Caramel corn is a special treat my family really loves! Any given evening, when we have time to watch a little bit of TV or a movie as a family, we pop popcorn (and top with butter), or make caramel corn.
I love caramel corn, and I love it even more with “stuff” in it! Cereal (my favorite is corn chex), pretzels, nuts or M&M’s make delicious additions to an already delightful treat!
Some fun packaging makes a bag of caramel corn a great little gift or favor. I made this batch for the teachers at my girls’ school. I’m planning to make it again (and package it the same) for a school field trip to the pumpkin farm later this week.
The orange snack cups (shown) were in the $1.00 section at Target, and I drew faces on them with permanent marker.
The one downside of this homemade caramel corn is that does take a bit of planning. It takes about 45 minutes, or so, from start to finish, before you get to eat it. But the finished sweet and crunchy caramel corn will last 3-4 days (in a sealed container), so you can make it ahead of time.
Homemade Caramel Corn
Add cereal, pretzels, or nuts of your choice to create a delicious mix!
Yield: About 15 or more cups
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 cups popped corn
3-5 cups cereal, pretzels, or nuts of your choice
Directions:
Pop popcorn, and place in a large roasting pan. Mix in any desired additions (cereal, pretzels, nuts, etc).
In a medium saucepan, add butter, brown sugar, salt and corn syrup.
Cook over medium-high heat (not high), stiring occasionally until the mixture begins to boil.
Boil 5 minutes, or until the mixture is a deep amber color, stiring occasionally. Set a timer, and do not leave the kitchen. The mixture can burn quickly. Keep the stove temperature just high enough to keep the mixture boiling, and no more (this may be medium, or medium-high). If you prefer to use a thermometer, the mixture should be about 234*F, or soft ball stage.
After boiling 5 minutes, remove pan from heat. Add vanilla and stir (the mixture will hiss). Add baking soda, and stir well (the mixture will foam and expand).
Pour caramel over popped corn (or any other ingredients you choose), and stir to coat.
Bake caramel corn in a pre-heated 250*F oven for about 25-30 minutes. Every 10 minutes, remove from oven, stir well and return to oven.
Spread the baked caramel corn onto a couple of cool baking sheets, or a waxed paper lined counter, to cool. Cool about 5 minutes. Eat immediately, or store in a sealed container 3-4 days.
Recipe Source- Recipe as listed by Glorious Treats.
Original concept of caramel corn dates back to the 1890's, according to Wikipedia.
Notes- If you want to include M&M's, candy corn, or other candies, add them after the caramel corn has baked, and cooled.
Happy snacking!
Many of the delicious foods I associate with fall have one thing in common… fall spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice add that special fall touch to pies, cakes and breads. In addition to the wonderful flavor… spiced baked goods smell oh so good!
These cookies are a delicious variation of traditional roll-out sugar cookies, and are just perfect for fall!
The title “Pumpkin Spice Cookies” might be a tad bit deceiving, because the recipe does not contain any pumpkin… simply the delicious spices often paired with pumpkin treats.
Pumpkin Spice Cutout Cookies
The addition of fall-inspired spices and brown sugar turn tradional sugar cookie dough into an extra flavorful treat.
Yield: About 2 dozen moderate sized cookies
Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated if possible
1/4 teaspoon allspice
(*optional- replace individual spices with 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2/3 cup granulated (white) sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (best quality available)
Directions:
In a large bowl bowl, add flour, baking powder and spices. Stir with whisk to combine.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Add both sugars and beat until fully combined and fluffy.
Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine.
Scrap down the sides of your bowl with a spatula.
While the mixer is running on low, add the flour mixture, slowly.
Mix until all of the flour is incorporated, and the mixture begins to ball up and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
Dump out the dough onto a clean work surface, kneed in any extra bits of flour or dough, and divide the dough into two large balls. Place balls of dough in a plastic bag (or plastic wrap) flatten dough into large disks and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
When the dough has chilled, roll out onto lightly floured surface and cut out desired shapes.
Bake cookies in a pre-heated, 350*F oven, on ungreased baking sheets 9-11 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.
Recipe Notes- For tips on rolling out the dough, please see my original Sugar Cookie recipe post.
I prefer to place the full baking sheet of unbaked, cutout cookies in the freezer about 5-10 minutes before baking, to help the cookies keep their shape.
These cookies will remain fresh and delicious at least 5-7 days. Keep undecorated cookies sealed in an airtight container. Layer decorated cookies (after they’ve dried 8-12 hours) between waxed paper or parchment paper in an airtight container, or wrapped in cellophane bags (for gift giving).
When your cookies are baked and cooled, and you’re ready to decorate, make up a batch of Royal Icing.
Along with the royal icing recipe is a basic decorating tutorial, if you’ve never decorated cookies before.
In addition, Sweet Sugar Belle has an easy tutorial for decorating pumpkins similar to the ones shown above.
Happy fall baking!
What better way to celebrate fall, than with the flavors of caramel, cinnamon and apples? These classic fall flavors combine to create a flavorful and delicious coffee cake. This cake would be perfect for a special breakfast, brunch, or snack anytime.
The apple-cinnamon coffee cake is delicious on its own, but the addition of the caramel drizzle makes it extra special!
Caramel Apple Coffee Cake
Serve this delicious cake with or without the caramel drizzle for a special breakfast, brunch or treat anytime!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apples (I used fuji)
For the crumb topping
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the caramel drizzle
1/2 (11 oz) bag caramel bits
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease a 9"x13" baking dish or cake pan with butter or cooking spray.
In the bowl of an electic mixer, beat butter until smooth. Add brown sugar, and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time.
In a separate bowl, add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Whisk together.
With the electric mixer on low, add about 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add 1/2 of the sour cream, then remaing dry ingredients, then remaining sour cream.
Add vanilla. Turn off mixer, and fold in chopped apples.
Spread batter into prepared pan.
Prepare the crumb topping-
Combine the topping ingredients in a bowl, stir (with a fork) until mixture resembled coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping over cake batter.
Bake cake 35-40 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on wire rack at least 10 minutes.
Prepare caramel drizzle-
Melt caramel bits and cream in a bowl in the microwave, or in a small saucepan on the stove, over low heat, stiring to combine.
Drizzle caramel over cake slices before serving.
Notes- Look for the caramel bits near chocolate chips in your local grocery store. As an alternative, feel free to use large, individual caramels, but they will take more time to melt.
Happy fall baking!
I love cute party supplies and gifts, and I love sharing my finds with you!
Today I have a fun giveaway from Green Party Goods.
Green Party Goods focuses on eco-friendly, non-toxic, biodegradable and reusable gifts and party decor. And not only are their products earth-friendly… but they are cute too!
Green Party Goods has set aside an $80 gift certificate for one lucky Glorious Treats winner!
The gift certificate would be perfect for buying decorations for your next party, pretty baking and packaging supplies, or even give you an early start on Christmas, with some beautiful gifts.
Would you like to win?
Simply leave a comment on this post telling me what you may go shopping for… party supplies, baking supplies, gifts?
Feel free to head over to Green Party Goods to take a look!
Want to keep up with news, products, and ideas from Green Party Goods? ”Like” the Green Party Goods Facebook page.
And if you’re not already… I’d love you to “like” Glorious Treats on Facebook too! (You’ll notice I’m sneaking up on 25,000 fans… feel free to help me over!)
One comment/entry per person. Comment must be left on this blog post.
*E-mail subscribers- If you are reading this post in an e-mail, you must click HERE to view this post on-line and enter on Glorious Treats.
Details- Giveaway open to U.S. residents only. Giveaway ends Tuesday, October 9th, 2012, at 9pm Pacific. Winner will be chosen using Random.org and contacted via e-mail within three days of the close of the giveaway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Giveaway Closed ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Winning comment (as chosen by Random.org) #175- Julia
Several months ago, I was chatting with a cookie friend (hi Trinette!) and we were talking about inspiring cookies we had seen recently. THESE creative pinata cookies came up. As we continued chatting, our conversation shifted to cookie designs we might like to try for the coming seasons (Fall and Christmas). Suddenly… an idea hit me! I blurted out my idea excitedly and my friend laughed to think that might be the way I react any time I get a fun idea =)
My fun (and oh so exciting!) idea was to take inspiration from the Pinata Cookies by Project Denneler (as featured on She Knows), along with inspiration from some adorable 3D cupcake cookies by Sweet Sugar Belle, mash them together… add a twist for fall, and ta-da… 3D Pumpkin Cookies!
Aren’t they cute?
Of course the extra fun feature is not just the 3D shape, but the little treasure inside!
Want to make some?
To start, you’ll need a batch of sugar cookie dough using my Sugar Cookie Recipe.
After you’ve mixed up the dough, grab a small ball (about a baseball sized) amount of dough and kneed green food coloring into the dough (I used Americolor mint green and leaf green). Once the green color is fully worked into the dough, put the dough in a plastic bag and place in the refrigerator (about 30 minutes). With the remaining dough, add orange food coloring (I used Americolor orange and electric orange), and kneed the coloring into the dough until desired color is achieved. Place orange dough in a plastic bag and refrigerate (about 30 minutes). When the dough has chilled, baked according to recipe directions (using the cutter sizes listed below).
As you’ll notice in the finished photos, I made a few pumpkins using scalloped circle cutters, and a few pumpkins using regular circle cutters. Feel free to use either shape you prefer, or the cutters you have on hand. For the scalloped circles I used THIS SET (from Karen’s Cookies) (this set is double use, and will cut plain round circles also).
For each 3D pumpkin you’ll need…
(2) Orange scalloped circle cookies 1 7/8″ diameter
(2) Orange scalloped circle cookies 2 1/4″ diameter with a 1 1/4″ or 1 1/2″ circle cutout.
(1) Green scalloped circle 1 1/4″ or 1 1/2″ diameter, with a hole cutout in the center using a straw.
(1) Green stem, made from rolling a small amount of green dough into a “snake”, and cutting it into pieces about 3/4″ long, then bake.
Note- Feel free to adjust the sizes a bit based on the cutters you have, or the finished size you desire.
When your cookies are baked, and you’re ready to assemble, prepare a batch of royal icing using my Royal Icing Recipe.
Time to assemble the pumpkins….
(Step 2) Start with one of the solid circles and one cutout circle. Add a line of royal icing onto the solid circle, then place cookie “ring” on top.
(Step 3) Add a line of royal icing onto the first cookie “ring” (which you just attached to a base in step 2). Add the second cookie “ring”.
(Step 4) The base of your pumpkin is complete.
(Step 5) Assemble the pumpkin top by first attaching the small green stem to the green circle (using a bit of royal icing). Then add a line of royal icing onto the bottom of the green circle (as shown), and place the green circle on top of a solid orange circle.
(Step 6) Allow the pumpkin top (left) and pumpkin base (right) to dry fully (at least 1-2 hours). Fill pumpkin cavity with small candy (I used mini M&Ms), place top, and share with family and friends!
These cute 3D Pumpkin Treasure Cookies would make great party favors, or special treats for a Fall or Halloween party.
Happy treat making!
I’ve linked up this post to Tidy Mom’s- I’m lovin’ It post.
