Saturday, December 24, 2011

Salted Caramel Butter Bars






Hello and Merry Christmas to everyone out there. I thought I would share a nice recipe for this holiday season. I found this recipe through Pinterest and new I had to make it ASAP. So as a treat to take with me and the hubby up to my sisters for our x-mas festivities I decided to give it a try.


I can honestly say I believe after the couple of bites that I took I now have full blown Diabetes :O

I can also honestly say that this is probably now one of my all time favorite desserts and will be bringing them back more often then I should. The fact that I literally want to lick the crumbs up off of the plate is telling you something. So onto the recipe.


Salted Carmel Butter Bars
adapted from Cookies and Cups


1 lb unsalted butter (real butter people) sat out to reach room temperature
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 TBs vanilla
4 cups AP flour (sifted)
1 bag of Caramel Candies ( I used two bags of Caramel Bites firstly because it's all I could find and I just love lots and lots of gooey caramel)
1/3 cup milk ( you could use cream if you are daring)
1 TB coarse sea salt ( this helps to cut a little of the sweetness out but you could go without it if you like)




* In a mixer blend together the butter, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar.





* Add in the vanilla until fully incorporated.





* Slowly add the sifted flour to the butter mixture ( I did this part by hand so as not to over mix everything)





* Take 1/3-1/2 the dough mixture and press into the bottom of  a greased  9x13 pan.





* Put the remaining dough into the refrigerator to cool while the bottom bakes

* Bake in a 325 degree oven for around 20 minutes until golden brown ( it will puff up a bit but as it sits and cools it will fall back down.





* Let this cool for around 15 minutes while you prepare the caramel

* In the microwave melt together the caramel and milk.

* Pour melted caramel over the crust





* If you choose to use the salt then sprinkle over the caramel.





* Take remaining dough from the refrigerator and crumble over the top of the caramel.





* Return to oven and cook for 30 minutes.





* Let cool completely before cutting into bars.



ENJOY


Monday, December 19, 2011

Birchbox

So I have been away for a bit, lots of moving, school, working out, and not a lot of other stuff really. But I decided I had to let everyone know that I finally found something awesome.


BIRCHBOX

It is this amazing shop/group that gives great tips about beauty and once a month you get a new little pink box filled with 4-5 nice sized samples of various products ranging from a new healthy granola bar to a new lipstick.


I had seen this on a blog and on Pinterest and just fell in love with the idea. So for Christmas this year I thought I would buy myself a little present. I hope that you all look into this and if you get it let me know what you think. I will start posting what I get in the boxes starting with my first box in January 2012 :)