Decadent Carmelitas

If you like buttery oatmeal cookies, dark chocolate, and sweet caramel you will be smitten with these over-the-top treats!

It's an indulgent three desserts in one. So in other words you'll find them to be completely irresistible.

They are soft and chewy thanks to that oaty cookie base, then you'll find some fudgy chocolate goodness in the center, and they're highlighted with velvety creaminess thanks to that caramel candy.

Let the baking season begin early with these tempting Carmelitas cookie bars!

Easiest Caramel Apples!

Caramel apples have been one of my all time favorite things to make since I first started cooking and baking. But that made from scratch recipe takes some time and it can be intimating so this year I decided to share the easiest caramel apple recipe ever!

It's so easy you really don't even need a recipe, it's more of just a quick how-to teaching you the method and ingredients to use. And the best part - you only need 3 ingredients!

Then from there if you want an upgrade you can add some of your favorite toppings, then just let the caramel set in the fridge briefly and you've got a perfectly tempting treat that no one will be able to resist!

This simple no fuss recipe takes all the stress out of caramel apples (there's not the extra worry of over cooking or under cooking homemade caramel, plus the extra mess and all the time it takes). This is just the fun hassle free method that everyone will want to help with.

This is how we celebrate the fall season, right?

Thumbprint Cookies with the Classic Twix Candy Bar Flavors!

It's getting to be that time of year, where there seems to be an endless supply of cookies coming from every direction - or maybe that's just me because I make ridiculous amounts of cookies during the holidays! But no one is complaining around here.

I've made a chocolate version of these cookies but I wanted to go with a traditional vanilla version - and they will remind you so much of a Twix candy bar!

What's not to love here? Melt in your mouth shortbread style cookie, chewy caramel center with a hint of sea salt, and a finishing touch of luscious chocolate, they are simply dreamy! Be sure to try them at least once during the holidays, you won't regret it!

There's just something about these though. The coconut, the salted caramel, the melt-in-your-mouth buttery goodness. These cookies speak to me. In other words someone please hide them!

I just had to quickly take most of them to neighbors because I knew I couldn't resist these ones (then I later heard from my neighbor that she hid them away for herself lol. She had the same problem as me).

There are a few extra steps with these since they need to be rolled, indented and filled but those couple of extra steps make them an over-the-top, worthy of any holiday, kind of cookie. To keep them things from getting too messy, I like to use one hand for rolling in the egg, then the other for rolling in the coconut - kind of like when you bread chicken.

Another thing that helps is to press the coconut onto the cookie to help it adhere, if you just roll it through the coconut it doesn't stick all that well. And I chose to just chill these cookies directly on the baking sheets, but you can definitely chill them on plates or in containers if you don't have room for two sheet pans in your fridge.

Then just transfer them to the baking pans after they've chilled and bake as directed.

Obviously a highlight of the cookies is the course sea salt. I've got salt on my mind lately since last week I had the opportunity to attend Morton Salt's Next Door Chef event in New Orleans along with several other guests. It was a fun dinner experience where they converted someones home into an actual pop-up restaurant for a day.

Below is a few sneak pictures of the event. I'll be sharing more in the coming months so be sure to keep a look out for more. I think I might even have to share that Budino recipe!

Of course,  my favorite part of the meal was the Coconut Caramel Budino with Grilled Mangos and Morton Kosher Salt which was served for dessert. It was dreamy so I knew I needed to use that combination again to make something for the holidays, and that's how these cookies came about.

Acclaimed chef Nina Compton coached a home cook and then this cook prepared an incredible meal for us in which different types of Morton salt were used. At the event we tried a number of inspiring dishes where we could taste how different types of salt transformed each dish, from appetizer and drinks, to side dish, to the main dish and then onto dessert.

More salted caramel recipes you'll love

• Salted Caramel Sauce (with Step by Step Pictures)
• Microwave Caramels
• Salted Caramel Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

This post was sponsored by Morton Salt. All opinions are 100% my own.

If you're going to add caramel you may as well salt it, right? I still haven't gotten my brother and sister to like salted caramel but one of these days I know it's going to happen. They must have strange taste buds.

I've been posting cookies like crazy, but tis the season! Besides you can never have too many cookie recipes. And this one, you just can't do without.

Hey everyone! I just started a fun new pin board today and have invited several of my foodie friends to pin to it, so it should have some seriously delicious stuff on it for you to pin and make. You can click on the link HERE to follow. It's the first group board I've created so I hope to make it a success! Thanks for your support!!

No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecakes Recipe

Now for this post, I just have to say it. I really don't like these photos. But, these cheesecakes were so good that I just had to share anyway. I took pictures twice, yesterday then again today and I'm just not getting the photos to turn out how I'd like (for example, that caramel sauce in the second and third pic - yeah it looks artificial but it's real). These dark rainy days are just that, dark out. Frustrating but on a better note, since I made these two days in a row that means I get to eat them two days in a row! I'll never complain about eating cheesecake. Especially when I don't have to bake cheesecake!

I post cheesecake recipes and other various cheesecake-inspired desserts quite a bit. Cheesecake and ice cream and anything chocolate are all probably my favorite desserts, so I make them way too much I'm sure. Last week I posted Pumpkin Cheesecake Breakfast Smoothies (that are actually healthy yet so creamy and delicious), Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes, and now these, just to finish off that pumpkin cheesecake list (although some form of pumpkin cheesecake cookie or blondie is sounding seriously tasty. I'll resist though and wait until next year for that :).

This would make a delicious pumpkin pie alternative for Thanksgiving, since it gives you that pumpkin pie filling taste with individual servings and a lighter finish. The combination of pumpkin spice with the cream cheese mixture to create a fluffy and creamy pumpkin cheesecake filling is incredible.

Hello Christmas Cookie Season!! I'm obsessed with cookies so this gives me one more reason to love the holidays. I created this recipe to be a no refrigeration necessary recipe. A lot of chocolate crinkle cookie recipes require that the dough be refrigerated 2 - 4 hours before baking, I don't have time for that. Mostly I just don't have the patience for that especially when I know what awaits me.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

I love the idea of of biting into what you think is a standard chocolate crinkle cookie, with chewy chocolate dough and sweet dusted powered sugar, only to delightfully discover a melty bomb of salted caramel hidden in the middle! It's a huge hit for a Christmas cookie exchange because it's different from the usual suspects, and always a pleasant surprise.

If you prefer you can omit the coarse sea salt from the recipe if you are not a fan of salted caramel. I personally am unequivocally in love with the addition. These taste like caramel brownies in cookie form. They are intensely delicious! If you are baking them for someone else you'll have a hard time wanting to gift them after all. If you wanted to go all out with these cookies you could even toss in some semi-sweet chocolate chips and toasted nuts.  Enjoy!

Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes

Do you need to refresh your Christmas Cookie recipe stash? Traditions are one of the best parts of the holiday season, but if you've been making the same Christmas cookies for a decade... it's time for some new recipes. Here are a bunch of my favorite Christmas cookies!

• M&M Christmas Cookies
• Italian Ricotta Christmas Cookies
• Linzer Cookies
• Red Velvet Shortbread Cookies
• Christmas Tree Cookies
• Peppermint White Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Eggnog Cookies

Salted Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake

What is the best part of the holidays? Family, friends and FOOD of course! I love that I get to indulge in the deliciousness of the holidays a little early since I like to post the holiday recipes before the holidays arrive.

This time around I wanted to create a dessert recipe that would be an exciting twist on a classic. Of course, we'll always keep a classic pumpkin pie on the table for Thanksgiving and Christmas. But sometimes you just want something different. Sometimes you just want cheesecake!

I just have to say it, this cheesecake is dee-vine! Just imagine your favorite pumpkin pie meets a fluffy, rich cheesecake and then it's generously covered in salted caramel sauce and finished with sweetened whipped cream.

Yeah, almost to good to be true.

I don't know that I'm going to care much about pumpkin pie during the holidays anymore, this has definitely stolen its limelight for me. Pumpkin pie just can't compare to the salted caramel glory of this magnificent cheesecake!

Start the holidays out right, with a gourmet and autumn inspired cheesecake! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Treats to Try

It's fall, so you know I'm doing pumpkin at every single opportunity. There are just so many fantastic ways to showcase the moist and complex flavor of pumpkin. Here are a few of my favorite easy pumpkin dessert recipes that you need to try this season:

• Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Easy Pumpkin Pie
• Pumpkin Dump Cake
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Pumpkin Roll
• Pumpkin Donuts

Who doesn't love a Girl Scout Samoa Cookie? They are by far my favorite Girl Scout Cookie. This past spring I purchased eight cartons of the Dreyers Girl Scout Samoa Cookie Limited Edition Ice Cream and hoarded them away in my freezer. I thought they'd last much longer then they did.

I can only wish I could buy the Samoas year round, but since I can't I've had to improvise. That is why I've come up with my own version of the Samoa Girl Scout Cookies. These things are amazing! Tender shortbread, sweet chewy caramel, perfectly toasted coconut and a nice chocolate coating to finish things off. YUM!

I won't lie to you, these cookies are quite a bit of work...but, they are well worth the effort. These cookies don't use real butter or fancy caramel, it's the cheap stuff just like what I'm quite certain they put in the real thing (it helps to read the ingredients list on the package when you are making up a copycat recipe =) . It's not often I use shortening and until now I've never used a cheap chocolate coating for anything, but for these I think it's a must.

I know some of you are going to ask, what is desiccated coconut and where do I get it? Desiccated coconut is shredded coconut that has been dried to remove as much moisture as possible. I used toasted desiccated coconut (I used this one here) in these because it looks exactly like whats in the Girl Scout ones. You can purchase it at a specialty kitchen needs stores or online.
I hope you love these cookies as much as I do! Enjoy!

I know I've already posted these caramel apples, but since I've been doing this food blog nearly a year I've learned a few tricks about food photography so I just wanted to share some new photos. Plus these are one of my favorite treats so I figured I may as well share them again for those of you that weren't following along last year to see them.

Homemade Caramel Apples

I've made these caramel apples countless times and everyone always loves them. I mean who doesn't love a delicious, chewy, generously coated in caramel, chocolate covered, sprinkled with tasty toppings caramel apple? To take one bite is simply pure bliss. The chewy bite, the perfect texture and buttery stretch of the homemade caramel, ahhh. Words or pictures don't do them justice.

I like to make them pretty and fancy, but if you want you can just dip and coat the entire apple with caramel. I just love having that vibrant beautiful green show through though. The natural color of fruit is just gorgeous, so why hide it? This recipe is a bit time consuming but I'm telling you it is so worth it! Once you have these you wont want to let a Fall season go by without them.

If you don't want to take the time to coat them with the chocolate and toppings then these really are amazing with caramel alone. The homemade caramel makes all the difference in a great caramel apple. It turns an ordinary caramel apple into a fancy, gourmet caramel apple. These make a great gift to give friends or loved ones. I just took them to friends and told them, Happy Fall! Who needs a holiday to celebrate =). I love Fall.

Also note that a candy thermometer is a MUST with this recipe. The caramel needs to be heated to exactly 239 degrees or it will either be too runny or too hard. If you don't have one it's worth the investment. You can pick one up at a local supermarket for about $10 - $15. I use mine all the time. Enjoy!