Salted Caramel Popcorn Rocky Road

Salty, sweet, crunchy, chewy – this rocky road has it all! It only takes 5 minutes to put together and is perfect for an after dinner treat, cake stall or work morning tea.

Ingredients
300g dark chocolate melts
¾ tablespoon vegetable oil
1½ cups caramel popcorn
1 cup white marshmallows, halved
½ cup salted peanuts + ¼ cup extra, chopped
Sea salt flakes

Method
Line a 20x20cm square pan with baking paper.

Melt chocolate in the microwave in a large bowl and add oil. Set aside a quarter of a cup of the chocolate mixture.

Add popcorn, marshmallows and peanuts to the large bowl and stir until evenly coated in chocolate.

Spoon into prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula and then pour over additional chocolate. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and a good pinch of sea salt.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set. Cut carefully into serving sized pieces (approx. 24 squares). Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from donna hay magazine Christmas 2017

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Snickers Cupcakes!

The exclamation mark in the title is necessary because these are the best cupcakes I have ever eaten (and I’ve sampled A LOT of cupcakes in my time). I made them for a family birthday party by combining a number of different recipes so that these cupcakes are like a deconstructed Snickers. Everyone went crazy for them, not that I blame them, because who doesn’t love Snickers? With a dense, fudgy chocolate base, a light and fluffy peanut-nougat icing and oodles of caramel, these cupcakes are to die for and I can imagine them becoming a firm family favourite.
EDIT 2015: Still a winner! I made these for my 21st birthday celebrations with family & friends and the went down a treat 🙂 
Elise August 2015 182

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Ingredients (makes around 30)
Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes
350g butter
450g dark cooking chocolate, chopped
2 ½ cups caster sugar
1 ½ cups almond meal
2 cups cocoa
10 eggs
2 tspns vanilla extract

Peanut Nougat Frosting
1 cup smooth peanut butter
250g butter, softened
4 tspns vanilla extract
4 cups icing sugar
2 tblspns milk
Salted peanuts (chopped), remaining caramel, melted dark chocolate & chopped snickers, to decorate

Caramel
100g butter
⅔ cup soft brown sugar
¼ cup golden syrup
½ cup cream

Method
Preheat oven to 140°C. Line 3 12-hole muffin trays with patty pans (about 30).

Combine butter, chocolate and sugar in a heavy-based saucepan over a low heat. Mix continuously until melted and smooth. Sift the almond meal and cocoa into a large bowl. Add the chocolate mixture and beat for 1min on a low speed. Add eggs two at a time, beating after each addition until combined. Add vanilla and beat until combined. Divide mixture evenly between patty pans (filling each about ¾ full) and then bake for  30mins or until a fine skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from the tray and let cupcakes cool on a wire rack completely before icing and decorating.

As cupcakes are baking, make the caramel sauce. Combine the butter, sugar, golden syrup and cream in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and boil for at least 5 mins. Take off the heat and cool to room temperature.

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Once the cupcakes are cooled, dig a small hole at the top of the cakes with a teaspoon.

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Fill the holes with the cooled caramel.

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To make the frosting, beat peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add vanilla and slowly add the icing sugar. Add the milk and beat until just combined.

Using a piping bag with a star attachment, pipe the frosting in a circular motion onto the cupcakes, starting around the edge so that you form a soft-serve ice-cream effect. Drizzle with remaining caramel sauce, melted dark chocolate and then top with salted peanuts & chopped snickers. Enjoy!

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Elise August 2015 182

Cupcake recipe adapted from the Crabapple Cupcake Bakery Cookbook.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks

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Wow! These cookies are to die for. Based on a Curtis Stone recipe I found in LA last year (but waited until SwotVac to try for procrastibaking purposes), these cookies are so ridiculously chewy and chocolatey and perfect that even the sun wanted in (photographic evidence above and below). Warning: highly addictive.

Ingredients
1 cup flour
½ tspn baking soda
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
125g butter, softened
1 ½ tblspns honey
1 large egg
1 tspn vanilla extract
155g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

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Method
Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced) and line 3 large baking trays with baking paper.

Sift the baking soda and flour into a medium bowl. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, honey, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl until well combined.

Stir the dry ingredients into the peanut mixture in 2 additions.

Stir in the chopped chocolate.

Scoop a heaped teaspoon (so that it is about the size of a ping pong ball) of dough for each cookie onto the prepared baking sheet (spacing so there is room for spreading).

Bake for about 7 minutes, or until the cookies are starting to turn golden but are still soft to the touch.

Cool the cookies on the tray for 5-10 mins (this is where they will harden slightly) and then transfer to a cooling rack or eat warm.

Makes around 36 cookies, provided you don’t eat too much dough (not that I would ever do that or anything).

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Recipe from Curtis Stone