Salted Caramel Blondies

   First things first, sorry I did not have a new recipe for you guys last week. I have just been so dang busy! Also, it is difficult to bake in 100 degree heat, especially because the oven makes it even hotter! Well, today was a bit windy so I decided to do some baking, but then the heat picked up so I spent as little time in the kitchen as possible. Nonetheless, I still have a great recipe to share with you guys today!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

   I am definitely liking my caramel this week!! Although this time, instead of Hershey's kisses, I used caramel topping. You know, the caramel stuff you put on top of ice cream to make some caramel sundaes? Yeah, that's what I used in this recipe, since I didn't have any caramel chips and heavy cream on hand. I have to admit, it still tasted pretty good though! I sold these bars at school for $1 apiece, and even the students enjoyed them! They may not look like much at first, but that first bite will take you to a whole new realm of flavor. The salt balances well with the chocolate and caramel, as long as you don't go too overboard on it.

   This recipe is adapted from Blahnik Baker, which takes absolutely amazing pictures and always  has good recipes to try! I discovered this site through Pinterest, and it is absolutely gorgeous. Maybe some day my blog will look as good as that, but that itself is its own dream. For now, focus on school! But I took this recipe and followed it pretty closely up until the caramel part. I used Caramel topping (Smackers brand) instead of the caramel chips and heavy cream. The end results look different, but they still taste amazing!

So I mixed the dough, then placed half of it in this Pam-sprayed 8x8 pan. Then I poured some of the Caramel topping on the top and spread it with a spatula. Make sure it is an even coat, but you can add as much or as little caramel as you want. After you are done pouring the caramel, sprinkle your salt over the top. Table salt works fine if you don't have sea salt for this part.

This is what my pan looked like after I placed the remainder of the cookie dough over the caramel. You can try to spread it around with a spatula,  not push down too hard or the caramel will integrate with the cookie dough. I also sprinkle this layer with salt, so that there will be the saltiness throughout each bar.

Just stick them in the oven for 30 minutes, and you're done! You can see that the caramel did integrate with the cookie dough a little bit, but that was probably because I put a lot of salt on it. Either way, they taste amazing and have a cool marble look to it. They are easiest to cut after a few hours when they have cooled a bit, or if you are super excited to eat them (as I was), then you just need to grad a fork, it's going to be goey!

Recipe:

Adapted from Blahnik Baker

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/8 cups Flour

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

3/4 cup Butter, melted and cooled

1 cup Light Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Sugar

1 large Egg, room temperature

1 large Egg Yolk, room temperature

2 teaspoons Vanilla

2 cups Chocolate Chips

Smackers Caramel Dessert Topping

Sea Salt, preferred, for sprinkling (table salt works fine too)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8x8 pan or line with parchment paper(leaving an overhang). If using parchment paper, spray that with nonstick spray as well.

2. In a large bowl, which together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

3. In another large bowl combine the butter with both sugars until combined. Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Slowly stir in the cry ingredients until just combined. The stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Pour half of the batter in your prepared pan. Cover with a layer of Caramel sauce, then sprinkle the salt over that. Then, drop the remaining cookie dough over the top of the caramel and smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle with salt again.

5. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a the edges are a light brown color and peel away from the sides of the pan. Cool completely before cutting.

Try this recipe? Tell me how it went down below in the comments!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

   First things first, Happy suicide prevention week! This week goes to those that have committed suicide at my school as well as everyone else that has tried (and/or succeeded  in suicide. Even though times may be rough, just know that there will always be someone out there that loves you. And if you don't believe that, then I love you. I love everyone, there is no doubt about it! And if anyone ever needs someone to talk to, then I am here to help you bake up a batch and listen to your troubles. Here's to a good week, and hopefully (we can only wish) that you will not commit suicide. We all love you, I love you. Please be safe ♡

 


   Now, on to the baking! This last weekend I was searching around on Pinterest for a new recipe to try. Not just new to this blog, but new to me too. I have always been a softy when it came to Snickerdoodles, but there was just too many weird ingredients in it that I didn't have at home. And then I found this recipe from a blog called Lil' Luna, which is too easy not to try! It was quite a quick one too.

   And since I sell these at school, I bakes them in cupcake tins instead of a cake pan. I also doubled the recipe found on the site, which made 2 dozen cupcakes. And boy did they sell fast! The original recipe called them Snickerdoodle Blondies, but they work well as cupcakes too. The thing about blondies is that they are soft and gooey  which many may not like that kind of texture. I definitely do, and so do my buyers! Either way, this is definitely a recipe to try, and a good one to add to the recipe book as well!

  

 Alright, so you should know the basics of baking by now. Have to mix it all up in a bowl! First the butter and sugar; then the egg, salt, and vanilla; and ending with the flour and cinnamon.

Then pour into prepared muffin tins(or two 8x8 pans) and sprinkle with your prepared cinnamon-sugar. Bake it! The muffins needed to be cooked 20-25 minutes, while the bars need to be cooked 25-30 minutes.

These are done as soon as the toothpick comes out clean. Then you can cool down and eat them! They are definitely amazing, and if they somehow manage to last longer than the first day, they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Recipe:

Adapted from Lil' Luna

INGREDIENTS

2 cups Sugar
1 cup Butter, soft
2 Egg
1 tsp. Salt

4 tsp. Vanilla

2 cups Flour

3 tsp. Cinnamon

   Topping: 2 Tbsp. Sugar

                   2 tsp. Cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare muffin tins with cooking spray or paper liners. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth.

2. Beat in the eggs, salt, and vanilla. Stir in the flour and cinnamon until well incorporated.

3. Pour mix into prepared muffin tins, then cook for 20-25 minutes. Makes 2 dozen cupcakes.

*Note: The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup cinnamon chips. I didn't have any, so I substituted that for the cinnamon. You could easily swap the cinnamon out for 1 cup cinnamon chips.

Try this recipe? Tell me how it went down below in the comments!