Simple chocolate caramel with espresso blondies recipe

I recently made chocolate caramel and was looking for interesting ways to use it.  I often make caramel brownies and wondered how chocolate caramel swirled into blondies would taste.  I can tell you, they're pretty good.

The caramel was made with chocolate flavored Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk.  It is currently only available during the holidays so if you like this, you may want to buy several cans to have on hand.  Here's my recipe for the chocolate caramel Easy chocolate caramel.

These blondies are rich and gooey and have a nice espresso flavor in the background to cut the sweetness of the blondie.  I'll be making these a lot over the holiday season.

Chocolate Espresso Caramel Blondies

Makes 16  

·       ½ cup unsalted butter

·       ¾ cup + 2 tbsp packed light brown sugar

·       1 egg

·       ⅛ tsp salt

·       2 tsp vanilla

·       2 ½ tsp instant espresso powder

·       1 cup all-purpose flour

·       ¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

·       4 oz chocolate caramel, melted 

1.     Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2.     Line an 8" square baking pan with foil and give it a good coating of nonstick cooking spray.

3.     Place butter in a medium sized microwave safe bowl and melt the butter in the microwave.

4.     Stir in the brown sugar until sugar is completely dissolved, then stir in egg.

5.     Add the salt, vanilla, and espresso powder and mix well.

6.     Stir in the flour then fold in the nuts. 

7.     Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  The batter will be very thick. Dollop the melted caramel on top of the batter, then swirl the melted chocolate caramel into the mixture. 

8.     Bake for 18-25 minutes, until lightly golden brown. 

 

Note that this recipe was developed for high altitude.  While the ingredients will not change, baking time may vary at low altitude. 

 

 

 

Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk now in caramel flavor

Recently while I was shopping I noticed that Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk came in 2 new flavors.  I was waiting to determine what holiday baking I was going to do before I bought the new flavors.  Lucky for me, they sent me a few cans to try out. 

If you are reading this, you probably know that I make homemade caramel several times during the year.  But if you do not, you probably end up buying the little caramel squares with the cellophane wrapper on them.  They are quicker than making it homemade but still a pain to unwrap and melt.  So I was really excited to try the canned caramel flavor sweetened condensed milk.

I have seen many recipes where people boil or steam a can of regular sweetened condensed milk to make caramel.  I understand it tastes wonderful, but worry that this can be dangerous because the can may explode.  This is a much safer method to get that delicious caramel flavor easily.  If you need your caramel thicker, you should be able to empty this into a glass bowl and cook down in the microwave. 

I decided to make my samoa cookies which use about a pound of caramel anyway.  I opened the can and in it was a nice liquid texture caramel.  No unwrapping or melting required.  What a timesaver.  But would it taste good?

I have to say it was an easy swap and the taste was fantastic.  Here's the recipe that I previously posted but modified to use Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk in caramel flavor.  The flavor was wonderful and it cut quite a bit of time out of my recipe.

Samoas Cookies copycat recipe
Makes about 4 dozen

Shortbread recipe

¼ cup	Confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup	Granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups	Unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks) refrigerated and cut into 8 to 10 pieces
2 ½ cups	All purpose flour
Dash	Kosher salt

 
Preheat oven to 325°

Place both sugars in food processor and process until very fine. 

Add butter, pulse until sugar disappears.  Add flour and salt, pulse until no dry particles remain.  (Mixture will be moist and crumbly.)   

Cookies w/hole in center

Make balls about 1 inch and place on a cookie sheets 2 inches apart.  Flatten each ball with the bottom of a glass or a rolling pin.  Each cookie should be about 2” when flattened.  Using the back of a round wooden spoon, make a small circle in the middle of the cookie.  My circles were about ½ to ¾”.   Optionally you can try to roll out this dough…but it can be difficult to roll out nicely. 

Bake 20-25 minutes until pale golden.  Remove from cookie sheets; cool completely on wire racks. 

 

Topping recipe:

·       2 ½ cups          Shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted

·       1  can               Eagle Brand caramel flavored sweetened condensed milk

·       Dash                Kosher salt

·       ½ lb.                Dark or semisweet chocolate chips

·       1-2 tbsp           Shortening (such as Crisco)

·       4 dozen           Shortbread cookies

To toast the shredded coconut, put it in a large frying pan on medium to low heat.  Stir the coconut until it is toasted.  Do not look away or it goes from perfect to burned in seconds.  Remove from heat and place on a plate to cool.  See the video for easy instructions.   

 

Pour the caramel into a medium sized bowl, then stir the toasted coconut into the caramel. 

Gently spread the caramel/coconut mixture on top of your cookies.   

Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave 15 seconds at a time, stirring well after each interval.  When the chips are almost melted, remove from the microwave and stir, using the residual heat to melt the remaining chips.  DO NOT OVERHEAT or you will ruin your chocolate. 

Bottom of cookie dipped in chocolate.
Top has caramel/coconut, then
 drizzled with chocolate

Now, be prepared to get messy.  Spread some of the chocolate on a plate.  Hold the cookie on the edges and dip the cookie into the chocolate to cover the entire bottom.  Place the chocolate cookie on either parchment paper or a Silpat.  Continue with the remaining chocolate.  (Do not discard the remaining chocolate as you will use it in a few minutes.)  If your kitchen is really hot, you may want to put the cookies in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

Use the remaining melted chocolate to drizzle over top of the cookies once they're all dipped. We used a fork to drizzle uneven strokes of chocolate on the top of the cookie.  Let the chocolate harden and enjoy.  Store in an air tight container for up to a few days. 

 

 

 

 

 

Copycat samoa girl scout cookie recipe

We recently had a taste for some Girl Scout cookies but they are no longer available.  Rather than wait until it’s cookie time again, we decided to make our own.  We had a store-brand knock off cookie to taste and knew it would be easy to re-create.  We also ‘googled’ and found some recipes that looked like ‘sort of’ what we wanted to do.   

We used someone else’s shortbread recipe, but decided next time, we would use our own.  The recipe for shortbread cookies is one we have used for years and love.  If you want to make it really easy, use purchased shortbread cookies.  Just know that they may not have the hole in the middle. 

You can use caramel from the grocery store, purchase ‘fresh’ caramel from a candy store such as Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory or make your own.  There is a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Arizona Mills (if you live in Mesa) or Outlets of Anthem (if you live in Prescott).  We always have homemade caramel in the freezer for dishes like this. 

 

Samoas Cookies copycat recipe

Makes about 4 dozen

Shortbread recipe

¼ cup	Confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup	Granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups	Unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks) refrigerated and cut into 8 to 10 pieces
2 ½ cups	All purpose flour
Dash	Kosher salt

 
Preheat oven to 325°

Place both sugars in food processor and process until very fine. 

Add butter, pulse until sugar disappears.  Add flour and salt, pulse until no dry particles remain.  (Mixture will be moist and crumbly.)   

Cookies w/hole in center

Make balls about 1 inch and place on a cookie sheets 2 inches apart.  Flatten each ball with the bottom of a glass or a rolling pin.  Each cookie should be about 2” when flattened.  Using the back of a round wooden spoon, make a small circle in the middle of the cookie.  My circles were about ½ to ¾”.   Optionally you can try to roll out this dough…but it can be difficult to roll out nicely. 

Bake 20-25 minutes until pale golden.  Remove from cookie sheets; cool completely on wire racks. 

 

Topping recipe:

·       2 ½ cups          Shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted

·       1 lb      Caramels (soft) (we used homemade but store bought will work, too)

·       Dash    Kosher salt

·       2-3 tbsp           Milk

·       ½ lb.    Dark or semisweet chocolate chips

·       1-2 tbsp           Shortening (such as Crisco)

·       4 dozen           Shortbread cookies

To toast the shredded coconut, put it in a large frying pan on medium to low heat.  Stir the coconut until it is toasted.  Do not look away or it goes from perfect to burned in seconds.  Remove from heat and place on a plate to cool.  See the video for easy instructions.   

Place your caramels, milk and salt in a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute; stir well.  Put back in the microwave for another minute at a time.  When the caramel is smooth, it is ready.  Adjust the amount of milk you use so that the caramel is a spreading consistency.  Some caramels are more firm than others. 

Stir the toasted coconut into the caramel mixture. 

Gently spread the caramel/coconut mixture on top of your cookies.   

Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave 15 seconds at a time, stirring well after each interval.  When the chips are almost melted, remove from the microwave and stir, using the residual heat to melt the remaining chips.  DO NOT OVERHEAT or you will ruin your chocolate. 

Bottom of cookie dipped in chocolate.
Top has caramel/coconut, then
 drizzled with chocolate

Now, be prepared to get messy.  Spread some of the chocolate on a plate.  Hold the cookie on the edges and dip the cookie into the chocolate to cover the entire bottom.  Place the chocolate cookie on either parchment paper or a Silpat.  Continue with the remaining chocolate.  (Do not discard the remaining chocolate as you will use it in a few minutes.)  If your kitchen is really hot, you may want to put the cookies in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

 

Use the remaining melted chocolate to drizzle over top of the cookies once they're all dipped. We used a fork to drizzle uneven strokes of chocolate on the top of the cookie.  Let the chocolate harden and enjoy. 

Store in an air tight container for up to a few days. 

 

We love these cookies and are sure they are going to show up on a goodie table soon.