Girl Scout Cookie Brownies

One of the ladies I work with brought these wonderful brownies to work one day and I have to say they are incredible. They are so rich and fudge-like and the possibilities of variants are endless. These are made using a triple chocolate cake mix, Caramel DeLites Girl Scout cookies ( Samoas in certain markets) and a mix of butterscotch and white chocolate chips. I think they would be really good with Thin Mints and chocolate chips or peanut butter cookies and peanut butter chips. You will be tempted to eat them warm, but they have to cool completely to set up. The recipe I am posting is the original.

Girl Scout Cookie Brownies

1 box Caramel DeLites, crushed
1 chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup melted butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup caramel sauce

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 x 11.5 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Combine cake mix, melted butter and evaporated milk. Spread half of mixture into pan. Bake for six minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with half of crushed cookies and half of the chips. Drizzle with half of the caramel sauce. Drop spoonfuls of remaining batter evenly over the top and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining cookies, chips and caramel.
Cool completely before cutting.

Sweet and Spicy Cashews

I love eating cashews or pecans that have a nice sweet and spicy glaze, but they are always so expensive. I came up with this recipe at Christmas and really liked it. If you like your nuts a little spicier, then add more chili powder. This recipe was nice, because the heat hit you afterwards, but was not too hot.

Sweet and Spicy Cashews

1 egg white
1 Tbsp. water
1 lb. lightly salted cashews
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder

Beat egg white and water until frothy. Toss cashews with mixture and drain in colander.
Combine sugars, salt and chili powder and toss with nuts to coat all. Spread on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 275, flip nuts and bake for another 10 minutes. Cool before serving.
Store in an airtight container up to 5 days.

Boo Caramel Corn

Dan brought home this highly addictive caramel corn from work the other day. One of his co-workers gave it to him and I asked for the recipe so that I could post it here. The version she gave Dan had candy corn and M&M's in it, although the recipe does not include them.

Boo Caramel Corn

INGREDIENTS
1 bag Hulless Popcorn***
1 Stick unsalted butter
1 Cup packed brown sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ Cup light Karo syrup
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

In a greased roasting pan place 1 bag of hulless popcorn
***hulless popcorn, is the popcorn that looks like puffs WITHOUT the cheese; Cheetos makes it and so do a few other brands; you want the plain or sometimes it says buttered, just not cheese.

Place the popcorn in the roasting pan, in oven while assembling; stir Butter, Brown Sugar, Salt, and Syrup continuously over medium heat until boiling; turn heat to low; cook 5 minutes WITHOUT stirring; remove from heat.

Add ¼ tsp baking soda and 1 tsp vanilla; stir well with whisk and then pour on warm popcorn from oven.

Bake 45 minutes stirring the popcorn in the roaster every 15 minutes; take out and spread on sheets of parchment paper, corn is hot and sticky so let it cool completely; place in airtight container. Devour and enjoy!

CAUTION: It is totally addictive and I’m not responsible for the amounts consumed!