Caramel Pecan Pie Shortbread

I like to salvage as many ingredients as I can when I'm faced with a baking disaster.  As I've mentioned twice before, I failed at making pecan pie cookies for a bake sale.  I came up with the idea of using the pecan pie filling to make mini pecan pie cookies, which was another FAIL, but was able to use the remaining filling for caramel pecan pie shortbread.  The third time really  was a charm.  (Actually, I felt sick to my stomach just thinking about trashing $10 worth of pecans and good, quality chocolate). 

I can still remember how good the shortbread was in the lemon bar recipe I posted during my early blogging days, and wanted to whip up something quick the morning of Thanksgiving.   Less than 45 minutes later, I had these decadent bad boys packed and ready to go for our holiday lunch at my mom's house:

The shortbread was perfectly baked and the filling was to die for.  It was surprisingly chewy and had the slightest hint of cinnamon.  Not too sweet and not to bitter (I used extra dark cacao baking chips and used the remainder of my semi-sweet chips) Mmm....another recipe that is up for the dessert menu for Christmas.  :)  

Caramel Pecan Pie Shortbread

adapted from Baker's Royale and Tita Terry's Lemon Bar Recipe

Caramel Pecan Pie Filling from Baker's Royale: 

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

4 ¼ oz  chocolate, 65% cacao, melted

1 tablespoon of corn syrup

¼ cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon cardamom (I used cinnamon)

not called for in original recipe, but I did use about two tablespoons of caramel sauce

not called for in original recipe, but I added 1/2 tsp fleur de sel

Shortbread recipe:

1/2 c butter
1 1/3 c unsifted flour
1/4 c sugar

Mix crust ingredients low speed til blended.  Pat into greased 8" square pan.  Bake at 350 near center open rack for 15-20 min. 

Pour caramel pecan filling over crust, return to oven 18-20 min or til set. 

Post Halloween Candy Making

Now that the Halloween festivities are over, I've got more than half a bag of candy corn sitting on my kitchen counter.  There is nothing more annoying than having a big, bright orange bag just laying around...right next to Ruby, my Kitchen Aid standing mixer.  (Don't you just love her name?) I need to get rid of this bag STAT and found this homemade butterfinger recipe on Karly's blog.   

I'm going to make these into truffles using a tiny cookie cutter and possibly add fleur de sel on top as the chocolate sets.   I will post pics as soon as I make them tonite.  :)  But for all you visualists, here's the finished product:  

Photo courtesy of Karly

Pic from my blackberry

Ingredients

• 3 cups candy corn
• 1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
• milk chocolate chips or candy melts, for dipping **I used dark chocolate candy melts of course

Instructions

1. Place the candy corn in a large bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Stir and return to microwave. Continue heating for 30 seconds and then stirring until it is completely melted.
2. Stir in the peanut butter. The heat from the candy corn should melt the peanut butter, but if not return to the microwave for 15 seconds. Stir to combine.
3. Spread the mixture into an 8x8 baking dish lined with parchment paper. Smooth it out evenly in the pan. Let cool for one hour and then use a pizza cutter to slice into bars. **I let the candy mixture chill for about 10 minutes before using a larger piping tip as a cookie cutter.  I wanted to make sure the mixture was stiff enough to maintain its shape but soft enough to remove the tip.  Let me know if this makes sense. 
4. Melt the chocolate chips or candy melts in the microwave. ** I used my handy dandy Wilton melting pot. 
5. Carefully dip the candy bars into the melted chocolate and turn to coat.
6. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and wait for the chocolate to set. ** I added a bit of fleur de sel for more flavor. 
7. Store at room temperature for a chewy texture or in the fridge for a more crisp texture.

**End result:  The homemade butterfinger candies/truffles had a different texture than what I had expected.  The taste was there but the consistency was similar to that of nougat, kinda chewy and not as crunchy. 

Happy Halloween!

Just in case you're looking for a sweet treat to bring to a halloween party this weekend, I made this last year: 

 Halloween candy bark

It looks like a hot mess but it's unbelievably good.  Salty and sweet and great for kids.  :)  Here's the link to Annie's Eats to get a better idea. 

Ingredients:
1 lb. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 Butterfinger candy bars (or 8 fun size bars), roughly chopped
3 toffee candy bars (or 6 fun size bars), roughly chopped
8 Reese cups, cut into wedges
¼ cup honey roasted peanuts
3 oz. yellow and orange peanut M&Ms, coarsely chopped
3 oz. good quality white chocolate, finely chopped

Directions:
Line a baking sheet with foil.  Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Heat, stirring occasionally until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.  Pour the chocolate over the foil and smooth into a thin layer with a spatula.  Evenly sprinkle the chopped candy bars, Reese cups, honey roasted peanuts, and peanut M&Ms over the melted chocolate.  Press gently to adhere the candy to the melted chocolate.  Transfer to the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.

Melt the white chocolate, again using the double boiler method, until smooth.  Drizzle over the chilled candy bark.  Return to the refrigerator and let chill again until the white chocolate is set, 3o minutes more.

Peel the sheet of chocolate away from the foil and break into irregular pieces.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Not a big fan of all the candy?  That's ok.  Here's another recipe I plan on baking for Kylie's class and my co-workers:

 photo courtesy of Bridget

 Chocolate Candy Corn Cookies
{adapted from Everyday Food}

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
  
• 1/4 c dutch-process cocoa (or regular unsweetened cocoa)
  
• About 36 candy corns

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment.

Beat/stir the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in the egg yolk, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Add flour & cocoa, and mix until a dough forms.

Scoop out level teaspoons (a measuring teaspoon, not a cereal teaspoon) of dough, and place balls on baking sheets, 2 inches apart. (It looks like too little dough for each cookie, but it works.) Roll into balls.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are firm and cookies are dry to the touch, 10 to 12 minutes.

{While these are baking, start going through the bag of candy corn to find 36 good ones. You'll want to work quickly when they come out of the oven and it is very frustrating to keep grabbing broken candy corns. Trust me on this.}

Remove from oven; gently press a candy corn into center of each cookie (surface of cookies may crack slightly). The candy corns will stick once the cookies heat them up..they seem like they will fall off at first, don't worry.

Cool on sheets 1 minute; transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Make 32-36 cookies.

**Just a note:  The cookies are a bit thick and not as chewy as I would have liked.  I may alter the cookie recipe a bit and add more butter the next time around.  If any of you have any cookie recipes, let me know. 

And just another cookie recipe I plan on making (I'm a bit ambitious when it comes to baking..lol) - Cookie Spiderwebs.  I figured I might as well make 'em...I have a bunch of royal icing and colors laying around that I haven't touched in months.

photo courtesy of Bridget

I made mine using a chocolate sugar cookie recipe which I found on Bridget's blog also.  Such a yummy recipe.  I used the Via ready brew from Starbucks and fleur de sel.  Adds much more flavor.  Here's a pic from my phone:  

Kylie helped me marble the colors.  :)

Sweet words from my co-workers:  
"Damn, that was good." - Head boss of the Research Institute 
"Those were the tastiest cookies EVER!  Thank you!!!"

Nutella Scones

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I've been craving anything and everything sweet.  I was perusing through my fellow blogger recipes and saw this.  OMG.  How could I not post this recipe up?  I am a huge nutella fan and love anything with nutella in it.  This is on my to do list this week and I can't wait to devour these bad boys (says the girl with gestational diabetes).  Happy Baking!  

photo courtesy of Bridget at Bake at 350

Nutella Scones
taken from Bridget at Bake at 350 who slightly modified it from the magnificent Baked Explorations




Ingredients
about 1 cup hazelnuts
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup dutch-process cocoa powder (such as Hershey's Special Dark)
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 large egg
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Nutella, divided

Preheat oven to 350.  Place the hazelnuts on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until the papery skins begin to crack and loosen. Rub the hazelnuts with a dish towel to remove most of the skin.  Let cool.  Coarsely chop and set aside.

Increase the oven temp. to 375 and place the rack in the center. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt until combined. Add the butter. Use a pastry cutter (or your fingers) to cut the butter into the mixture until the butter is pea size and the mixture is coarse.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and cream. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until the dough just comes together. Gently and briefly knead the dough with your hands. Add the 3/4 cup toasted hazelnuts and knead gently to incorporate.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Flatten the dough into a rectangle approximately 6 by 12" (it does not need to be precise) and spread 1/4 cup of the Nutella on top. Roll the dough up and make a cylinder about 6 inches long, turn it on its end, and gently flatten it into a disk about 1 and 3/4 inches high. Do not overwork the dough.

Use a bench scraper to cut the dough into 8 wedges and place them on the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake the scones for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean.

Transfer the scones to a wire rack to cool completely. Place the baking sheet with the parchment still underneath the rack.

For the topping:
Heat the remaining 1/4 cup Nutella (or add a little more) in a microwave until pourable, about 10-20 seconds on high. Transfer the Nutella to a pastry bag, cut off the tip and drip the warm Nutella in a zigzag pattern over the tops of the scones. The scones are best eaten the day they are made.