Chocolate and Caramel Squares

I apologize for the overflow of desserts and sweet things; I'm still updating all the desserts that were made for Thanksgiving. This is one of those cheating desserts, where it uses some pre-bought items and is so easy to make. I am a fan of "make it all from scratch", but every now and then, I cheat too! This shortcut dessert will not disappoint!

5 oz evaporated milk

14 oz pkg of caramels

1 pkg of German Chocolate or Devils Food Cake mix, pudding-included

1 cup chopped nuts

1/2 butter, softened

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Heat unwrapped caramels and evaporated milk (reserve 2 tbsps for later) over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from heat.

2. In a separate bowl, combine cake mix, nuts, butter, and reserved 2 tbsps of evaporated milk. Mix well until crumbly then press half of the dough mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Set aside the rest of the dough for later.

3. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the partially baked crust. Carefully spoon caramel mixture over chocolate chips. Crumble reserved dough mixture over caramel and chocolate chips. Return to oven and bake 15 -20 more minutes. Cool completely and cut in bars.

Taken from Pillsbury's Best of the Bake Off Cookbook

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips


1. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; spray parchment paper.

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the butter until it turns golden brown; remove from heat, and let cool. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine browned butter and both sugars; stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Attach bowl to mixer; add eggs. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla, and beat to combine. Add flour mixture, and chocolate chips. Mix until thoroughly combined, and spread into prepared pan.

4. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes (do not over
bake) on 350 degrees. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before turning out of pan onto a cutting board. Peel off parchment paper; cut blondies into 3-inch squares. Blondies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Also featured on Real Food Wednesday and Works for Me Wednesday.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

I made a bunch of dips and appetizers for various Thanksgiving dinners we enjoyed this past weekend. It was great; I got out with all the easy cooking. No cooking turkey, or stuffing, or sides even! Just the fun stuff, appetizers and desserts, more of which I will be sharing soon! Oh yeah, and the lasagna too! The dips were accompanied by my Cornucopia made of Dough, Stuffed Mushrooms Parmigiana , some crackers and cut up veggies. The biggest hit of all the dips by far and above was the Buffalo Chicken Dip, taken from a great website, Prevention RD. It's spicy, creamy, and oh so good!

8 oz Neuftchatel Cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup fat free ranch dressing

1/3 Franks' Red Hot Buffalo Sauce

2 tbsp water

1 1/2 cup cooked chicken breast, shredded

4 oz Colby Jack cheese

4 oz Mild Cheddar Cheese

2 tbsp scallions, chopped

1. Beat cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and soft.

2. Add in ranch dressing, buffalo sauce, and water and continue to beat.

3. Stir in shredded chicken and cheeses.

4. Spread into a pie plate and loaf pan and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

5. Stir in chopped scallions and serve warm with celery, breadsticks, or anything else you like spicy!

Also shared on Mouthwatering Monday and HomeMaker Monday.

Edible Cornucopia

When it comes to the holidays, I love to cook and bake as much as physically possible. And I always love to make the traditional food we eat, but I like to make something different too. When I came across, this idea to use dough to make a cornucopia, I fell in love! I knew it was the perfect recipe for the What's Baking Thanksgiving Challenge hosted by Catherine this month!


I decided to use a basic pizza dough recipe just with a little extra flavor instead of bread dough. And since things tend to get a little extra busy, I opted for using the bread machine to make my dough while I concentrated on other holiday tasks. I made two batches of dough and made two different sizes. The first was small, about 8 inches and I had enough dough left over to make about 4 breadsticks. The second was about 15 inches long.

4 cups of flour or bread flour if you have some on hand
1 1/4 cup water
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepperoncino flakes
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp active dry yeast

You will also need:
poster board
tape (heat resistant)
foil
parchment
stapler
cooking spray


1. Place all dry ingredients(minus yeast) into bread maker and then add the wet ingredients on top. Put the yeast into the yeast dispenser and set to pizza dough and go! Follow the instructions on your specific bread machine in case they differ.

2. While the dough is mixing, time to get the supplies ready to build the cone which the dough will bake on. First, decide on the desired size for your cornucopia. Form your poster board into a cone shape and secure with heavy duty, heat resistant tape. Cut the excess poster board so that it can stand freely.

3. Next, start covering the outside of your cone with foil. Then crumple up extra foil and stuff it into the cone to help to retain its shape. Then staple a small piece of parchment paper to cover the opening of the cone so that the foil stays in place.

4. Now it's almost time to start. Lay a sheet over parchment paper on a baking sheet and stand your cone on it. Spray the cone down with baking spray to allow for easier release.

5. Time to start building your cornucopia! Roll the dough into stands which you will coil up the cone starting at the base and working your way to the top. The first piece I used two strands twisted together to make the rim of the opening more pronounced. Then, keep spiraling more dough up the length of the cone until your reach the top. Using a little extra dough, form a curved tail.

6. Lay your cone down on the baking sheet with the sealed edge of the rim facing down. Bake it in the oven at 400 for about twenty minutes. Then take it out and, using tongs, remove the cone from inside the cornucopia. Be very gentle! It helps if you pull out the foil stuffing from the cone first. Then return to the oven for another twenty minutes to fully cook the inside. If your cone becomes more golden or darker than the your desired color, cover it foil on the outside only.

7. Let cool slightly and then serve! I used marinara sauce and spinach artichoke dip to accompany mine. Recipe for those to come soon!

Cinnamon Buttercream Bundt Cake

1 lb unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

6 eggs, room temperature

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tbsp vanilla

4 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/8 cup cinnamon

1/8 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk

1. In a large stand mixer, beat butter with paddle attachment until light and fluffy.

2. Slowly mix in powdered sugar and eggs, one a time, on medium speed.

3. Stir in the vanilla and lemon juice.

4. Mix flour, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl. Gradually beat flour mixture into stand mixer.

5. Mix brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.

6. Generously grease a 10 inch tube pan with butter/Crisco and flour.

7. Fill the pan halfway with batter. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture on top of batter. Spoon on more batter, sprinkle more cinnamon sugar. Continue pattern until the pan is full.

8. Bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour 20 minutes or done. Cool on rack.

9. In a small bowl beat milk and powdered sugar with a fork until welly mixed. Drizzle over cooled bundt cake and let set. Then eat and enjoy!

Adapted from Pillsbury's Best of the Bake Off 1996 edition, Buttercream Pound Cake