Salted Caramel Golden Bars

adapted from delish.com

Serves 15 / Yields 15 bars
Total Time: 1hr 10 min
Prep Time: 10 min

INGREDIENTS:

• Vegetable oil, for greasing dishes
• 9+ cups Rice Krispies
• 3/4 cup corn syrup
• 2/3 up sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 Tbs unsalted butter
• 1 tsp sea salt, plus more for topping
• 2 tsp vanilla extract / vanilla bean paste
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Liberally oil a large mixing bowl and a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Place cereal in a bowl and set it and dish aside.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine corn syrup, condensed milk, light brown sugar, sugar, butter and sea salt. Allow mixture to come to a boil, while stirring continuously, until a light golden brown, 5-6 minutes.
3. Remove mixture from heat, stir in vanilla, and immediately pour over cereal. Stir to completely mix, and then evenly spread in prepared baking pan. Sprinkle additional sea salt on top.
4. Set aside to cool. about 45 minutes. Invert and release from pan. Drizzle with melted chocolate and refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes. Cut into 15 bars.

Apple Cardamom Cakes with Apple Cider Icing

The recipe called for either small cake forms or cupcake pans. I just bought the Nordic Ware Petits Four pan and had to try it out. They turned out very cute.

I received lots of compliments on these and if Fall puts you in the mood for anything apple, then you should enjoy these. I have a few changes I made to the recipe and I will simply make note of them as I changed them.

Serves: 24
Yields: 24 individual single serving cakes (cupcake size)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/4 cups flour (I used 2 cups + 4 Tbs cake flour then 1/4 cup all-purpose)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla ( I used vanilla bean paste)
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup butter, melted + 2 Tbs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups peeled & chopped Granny Smith apples
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3 Tbs apple cider (up to a cup if condensing to make flavor stronger)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F (if using non-stick or dark pan, preheat to 375 degrees F). Butter & flour 24 3 1/2 -ounce cake molds or 2 12-cup cupcake tins and set aside. ( I used the Pillsbury flour and butter spray mix).
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and cardamom together and set aside. (I use an egg whisk for this and it works perfectly every time.)
3. Here is where I have made a change and it does make a difference if you will do this with the zest and sugar: Rub the lemon zest and sugar together with fingers until the sugar becomes damp (this distributes the flavor throughout the cake evenly and really makes a difference).
4. Beat the eggs and sugar mixture together, using a mixer set on medium-high speed, until the mixture forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted from the bowl. Reduce speed to low and mix in the vanilla & applesauce. Add 1/2 cup of the melted butter and sour cream and beat until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix until smooth.
5. Fold in apples and divide the batter among the prepared molds (about 1/4 cup per mold) (If using the petits four pan, about 1 Tbs per mold). Bake until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake tests clean -- 20 to 25 minutes for cupcake pan or 12-15 minutes for petit four pan.
6. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Unmold the cakes and cool completely on the rack.
7. FOR ICING: if you would like a stronger cider flavor, boil a cup of cider until it condenses to 3 Tbs.  Stir the remaining melted butter, confectioner's sugar, and apple cider together in a medium bowl and drizzle over the cooled cakes and let the icing set before serving. Another version of icing I tried was to use 3 ounces of cream cheese and a cup of the confectioner's sugar, no butter, and the condensed apple cider. This was less sweet and very good as well.