Pumpkin Cake with Brown Sugar Caramel Frosting

Recipe adapted from: Our Best Bites
INGREDIENTS
Brown Sugar Caramel Frosting
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, divided
(2 sticks, and 1 stick)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1 lb powdered sugar

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

DIRECTIONS

In a large pot, heat two sticks of butter, brown sugar, cream, and salt over medium heat until sugar has dissolved, and mixture is combined.

Turn heat up to medium high, and bring to a boil. Let mixture boil for 1 minute, pushing mixture down from sides of pot. Reduce heat, and let simmer for about 3 minutes.

Remove from heat, and carefully* pour into a mixing bowl to cool. While the mixture is cooling, add remaining stick of butter 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until melted.
*Hot, simmering sugar is way hotter than simmering water.

When caramel has cooled to lukewarm, carefully incorporate  powdered sugar until fluffy and soft.

Use immediately, as frosting will thicken upon standing.

Okay friends, this frosting is my new favorite thing ever. It came about because the penuche frosting from my original post with this sheet cake has a tendency to become a little grainy, and is extra sweet. So I found the recipe for brown sugar caramel frosting from Our Best Bites, doubled the recipe, and added an extra stick of butter to give the sugar something to stay dissolved in. I also omitted the vanilla, because my vanilla was lost in our recent kitchen remodel, and I haven't made my way to Trader Joe's to purchase more. The extra butter does require that the cake stay fairly cool, because the butter makes the frosting extra soft and it will melt all over the place. But if you're looking for a frosting that has a warm, caramel flavor WITHOUT being sickly sweet, this is your jam.

Caramel Bugles

 Recipe adapted from Dollie Nyberg's

INGREDIENTS
1 stick butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup honey
Splash of vanilla extract
29 oz Bugles
Cooking Spray

DIRECTIONS 
Prep a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and then spray with cooking spray, set aside.
In a very large mixing bowl, coat thoroughly with cooking spray, and then add Bugles. Set aside.
In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar together until brown sugar is dissolved.
Turn up heat to medium-high, then add sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup, and honey. Bring a boil, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula (to keep the bottom from burning). Continue stirring until caramel reaches a tad passed the soft-ball stage, 245ºF with a candy thermometer.
Remove from heat, and add vanilla extract- the caramel will bubble up! Stir until bubbles subside, and then poor over Bugles.
Mix caramel and Bugles until all of the Bugles are covered in caramel goodness.  Evenly spread Caramel Bugles over your prepared baking sheet, and let until cool.
Then share with your favorite people!

I detest Bugles. I think they are one of the worst snack foods ever. However, Sister Nyberg brought these Caramel Bugles to our Ward Campout over the summer, and in love I fell. They were like crack to me, and no one else dared try them, so I got to take a lot of them home, and made a request for the recipe. The next day I had the recipe, now here I am five months later, and I have finally gotten around to making them. However, I discovered upon making them that I only had 2/3 cup of Corn Syrup- the original recipe called for 1 cup Corn Syrup, so I scrambled around for an appropriate substitute, and I ended up dumping 1/3 cup of Honey. I know that the chemical structure of the two are fairly similar, but the difference in the honey would require that I cook it just a tad bit hotter than the original recipe.
I am happy to report that I dare say this is better than the original, and you should all give it a go! I'm pretending that it is healthier, because honey is healthy. ;)

Som' Bitches

Recipe adapted from two.thirty.ate

INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
28 chewy caramels, unwrapped

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars. Add peanut butter and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add vanilla, then eggs, one at a time until combined.
Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Gently fold in chocolate chips, and mix until just combined.
Using a two tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out dough then flatten in the the palm of your hand. Place caramel in the middle, then fold cookie dough up, pinching the seams to create a ball. Place cookies 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

If you know me, then you know that Peanut Butter Cookies are always a bust with me. Not that I don't love peanut butter cookies, but because I am THE WORST at making them. No matter what I do, they always end up terrible. After that famous episode of How I Met Your Mother where we actually met the mother, and she had made these cookies. When I watched that episode, I knew that I needed to make them. But with my terrible track record, I was SO thankful that my friend Kayla would make them. She taught me how, but for some reason every time I tried, they just didn't ever work. That is until I made them during the 2016 BYU/Utah Football game. I was SO stressed, that I had to do something. So while the game may not have ended the way I wanted it to, I have these cookies to help ease my pain.

Caramel Popcorn Balls

recipe from Ashlee Marie

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
1 cup karo syrup
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
14 cups popped popcorn

DIRECTIONS
Bring the butter, syrup, and sugars to a boil, keep bubbling over med heat until it hits the softball stage (240 degrees - using a candy thermometer).
Add the sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla and boil for one minute.
Pour over the popcorn and stir spread the popcorn out and let it start to cool.
Spray your hands with cooking spray and portion it out into 8 sections and ball up.
Continue to check back and ball and turn until they cool enough that they stay in their ball forms

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home,
Recipe by Jeni Britton Bauer

INGREDIENTS
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Danger! This is the dry-burn technique. I don't add water to the sugar before putting it on the heat, as some chefs do. Caramelizing sugar dry means it goes faster, but you have to watch it more closely and be ready with your cream. Here is an overview of what you are going to do:

Stand over the pan of sugar with a heatproof spatula ready, but do not touch the sugar until there is a full layer of melted and browning liquid sugar on the bottom with a smaller layer of unmelted white sugar on the top. When the edges of the melted sugar begin to darken, use the spatula to bring them into the center to help melt the unmelted sugar. Continue stirring and pushing the sugar around until it is all melted and evenly amber in color — like an old penny. When little bubbles begin to explode with dark smoke, give the sugar another moment and then remove from the heat. Immediately but slowly pour about 1/4 cup of the cream and corn syrup mixture into the burning-hot sugar. Be careful! It will pop and spit! Stir until it is incorporated, then add a bit more cream and stir, then continue until it is all in.

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.

Mix the cream with the corn syrup in a measuring cup with a spout.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Heat the sugar in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat until it is melted and golden amber in color (see note above). Remove from the heat and, stirring constantly, slowly add a bit of the cream and corn syrup mixture to the caramel: It will fizzle, pop, and spurt. Stir until well combined, then add a little more and stir. Keep adding the cream a little at a time until all of it is incorporated.

Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the milk. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring back to a boil over medium-high and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat. If any caramel flecks remain, pour the mixture through a sieve.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and whisk. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Pour into frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.

Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid.

Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Rolo Cookies

adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Bag of Rolo candies, unwrapped
Sugar (for rolling the cookie dough balls in)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. Set aside.

With a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time. Next, add in vanilla extract. Mix until blended.

Slowly add flour mixture to sugar mixture and blend well. Take a spoonful of chocolate cookie dough and wrap around one Rolo candy. Make sure Rolo is completely covered with cookie dough. Roll dough ball in sugar and place on prepared baking sheet. Continue until you run out of cookie dough.

Bake cookies for 7-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit on cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes. Move to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Salty Chocolate and Caramel Turtle Cookies

adapted from How Sweet It Is

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
8 caramels, chopped into fours

DIRECTIONS
Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy.

Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.

Fold in pecans, caramel pieces and chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 4-6 hours (or more). When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350, roll into balls and set on baking sheet. (Note: refrigerating is the most important part. If you don’t refrigerate, when the cookies go into the oven, the caramel pieces will sink to the bottom and stick to the cookie sheet.)

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Let cool completely, and drizzle with caramel sauce if desired.