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Caramel Popcorn Pretzel Bars – Behind the Dessert Challenge

Published April 11, 2013 | By Jennifer Sikora

Today is reveal day for the Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge. We were given the ingredients this month of caramel and pretzels. I have TONS of recipes on my site for caramel and pretzels, but they were in cookie form. I decided to spend some time looking around and I found a yummy recipe from Martha Stewart for Caramel Popcorn and Pretzel Bars — the perfect recipe for this challenge.

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Caramel Popcorn Pretzel Bars – Behind the Dessert Challenge

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
12 cups plain popped popcorn (from ½ cup kernels or 2 microwave packages)
4 cups coarsely chopped small salted pretzels (7.5 ounces)
2 cups sugar
Coarse salt
⅔ cup heavy cream
2 cups miniature marshmallows
½ cup of peanuts

Instructions

Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, toss together popcorn, peanuts, and pretzels. In a medium saucepan, bring sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ cup water to a boil over medium-high. Boil, undisturbed, until mixture is amber in color, 8 to 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and slowly pour in cream (mixture will sputter). Immediately add marshmallows; stir until melted.
Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and pretzels and quickly stir with a rubber spatula to coat. Transfer mixture to dish and use a piece of wax paper coated with cooking spray to press evenly into dish. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Let cool completely before cutting into 12 bars.

NOTE! Be sure to cook your caramel mixture UNDISTURBED! The first time I made this it was an epic fail because I missed that little word and stirred my sugar mixture constantly. Needless to say I had a HOT mess on my hands.

See what others are making on this challenge by checking out the links below!

What yummy caramel and pretzel recipes have you made recently?

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Rocky Road Fudge Crazy Cooking Challenge

Published December 7, 2011 | By Jennifer Sikora

My Fudgy challenge this month comes from a wonderful blog that I happened on while looking for Rocky Road Fudge. Homemade by Holman sports some of the most delicious looking recipes.

I did not change this recipe at all. It was SO good just like it was made.

Rocky Road Fudge

18 oz semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

14 oz (1 can) sweetened, condensed milk

1 T vanilla extract

1 cup mini marshmallows

1 cup salted peanuts, roughly chopped

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line an 8×11 inch baking sheet with aluminum foil leaving at least 1″ overlap on all sides. You want to use a baking sheet that has at least a 1″ high rim. Spray foil with nonstick spray.

Set up a double boiler with a couple inches of water over medium heat. In a heat proof boil or double boiler, toss chopped chocolate with baking soda and salt until well distributed. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Set bowl over simmering water, making sure that bowl doesnt touch the water. Stir continuously with a rubber spatula until chocolate is almost fully melted. It will likely take about 2-4 minutes to melt, remove bowl from heat when there are just a few remaining pieces and stir until smooth.

Stir in marshmallows, peanuts, and chocolate chips. Mixture will be quite thick. Quickly transfer mixture to prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Refrigerate until set, at least two hours. Use foil overhang to remove fudge from pan, peel off foil and chop into approximately 1″ square pieces.

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Posted in Bars, Desserts, Recipes | 3 Comments

Peanut Butter Bars

Published October 10, 2011 | By Jennifer Sikora

The other night I was craving a Reese Peanut Butter cup SO bad (it’s like my favorite candy of all time!). Anyway–I did not want to have to drive to the store because I was being lazy and I knew I probably had the stuff in the cabinet to make them myself, so I got on Food Network to see what I could come up with.

I found a recipe by Nigella Lawson that uses regular ingredients and these guys taste just like the real deal!

They are really easy to make–no cooking involved so the kids could even make this!

Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients

¼ cup light brown sugar
1 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup butter
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

For the topping:

7 ounces milk chocolate
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Stir all the ingredients for the base together until smooth. Press the sandy mixture into a 9×9 pan and make the surface as even as possible.

To make the topping, melt the chocolates and butter together (in a microwave for ease, for a minute or two on medium) and spread on the base. Put the pan in the refrigerator to set. When the chocolate has hardened, cut into small squares

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