tasty tuesday: caramel apples

Caramel apples are just one of those classic Fall foods that I honestly can't get enough of.  We always sell them during September and October during our apple festivals on the farm, so I'm spoiled with a steady supply of them.  A farm down the road makes them for us, using our own apples, and they are so wonderful.  Due to this, I had never actually made my own caramel apples from scratch!

I can now cross that off my bucket list though, because these beauts were completely homemade.  Not even halfway homemade with store-bought caramels. No way.  Although the ingredient list might make your teeth hurt by just looking at it.....hehe.  I will tell you that these are hands down the best caramel apples I've eaten!  The only thing that is keeping me from making them every day is because they take quite a bit of patience for your caramel to reach the right temperature.  And if you know me....you'll know that patience is one of my strong suits.  Ha!

This caramel has a beautiful colour, and is so creamy and rich.  It went so well with the tart Elstar apples that it covered, and made many mouths quite happy.  The extra caramel was used for dipping apples in over the next couple of days....and we also made some homemade turtles with it.  Delish.

Caramel Apples
recipe from: Sprinkle Bakes

Ingredients:

12 small/medium tart apples (I used Elstar apples)

popsicle sticks (I used cake pop sticks, which got a bit soggy and then weren't quite strong enough!)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1 cup white sugar

1/2 butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

*you will need a candy thermometer for this recipe!

Directions:

1)  First, place a large sheet of parchment or wax paper on a work surface that will be able to hold all of your apples without them touching each other.  Set aside.

2)  Clean and dry your apples (the caramel won't stick if they're wet at all!).  Remove the apple stems, and punch a guide hole for your stick using a metal skewer or skinny knife.  Insert stick into each apple, and make sure it's secure.

3)  For the caramel: in a 4-cup liquid measuring cup, stir together the sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream.  Set aside.

4)  In a large pot, combine corn syrup, brown sugar, and white sugar.  Bring to a simmer over high heat.  When the mixture boils, add the butter.  Stir until the butter is melted, and reduce the heat to medium-high.

5)  Add milk mixture in a small steady stream, whisking continually.  You want the caramel to keep boiling slightly.

6)  Reduce heat to medium, and attach a candy thermometer to your pot.  Be careful that the candy thermometer does not touch the bottom of your pot, as it will give you a false temperature reading.

7)  Bring to 250 degrees F.  This will take approximately 15 minutes or so.  So be patient!

8)  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

9)  Wait until the bubbling stops, and the caramel has a smooth glassy surface.  Tilt pan slightly so that caramel is deeper on one side, and start dipping apples.  Cover apples completely in caramel, and twirl and gently tap the stick on the side of the pot to help excess caramel drip off.  Place on parchment to set for about an hour.  Serve and enjoy!

[Optional]: Immediately after dipping, roll your apple in chopped nuts, chocolate, skor bits, coconut, etc.

Keep extras in the fridge until you're ready to eat them!

You may have noticed the mini caramel apples in a few of these pictures.  We used a melon baller to carve out some mini apple balls for dipping.  While this idea was great in theory, they ended up being a bit too wet, and the caramel slid off most of them.  Sad day.

My favorite combo of flavors was definitely the pretzel covered apples.  Sweet and salty will always get me.  The extra crunch from the pretzels was also a lovely addition!

So, be creative and make these yummy treats!

p.s. ♥ kelsey

tasty tuesday: soft pretzels

Is there any smell that tops fresh baked bread?  Or in this case fresh baked pretzels?

The correct answer is no....or at least it is 99% if the time.  Take it from me.  

Now, these have been a family classic for a looong time thanks to Jordyn.  She just has a knack for finding and creating wonderful things.  And these are perfect for movie nights, games nights, or basically any night!

The only thing that keeps me from making these every single night is that they take so long! Let's just say that I am not a patient person.  At all.  Especially when it comes to food.  

I'm forever pestering Jordyn whenever she makes them....saying "I don't think they have to rise that much do you?  Are they done now?  Can we just bake the dang things yet?".   I usually try and distract myself while they're rising so that I'm not peeking under the towel every five minutes to see if they're ready.  Yeah.  Patience.  Gotta work on that.  Must make more pretzels?  That sounds legit.

Soft Pretzels
Yields: ~12 pretzels

Yeast Mixture:
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup of warm water (you want it hot, but not boiling!)
2 1/4 tsp yeast

[In a small bowl, stir these ingredients together, and then let it rise for about 10 minutes.]

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of water
1 tsp of salt

Directions:
1)  In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, water and salt.
2)  Then add your yeast mixture, and mix.
3)  Knead your dough on a floured surface until it feels "right" (about 30-40 times.....once you've made these a few times you'll have a better feel for what "right" feels like!).
4) Now place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a dish towel.  (It's best to place your bowl in a warm area, such as a patch of sunlight, or in the oven with the light on.  Let it rise for about an hour.)
5) Cut your dough into 12 equal pieces, roll and shape into a pretzel, and let rise for another 45 minutes.
[Optional]:  If you want a salted pretzel, brush the tops of your pretzels lightly with an egg white and sprinkle with coarse salt.
6)  Cook in the oven for approximately 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees F.

Now it's time to knead it!  Make sure you sprinkle down some flour on your counter before you dump your dough out, otherwise it will stick!  Add a teeny bit of flour if your dough is really sticky.

Once your dough is all kneaded, you pop it in a bowl to rise!  And do your best to not sit there and stare at it until it's done...

Once it's finally done, you get to shape it into whatever you want!

We cut ours into 12 equal pieces, roll them each out like a snake, and then twist them into a pretzel shape.

Not pictured are the pretzels covered by a towel to rise again.  Probably because I was too impatient...

If you don't have (or don't eat) eggs, you can always substitute for plain water. Your pretzels won't get as brown and crunchy on the outside, but they'll still be delicious!

Now please don't be intimidated just because there's yeast in the dough and because you have to knead it and let it let it rise...blah blah blah.  This recipe is seriously forgiving no matter your skill level.  I don't think we've ever had a bad batch of pretzels, and sometimes the dough looks WEIRD, or doesn't really rise.  But you know what?  When hot and fresh pretzels come out of the oven they always taste good. Always.

Make these for your next movie night and impress your friends!

p.s.  ♥ kelsey

tasty tuesday: salted caramel pretzel cookies

Are you ready for a recipe that will change your life?
I think I made these cookies about 3 times the very first week I discovered/created this recipe!

The pretzels are what really make these cookies special.  

The salty sweet combination of pretzels and chocolate makes me want to do the happy dance!

Throw in some toffee bits, and I am 100% sold.

So you may be saying "But Jordyn, pretzels in my cookies?  I thought pretzels were just for munching on while drinking beer, or even better, diet Dr. Pepper!"

(Was anyone else thinking that, or just me?  I'm pretty sure Dr. Pepper and pretzels is the superior pretzel/carbonated beverage combo!)

If you are a little hesitant to put pretzels in your cookies, you are not alone.  But I must ask you to trust me on this one.  I promise you will not be sorry.

Salted Caramel Pretzel Cookies

inspired by this recipe on Sugar Cooking

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter at room temperature

1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup of granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. of salt

1/4 tsp. of baking soda
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips*

1/2 cup SKOR toffee bits

1/2 cup broken up pretzel piece (plus extra for the top)

Preztel Salt or Sea Salt

*you may be able to tell that in the photos I used regular sized chocolate chip, and I used a whole cup.  I found that this made the cookies have trouble sticking together, there were too many goodies, and not enough dough.  So the next time I made them I substituted the whole cup of chocolate chips for 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips, it worked like a charm!

Directions:

1) In a large bowl, mix together the butter and both sugars.
2) Add in your eggs and vanilla, and mix until nice and fluffy.
3) Mix in the salt and baking soda.
4) Add in the flour.
5) Stir in the chocolate chips, toffee bits, and pretzels
6) Scoop the dough onto a cookie sheet (using a silpat on your cookie sheet is best!).
7) Press more pretzel pieces onto the tops of your cookies if you so desire.
8) Sprinkle pretzel salt or grind sea salt on top of the cookies as well.
9) Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Toffee bits always make an awesome addition to chocolate chip cookies.  There is just something about the way they caramelize that adds something special.

In this case the combination of toffee, chocolate, and pretzel create a little piece of cookie heaven!

Adding extra pieces of pretzels on top of the cookie really lets your taste tester (cough cough, or you know, you) know what they are getting into.  It screams "I'm a pretzel cookies, and you should probably eat the heck out of me!!!"
  It is the perfect way to complete these cookies, and guarantees that everybody will get a piece of crunchy pretzel in their cookie!

Please, if you like the salty/sweet combination you MUST try these cookies.  Everyone around you will thank you.  They are definitely my new go to cookie recipe.  I even have friends from school requesting them before class!

Also big thanks to Kelsey who took all these amazing photos!!

p.s. ♥ jordyn