Happy Mother’s Day 2013

“Your arms were always open when I needed a hug. Your heart understood when I needed a friend. Your gentle eyes were stern when I needed a lesson. Your strength and love has guided me and gave me wings to fly.” – Sarah Malin

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the wonderful Moms out there!!

~Enjoy~ your day!

I’ll Be Back Soon

I will be on vacation for the next couple of weeks, so you may not see any new posts from me until early August. I’ll be back to posting more recipes and Alaskan photos when I return.

See you in a couple weeks!

~Enjoy~

Caramel Apple Dessert Pizza

Caramel Apple Dessert Pizza

I visited my local Bed, Bath & Beyond yesterday, and found some wonderful Apple Caramel Pie K-cups for my Keurig coffee machine. The caramel apple flavor was so yummy, that it inspired me to bake this delicious Caramel Apple Dessert Pizza.

Apple & caramel are two of my favorite flavors this time of year. I just wish I could figure out why I love caramel apple coffee, and caramel apple desserts, but I’m not very fond of caramel apples – whole apples dipped in caramel.

I suppose I’ll figure it out some day, but in the meantime, I’m going to have another cup of coffee and another serving of dessert pizza.

~Enjoy~




Caramel Apple Dessert Pizza

Crust:
1 cup Krusteaz Pie Crust Mix
2-3 tablespoons water

Apples:
3 tablespoons butter
6 cups sliced peeled Granny Smith apples (about 2 pounds)
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Caramel Sauce:
20 Kraft caramels, unwrapped
1/4 cup milk

Streusel Topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter, cold

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 teaspoons milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For Crust: Place pie crust mix in a small bowl. Sprinkle water (one tablespoon at a time) over mix while tossing with a fork, until moistened. Form dough into a ball. Flatten into round on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Place dough onto a 12-inch pizza pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes.

For Apples: Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples and sauté for 6 minutes, or until apples are just tender. Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Cook for 1 minute, or until sugar melts. Set aside.

For Caramel Sauce: Microwave caramels and milk in a microwaveable bowl on HIGH for 1-1/2 minutes, or until caramels are completely melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir until well blended. Cool 10 minutes or until slightly thickened.

For Streusel Topping: In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.

Putting it all together: Spread caramel sauce over baked pie crust. Arrange apple slices over caramel layer. Sprinkle streusel topping over apple slices.
Bake for 15 -20 minutes or until apples are tender.

For Glaze: combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Drizzle glaze over pizza; if desired.

I Won a Tote Bag from Foodie Blogroll!

I was just notified that I was the winner of this week’s Foodie Blogroll Tote Bag Giveaway! I’m thrilled to have won and can’t wait for the tote bag to arrive! It sure will come in handy.

If you like, you can click here, or on the icon above, to visit Foodie Blogroll and read more about the contest.

Thank you so much Foodie Blogroll!!

Cream-Filled Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

I’m back from vacation and so happy to be blogging again. I missed all my blogger friends, and I can’t wait to read each and every one of your blogs to see what you’ve been up to while I’ve been away.

Since school has started, or will be starting soon – depending on where you live, I thought I would post a recipe for some delicious and easy to make sandwich cookies that would be a great accompaniment to any lunchbox.

~Enjoy~

Cream-Filled Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Cookie wafers:

1 (18.4 ounce) box Betty Crocker Super Moist Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons shortening

Cream Filling:

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup shortening
3 tablespoons hot water



Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

For cookie wafers – blend all ingredients; knead with your hands until dough is pliable. Form dough into 3/4 inch balls and place 1/2-inch apart on greased cookie sheets. Press flat carefully with the bottom of a glass, jar or can – whatever works best for you. Bake for 4 – 6 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

For cream filling – combine filling ingredients and mix well. Form into 3/4 inch balls.
Sandwich one filling in the center of two cookies and carefully press down until filling spreads almost to the edge.

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.