Thursday, November 03, 2011

Chocolate Caramel Chews—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

Chocolate Caramel Chews 11-2-11

I’m not sure if these should be called candy or a no-bake cookie, but they are good and are my choice for this week’s 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies.  They were super simple to make and really would be something perfect to add to your holiday goodies.  The original recipe are just called Caramel Chews and as written, don’t have chocolate, but while I was rolling them into balls, I couldn’t help but think they should be dipped in chocolate, so they are Chocolate Caramel Chews.  I actually made some of them “plain” (no chocolate) and I covered some of them completely in chocolate and just drizzled some with chocolate as well.

Caramel Chews 11-2-11

I have a two sided sheet of paper with a bunch of no-bake cookie recipes on it, it looks older, like it was from years ago (70’s/80’s?) and says “Dorothy Dean’s No-Bake Cookies”, recipes from Dorothy Dean’s Taste Testing Kitchen, from The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington).  I have no idea where I got this sheet of paper.  I looked online for information about Dorothy Dean and found an obituary (just from this past April) for someone who was dubbed “Dorothy Dean” as she was the head of the Homemaker’s Services for the Spokesman-Review.  The thing that sort of baffles me about this paper full of recipes is that I really have no idea where it came from and even why it just showed up here.  Did my mother give it to me years ago?  Hmmm.  Whatever the case, it’s got a number of fun recipes on it and I do like that it is a good no-bake go-to page.  Some of the recipes are Chinese Ting-a-lings, Skillet Date Cookies, No-bake Brownies, Porcupine Cookies and the Caramel Chews were among them and some others as well.

Here’s the recipe and my only adaption was just adding the chocolate to some of them

Chocolate Caramel Chews

36 caramels, unwrapped

3 tablespoons cream

1 cup crushed corn flakes

1 cup Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

4 ounces chocolate, melted (I used almond bark, but any chocolate would be good)

Melt the caramels and cream in the top of a double boiler, stirring frequently until smooth.  Put the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.  Pour the caramel over the mixture and stir well until everything is coated in the caramel.  Shape into 1 inch balls and set on a waxed paper lined baking sheet.  Melt the chocolate in 20 second intervals in the microwave in a glass dish, stirring in between each time.   Dip the chews one at a time in the chocolate and spoon it over to completely cover them.  Set on a lined baking sheet until chocolate is hardened.   Put a small amount of the melted chocolate in a plastic zip top bag and snip off a little corner and drizzle chocolate over some of the chews.  Optional—set each in a mini muffin paper liner to serve them.  Makes about 3 dozen.

DSCF7984

I love the combination of flavors in these and the texture with the crunch from the corn flakes, Rice Krispies and nuts and the chewiness from the caramel and coconut.  If you don’t like coconut, you could leave it out and just add an extra cup of Rice Krispies.  I think it would even be good to just use all Rice Krispies.  These make a great 1-2-3 bite treat!

Chocolate Caramel Chews 11-2-11

Try them with your upcoming holiday goodies!  This is Week 6 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies!

12 weeks of christmas graphic



17 comments:

Lisa Ernst said...

I always get a smile when I arrive at your blog and see chocolate! These chews look great and in my humble opinion would be incomplete without the chocolate. Good add! I may have to try these sometime soon.

Fallon said...

Oh yeah these definitely need a little dip into chocolate. I bookmarked these to make for December baking. So easy and people will like these!

Jessica Thacker said...

looks tasty!

BreAna {Sugar and Spice and All Things Iced} said...

I would trade all of our leftover Halloween candy for one of these! What a fabulous idea for the holidays! I can hardly wait to try them!

Lisa said...

Those look like they would make great holiday gifts. I bet people would go nuts over them.

Ashley @ Kitchen Meets Girl said...

Oh my goodness, these look amazing. We'll be making these, for sure!

Anonymous said...

my mouth is watering - they look delicious
Mary x

Anonymous said...

Hi again! LOVED the story about the lentil pie! thanks for letting me know:)
Mary x

Eleanor@eatinglikeahorse said...

These look so good; I cam imagine the texture! Brilliant to have that recipe page too; the skillet date cookies sound amazing :-)
And in case you don't see my reply on my blog, this is the candied peel I'm talking about, not sure if you can buy it as it is in the US? If not, I'm sure you can make it fairly easily...
http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317-10001-21954-Sundora+candied+peel

Shannon said...

Woah these look SO delicous! :)

Jackie said...

Yum! These certainly look sinfully delicious. I can't wait to give these a try.

scrambledhenfruit said...

These look really good. My mom used to make something a lot like these, but she used dates instead of caramels. I think I like your version better! :)

The Poet Herself said...

What a tasty looking mystery! You may not know where it came from, but it was clearly meant to be!

Unknown said...

Oh My Gosh. Those look amazing. I am so excited to try making them!

Unknown said...

Oh yum, what a great combination of flavors. Love the simplicity!

Carolyn said...

These look incredible. And I love the new look of the blog!

Michael James said...

Chocolate Caramel Chews are unbelievable. Thank you for that recipe I have to say what I made turned out looking just like the photo. Like any great desert, almost every crumb was eaten soon after supper was finished. Holiday cooking is great, because you can make deserts like this. One thing that I love is saving money when shopping for the ingredients. Before I shop now I check this site for coupons, deals, and incentives for the items I need. The last time I shopped I was able to save over $75.00. I was pretty happy about that. Every dollar counts!
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