Marshmallow Caramel Brownies

Fat stack

Today I went running. It was euphoric. Utterly incredible and fantastically fresh. It was more of a slow, strong jog, but it felt great. I haven’t been brave enough to try for a month for fear of making myself more sick (if that is even possible). Turns out I’m so much better than I thought! Yay for health!

My new-found balance in life has completely changed how I look at the world. I swear, I am half as stressed as I used to be, and I think it is because I don’t take everything as seriously. School is hard, and requires a lot of time and effort. But it is not my life and that is ok. I won’t be the kid scoring 90′s in my courses, but I will be much happier for it. I will get through exams, find a summer job, and have the best possible summer that I can! As for food, I am listening to my body more and eating only healthy, simple food. If you treat your body right, it shines through in your mood, complexion, and overall well-being. Such a good feeling.

To balance out my healthy eating and exercise, I obviously had to bake a batch of these beauties. So gooey, fudgey, chocolatey, and just straight-up delicious. I swirled caramel throughout the brownie batter, and mixed in a good 2 cups of marshmallows before I popped it in the oven. The marshmallows caramelized, and added a chewy texture. They are best served after cooling in the fridge overnight, because the flavours deepen. Recipe is my own.

Marshmallow Caramel Brownies

 

• 3/4 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup caramel (make your own or store bought!)
• 1-2 cups mini marshmallows

 

Directions:

 

Grease a 9×9 baking pan and line with aluminum foil. Grease again. Set oven to 375 degrees.

Over medium-high heat, melt butter in a small sauce pan. When completely melted, remove and add sugar. Stir like crazy to prevent burning. When sugar is fully incorporated, wait 5 minutes to let cool.  Add eggs, one at a time, whisking them in. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix up dry ingredients, then add them to wet ingredients.

Pour mixture into prepared pan, and swirl in caramel. Top with marshmallows, and stir them in a bit so that they are coate din batter and wont burn.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until top is glossy, and a toothpick comes out clean yet crumby. Cool brownies for 20 minutes, then a further 2 hours in fridge. Slice into bars and serve with milk.

Happy Baking! xxx

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Cups

Dulce de leche is incredible, and I’m so happy I found a place that sells it for cheap-er! I can already see myself putting it in my next batch of brownies, or on pancakes. Rich, sweet, smooth, caramel love.

These cupcakes are crazy good. I kind of just through a bunch of ingredients into the food processor and it turned out alright. There are some things I would change with the recipe, and I recommend you follow them below!

Hope you’re all having a fantastic day!

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Cups

•  2 x 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup silken tofu
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• juice of two lemons (balances out the rich flavours)
• 1/2 cup coconut sap (or honey, agave, or sugar)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup + 1/2 cup dulce de leche

Directions:

In a food processor, blend all ingredients except for the dulce de leche. Scrape down sides and blend until thoroughly incorporated and slightly liquidy.

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin.

Swirl in 1/4 cup of dulce de leche into cream cheese mixture, and pour into cupcake tin. Bake for 20 minutes. Cover with tinfoil if tops brown quickly. Let cool in oven for 15 minutes, then on counter for 15 minutes. Finally, cool in fridge for up to two hours. When fully chilled, spread last 1/2 cup of dulce de leche over the tops as icing!

Happy baking!

xxx

Caramel Pecan Cinnamon Buns

It is Monday, hailing, and not exactly pretty outside. What happened!? The weekend was so nice here, with no rain and lots (by Vancouver standards) of sunshine. My grandma Judi came out Thursday afternoon to visit me from Calgary, and I swear I have never had a such a good weekend. We packed it full of shopping, good food, spa massages, more good food, great wine, and some fun times at the art deco exhibit at the Vancouver Museum. (Also, why is the Vancouver Museum tucked away in the middle of no where?! I swear that there were maybe three or four other dudes in the whole building whilst we were there. Shouldn’t a museum be kind of a popular place to hang out? Vancouver needs to get its’ act together.) Anywho, I hugged the gran good-bye on Saturday night, and then all of the roomies were off to join in the St. Patty’s Celebrations. Sigh.

Legend. We be poundin' guiness.

In order to make this Monday ten times better, I decided to make cinnamon buns! Is it weird that I call them cinnamon buns and not rolls? Is there really a difference? I think calling them buns is cute. Wittle buns. Anywho, I made these lovely caramel drenched cinnamon buns and I’m in love with them! I usually don’t pour in a layer of caramel before they bake- instead I cover them in a creamy icing after they are cooked. But these are so much better! I love how toasty and flavourful the pecans get.

 

Warm, fluffy, and buttery

I adapted the recipe from The Catalyst: Cupcakes. I have been missing cinnamon buns and this was such a great recipe. Do you ever get serious cravings for particular foods? I had a huge craving for cabanera a couple days ago, and wanted to eat cheese all weekend (which I did).

 

Make these because they are very easy and people will love you and tell you that you’d make an excellent wife (true story).

 

Caramel Pecan Cinnamon Buns

Buns

• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp + 1/8 tsp yeast
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 heaping cups all purpose flour

Sugary-Cinnamon Filling

• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature

Caramel

• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

 

Mix together the milk, sugar, and butter and microwave for thirty seconds. Whisk until the butter and sugar is evenly

Toasted, candied pecans are the best

melted. Cool until mixture is slightly warm (not hot) and add yeast. Whisk a few times and then let sit with a cloth over bowl for ten minutes. When yeast smell is apparent and bubbles have formed in the mixture, whisk in egg and salt. Slowly stir in flour in 1/3 cup portions, until all flour is incorporated. Dough should be elastic but not sticky! If it is still sticky, add a tablespoon at a time of flour to the dough, and kneed it till it is desired texture.

Kneed dough on a floured surface until all flour is incorporated. Shape into a ball and place in a different bowl, covered, and let rise in a preheated (but then quickly turned off!) oven for 40 minutes. When dough has risen, punch it back down and let rise for 15 minutes more.

While you wait, make caramel. On high heat, stir like crazy the cream and sugar in a small sauce pan. When mixture comes to boil, whisk for a minutes more until a deep caramel colour forms and mixture thickens. Remove sauce from heat and pour into a greased baking pan- 11x11x4 or similar dimensions will work perfectly. Cover the caramel with all the chopped pecans.

Roll dough out on a floured surface into a long rectangle. Spread butter up to all the edges, and sprinkle on the sugars and cinnamon, evenly. Roll up dough length-wise and cut into 20 inch pieces (you’ll get about 12 little buns or you can make them bigger/smaller and lave less/more). Place buns in baking pan on top of caramel and pecan layer. Cook for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. When golden and bubbling, remove buns and let cool for five minutes. Carefully, using oven mitts, flip buns from dish and onto a large serving dish. Let cool for 20 minutes longer. Then DIVE IN!!

 

Best served warm and gooey with a honkin’ big glass of cold milk.

Happy baking!

xx.

Maple Caramel Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache

Dear Cold,

I don’t know what your deal is. I try and try to kick you out, but you don’t leave! Don’t you understand that I’m done with “us”? I want to move on!

Sincerely,

Hannah

…had to get that off my chest. I haven’t been able to work out in 2 weeks because of this cold. 2 weeks! I think it’s time to visit the Doc.

In other news, I made this cheesecake and it was lovely! Like suuuuuper decadent. I’m happy with the results considering how badly I winged it. The flavour combo is quite odd, I know, but it works.

Rich and fluffy

I ran out of graham cracker crumbs, and didn’t know how to replace them. That’s when my roomie Jess walked by and tossed out “how about an oatmeal crust…” GENIUS. I then debated about how to flavour it….key lime? Caramel? Maple? Chocolate? I decided on the maple-caramel combo and it was great! I did a caramel swirl, which you cant see because of the chocolate ganache, but it was quite pretty.

super moist

To tell you the truth, I preferred the cake without the chocolate. I know, I know, how can chocolate make something less delicious. But I found it to be a tad overwhelming to the other flavours. Other tasters said the chocolate was great, so just do what you think would taste best for you!

Maple Caramel Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache

*Note: The maple flavour is quite subtle in this cake. If you want to increase the flavour, add another 1/2 cup of maple syrup and leave out the sugar.*

Crust

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup coconut oil

Filling

• 3 1/2 x 8 oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup caramel sauce

Ganche

• 250 g semisweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

in a bowl, mix graham crumbs, oats, sugar, butter, and coconut oil. Push evenly into the bottom of a 10 inch springfoam fan. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Incorporate eggs, and beat until a smooth, custardy texture forms. Add vanilla, maple syrup,  and cinnamon until combined. Pour mixture into crust and swirl in caramel sauce. Bake for 75-85 minutes until top is brown and cake is still jiggly. Let cake sit in oven, with oven door open, for fifteen minutes (so as to not shock cheesecake and let it sink/crack, etc.). Then remove cake and let cool for half an hour on counter top, and at least 3 hours (best if overnight) in fridge.Before serving, make ganache. Heat cream until just boiling, then remove and pour over chocolate, in a small-medium bowl. Let chocolate melt, then whisk until mixture becomes smooth and glossy. Cool in fridge or freezer until desired thickness. Pour gently over cheesecake.Happy baking!

xox.

Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I’m home and I ain’t happy about it! I was up in Whistler for the last three days, skiing and partying and having a blast, but my cold actually got the better of me and I had to come home. Seriously, I tried to battle this thing but it would not back off! I think I chugged a whole bottle of cough syrup by the end of the trip, probably not the healthiest thing to do. Anywho, I am happy with the days I got it, I’m super sore from the shredding! It was great to see everyones drunk and skied-out faces every night and hope to get back up to Whistler ASAP.

Waiting in the lift line

Had a sick time skiing Spankies with the Rohn bros. They kill it! I’m always humbled to death whenever I ski with them.

Dan having his way with the mountain

Now that I’m home, and eating real food (ski food= peanut butter on everything), I decided to whip up some cookie bars. I found these on BrownEyedBaker’s site and died looking at the pictures. Holeeeee yummo. I adapted it slighty and they still tasted amazing.

Chewy, gooey caramel

I cant wait for my babies to come back so that they can continue eating all my baked goods. This stuff is dangerous to have hanging around the house!

caramel soaked, tbh

Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies 

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup salted butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup caramel spread

Direction:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×9 baking dish.

Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

yuuum

In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugars until combined. Add in eggs and beat until smooth. Add vanilla and apple sauce and beat thoroughly. Add wet ingredients to dry, and mix. When combined, stir in chocolate chips.

Spread half of the cookie dough into the baking dish in an even layer. On top, spread a thin layer of caramel. Finally, spread the rest of the cookie dough on top, making sure to cover the caramel.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden and still soft inside. Cool for 15-20 minutes, then cut into bars. For a less gooey bar, cool in fridge for a further 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

xox.

Banana Foster Cupcakes

Oh man, finally done midterms for the Reading Week. I’m so glad because I have just developed a lovely little cold and am effing exhausted!
Let us start off the break with some sassy little rum-filled cupcakes!

Banana Bonanza

 
Actually, to be honest, this recipe is just a ton of butter, cream, rum, and sugar. So, like, the best recipe ever.  I adapted it from TheButterDish and it is incredibly rich! I could only eat half of one.

Banana Buttons

We start off with a delicious banana cupcake batter, and bake it till golden. We then fill each lil’ cake with a sinfully delicious spoonful of banana’s foster. We slather the baby in a rich vanilla frosting and top it off with gorgeous caramel sauce. Yee!!

fillin'

Banana’s Foster Cupcakes 

Cake:

• 1 1/4 all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 extremely ripe bananas
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 eggs

Banana Foster Filling:

• 2-3 tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 large bananas
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup spiced rum

Frosting:

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla

Caramel Sauce:

• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup rum

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin.

For cake, mix together salt, baking soda and powder, and flour. Set aside. In another small bowl, mix together mashed banana, vanilla, and cream. Set aside. Using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Slowly add in eggs. When combined, alternate between adding flour ingredients and banana mixture until everything is combined. Pour batter

Suga on suga

in to muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes. When finished, cool for ten minutes and then ten more in the fridge.

For Banana foster, melt butter in a larger sauce pan on medium heat. When melted, add sugar and stir until mixture is bubbly and a deep golden colour. Add bananas, in small, diced pieces, to butter mixture. Stir bananas in sauce for 4 minutes, until bananas have a golden colour. Add rum, and continue cooking for 4 minutes. When finished, banana mixture should be a thick, caramel-like sauce.

Cut out the middles of the cupcakes, and pour in the banana foster sauce. Cool.

For frosting, beat butter and sugar together. Add in vanilla and salt, and beat until combined. Cool. When cooled enough, pipe frosting, or just spread it on cupcakes.

For caramel, heat sugar and water over medium heat in a sauce pan. Cook for ten minutes until amber in colour and reduced in volume. Remove form heat, add cream, and continue to heat until boiling. Remove form heat and stir in vanilla and rum.  Transfer caramel to a bowl, and refrigerate for 45 minutes until cool yet pourable. When read, drizzle caramel atop cupcakes.

Garnish with banana slices, or even coconut shreds, and enjoy!

Rum all around!

 

Peanut Butter, Caramel, Chocolate Tart

What a weekend. So much fun, and so much good food! I really truly love my friends- they are the sweetest, most down to earth kids around town. Thanks to everyone for dancing their butts off with me!

I made this tart for my birthday and I can’t even explain to you how rich and delicious it is. So much so that I can only handle a few bites at a time before getting a tummy-ache. Everyone destroyed it in minutes, and thus I couldn’t get a decent picture of it. I took the recipe for Martha Stewart.

Sloppy picture, done in a hurry

 Peanut Butter, Caramel, Chocolate Tart

Crust

• 1 box of chocolate wafer cookies (2 1/3 cups)
• 1 stick of butter, melted

Caramel

• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup greek full fat yogurt
• 1 cup roasted peanuts

Peanut Butter Mousse

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cups smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup heavy cream

Chocolate Ganache

• 7 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make crust by combining cookie crumbs and melted butter, and pressing into a 9-inch spring foam pan. Make sure to go up the sides about 2 1/2 inches. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove to cool.

Make caramel sauce by heating sugar and water over medium heat in a saucepan, being sure to scrape down sides. Cook for ten minutes until amber in colour and reduced in volume.Remove form heat, add cream, and continue to heat until boiling. Transfer caramel to a bowl, stir in yogurt, are refrigerate for 45 minutes until cool yet pourable. Stir in peanuts.

While caramel cooks, make peanut butter mousse.

Pretty Martha Stewart picture

Beat cream cheese and confectioners sugar, until smooth. Beat in salt, peanut butter, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Whisk heavy cream in separate bowl until stiff peaks form, and slowly add into peanut butter mixture.  Cool for 20 minutes.

Assemble tart: pour caramel sauce into cookie crust, then pour in peanut butter mouse. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make ganache. Bring cream to a simmer in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour cream into a bowl and add chocolate chips. Whisk to combine. Pour ganache over peanut butter mixture of tart, and smooth evenly. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or over night for deeper flavour.This is extremely rich and must be cold when serving. It is AMAZING so please please try this!!

Happy baking!

xox