't really tell from the picture below....but I promise it did.  I also realize this is the second time I have expressed excitement of snow this week.  Seriously though, it's a rare thing here in the Fraser Valley!

Anywho, this recipe is really great for beginners in the kitchen.  The hardest part about it is sharing it!

 ♥ kelsey

chocolate mint patty cookies

These cookies come from the very creative mind of Miss Jordyn!  She is a pro at melding recipes, and coming up with new ideas in the kitchen.  This time, she took her famous

triple chocolate cookie

 recipe and wrapped it around mint patties.

Rich and chocolatey, these decadent cookies are best saved for special occasions....like Christmas!  They are also quite finicky, and we don't recommend them for beginner bakers!

We love drizzling these cookies in white chocolate, and then sprinkling with red and green sprinkles for Christmas.  It'd be fun to mix up the colours of the sprinkles for different occasions, and we've also used crushed up candy canes!

Chocolate Mint Patty Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 cup Sugar

3/4 cup Brown Sugar (packed)

2 Eggs

1 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder

1 3/4 cup Flour

2 tsp Baking Soda

Mint Patties (we used pearsons)

Directions:

1) Place mint patties in the freezer.

2) In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and eggs.

3) Mix in cocoa powder, flour and baking soda.

4) Take a few mint patties out of the freezer, and start molding cookie dough around each one.  You want as little cookie dough as possible around the mint patties....otherwise your cookies will be too wide and flat and have a bulge in the middle.

5) Continue taking out a few mint patties at a time, and forming cookies until you have a complete pan.

6) Stick your pan of cookies back into the freezer, and repeat the process.

7) Once you have another pan of cookies complete, place your first pan into your oven and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

8) Repeat until cookie dough is used up.

9) If you want, you can drizzle with white chocolate and decorate with sprinkles!

*The key of these cookies is to keep the mint patties as frozen as possible before baking, as well as placing the cookies in the freezer for a bit before going into the oven.  Otherwise all your minty-goodness will leak out.*

These cookies are truly not for the faint of heart.  I'm going to give it to you straight....These bad boys are tricky.  They take a VERY long time.  And they might even kick you in the shins.  Sometimes they WILL (not might....they will) turn out like this:

But that's okay, because you'll get the hang of it.  And these cookies are definitely worth the effort!

For the white chocolate drizzle, I melted a few white chocolate wafers, and used a small ziplock bag with a small cut in one corner to drizzle it on.

And sprinkles if you want, and you're done!

One of my favorite things about Christmas baking is that your house smells amazing all the time!  These cookies don't disappoint, and will fill your house with delightful minty chocolate goodness.

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey