Caramel Chocolate Treasures

I got this recipe off of a blog, and then forgot to write down which blog I got it from! When I figure it out, and I definitely will because I want to make more delicious treats from there, I'll post it and link to it. Gotta give credit where credit is due!

I doubled this and it made a little more than 3 dozen.


Chocolate Caramel Treasures

Cookies:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 c sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 T whole milk
1 t vanilla
1 c flour
1/3 c cocoa
1/4 t salt
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 c finely chopped hazelnuts

Caramel:
10 plain caramels, unwrapped
2 T heavy cream

Chocolate Drizzle:
3 oz semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled to warm


Make cookies:
Beat butter, sugar, yolk, milk, and vanilla well. Sift flour, cocoa, and salt into a separate bowl. Slowly add to sugar mixture and beat on low until dough forms. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap until firm. (I made it in the AM and baked them in the evening.)

Roll dough into 1" - 1 1/2" balls. Coat in egg white, and then roll in chopped nuts. Place nut coated balls on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Press thumb into center to form indentation. Bake 10-12 minutes until done. Immediately press centers again after removing from oven. (I used the bottom end of a knife, you could use the bottom of a wooden spoon or whatever is that general shape that you have laying around!)

Make filling by melting caramel and cream over med-low heat in saucepan until combined and smooth. Spoon into center of cookies.

Melt chocolate in microwave being careful not to scortch it. I did it at 50% power in 20 second intervals until it was melted, stirring each time. Place melted chocolate in a baggie and snip a tiny hole in the bottom corner. Drizzle over cookies and let cool competely to set up.

What I did on this rainy Saturday morning...

Good morning! Jeremiah took the boys to a wrestling tournament today, so having the house to myself I decided instead of cleaning it up I'd make it more of a mess. Makes sense, right? No, really...the first time I attempted this recipe it was a DISASTER. I put the rolls too close together in the pan (shoved ALL of them into 2 10x13!! YIKES) leaving NO room to rise. What I was left with was rolls that were golden brown on top, and DOUGH in the middle. Not good. I salvaged them, somewhat, by separating them into different pans and sticking them back in the oven. They were *not* cute, but they tasted good. I had spend so much time on them I brought them to church anyway, and wouldn't you know, they ALL got eaten!

So last night I decide I'm going to give this thing another go. In case you are wondering and want to give this a go yourself...I used the Pioneer Woman recipe. You can click on that underlined Pioneer Woman and it'll take ya right to her little page of sugar heaven. Is a long recipe, but if you are unlike me and actually have a brain in your head and *follow directions* (which I did NOT the last time. That doesn't sound like me mom, does it? Not following directions? NO way!) it won't take you two (or three) attempts to get this to come out right!

While you are at her site, check out the rest of her recipes. It is my new 'go to' place when I'm at that "NOTHING SOUNDS GOOD" road I seem to be strolling down most nights. EVERYTHING sounds good on that site! So far I've tried the #1 Cowboy sandwich, (she calls him Marlboro Man...LOVE it!) the Crash Hot Potatoes, the Zucchini Cakes, and...ahh...yeah...these Cinnamon Rolls! All very good. :)

So what you see to your left is the finished product. Yummy done cinnamon rolls with a maple glaze frosting. Doesn't get much better than that.


What you see here is unglazed rolls, because Daniel doesn't like the 'frosting' and "Please Mom can you save some without that frosting stuff on it?" works for me every.time.










Here is the state of my kitchen while the 2nd batch was baking. Because I can't ever just follow directions, I decided to do 1/2 of these the regular cinnamon rolls, and the other half caramel rolls.


Instead of the regular cinnamon sugar mixture rolled in the dough I used brown sugar and much less cinnamon.

The I mixed 3 cups of packed brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and about 9 -10 oz of melted butter together. I spread this mixture between 3 disposable round cake pans and one bread pan because all the rolls wouldn't fit between the 3 remaining cake pans and I was NOT making the same mistake twice and packing them in!





Then...I baked. This is mid-way through the baking. Looking good huh?

This is what resulted from the little bread pan. I flipped it over so the caramel could ooze down the sides of the rolls...after I ate one...or two. :)











The rest got inverted onto this big cookie sheet. Upon flipping I discovered that the ones baked in the cake pans did not have the right texture on the bottom (or what is the top in this picture).

The parts that cooked in the caramel were a little....ummm....soggy. ONLY the ones that cooked in the cake pans though. Weird huh? So, I decided to toss them back into the oven for a few minutes to see if I could get them to firm up a bit.

It is what it is at this point! Hopefully it firmed up enough to have a good texture, but didn't wreck the whole bunch. We'll see! After 2 caramel rolls and 2 cinnamon rolls, I'm all sugared out for the moment.

This makes a huge batch. 7 round cake pans would do the trick...maybe even 8. LOTS. Its supposed to! You are supposed to take a pan over to your sister's house for morning coffee...or over to your mom's, or to church on Sunday, or to that Pampered Chef party you are hosting.

What I'm saying though is this could be EASILY halved. :) What fun would that be though! Enjoy!

Ragout of chicken legs...

Ragout of Chicken Legs Recipe #72497
You will not believe the sauce that results from this dish. Mashed potatoes are a must so you can puddle on the sauce and let it soak in. by silky
35 min 15 min prep SERVES 4

Ingredients
4 even-sized chicken legs with thigh
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup dry red wine
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons madeira wine ( I used Marsala)


Directions
1. Let the chicken legs sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the butter.

3. When the butter melts, brown the chicken legs a few at a time over a medium-high heat until they are all browned.

4. Remove them from the pan and sprinkle in the flour.

5. Cook, stirring, for 4 minutes, then pour in the chicken stock, wine, garlic, shallot, bay leaf, salt, pepper and Madeira.

6. Bring the liquids to a boil, then replace the chicken legs skin side down and cover the pan.

7. Let the liquids return to the boil, then lower the heat and let the chicken simmer gently for 15 minutes or until the legs are cooked through.

8. Transfer the chicken legs to a platter and cover with foil; keep warm.

9. Let the sauce return to a rolling boil and let it bubble vigorously until it is reduced by half.

10. Remove the bay leaf and spoon the sauce over the chicken legs. Serve at once.

We liked this recipe. I'd give it about a 4 start. Its definitely worth a try, especially if you enjoy cooking with wine!