Kicked Up Caramel Pie!

 

 

One of my favorite desserts is caramel pie.  O'Charley's, which is a restaurant chain primarily in the southeast...I think, is the creator of the caramel pie.  At least, that is where I discovered it.  This is the homemade version which I have kicked up a bit and even if I do say so myself, I think I improved on it a little.  Like it wasn't fattening and rich enough, I add extra chocolate chips and nuts for additional flavor and crunch.  This is really a simple dessert to make and you will get so many oohs and aahs when you serve this! 

Here is what you will need:

A large graham cracker crust (the 2 extra serving one), walnuts, mini chocolate chips, whipped cream, and sweetened condensed milk (2 cans).

Remember this step from the 'White Chocolate Caramel Banana Pudding' post?  If you missed it's under Best Dishes.  Take the labels off of 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk and place them in a pan of water that just covers the top.  Bring this to a low boil and boil for 3 hours. 

 DO NOT let the pan boil dry, keep adding water to keep it over the top of the cans.  This can be dangerous and it might explode if you do not keep an eye on it.  I always set the oven timer for this.   Once the 3 hours are up, carefully pour off the hot water and run cool water over them.  Once they are cool to touch open them carefully (in case the caramel is hot). 

 

An alternative method for turning the milk to caramel is putting the cans in your slow cooker, cover with water just to above the tops, and set on low for about 10 hours.  The water doesn't evaporate in the slow cooker with the top on it, so you don't have to worry about adding water.  It's best if you lay some foil on the bottom of the slow cooker because the cans might stain the crock.   Remove the cans with tongs when the time is up to cool.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans in the bottom of your pie crust.  This is the difference in the O'Charley's version.

Now spread the caramel over the nuts and chocolate chips. This doesn't have to be smooth.

Cover the caramel with whipped cream and 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts!  Chill in the fridge until ready to serve. 

 

Ingredients:

1 large graham cracker crust

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans or you can use walnuts

12 oz. whipped cream

 



White Chocolate Caramel Banana Pudding and other Best Dishes First

I have wanted to start a food blog for over a year now, but I just never could decide to really sit down and do it.  The reason the idea even came to me was because people were always asking me for recipes that me, my mother or others in my family made.  I come from a big family of wonderful southern cooks.  However, I  am terrible about putting things on paper when it comes to recipes, because I rarely really use one for the foods that people always ask about.  They are just old family favorites that might have started with a recipe years ago and with tweaks have become what they are now.  Of course, for something new, mildly exotic, or complicated I will use a recipe the first time.

I decided that starting out, I would feature some of my boy's favorites, by that I mean my son, his friends, several nephews and my husband and father. I decided to start with these, because they are hardy, fairly easy and feed big eaters on a budget and all of the girls love them too.

 So, I told my son to send me a list of their top 5 or 6 dishes to get us started.  He got back to me fairly quickly and wanted to know when I would start cooking...lol.  He seems excited about this blog and hopes it requires lots of extra food for him.



White Chocolate Caramel Banana Pudding 

Here is what you are gonna need:

Bananas, white chocolate instant pudding mix, whipped cream, cream cheese, shortbread cookies (I used girl scout cookies), sweetened condensed milk, milk and a bar of white chocolate...which I forgot to put in the picture...sorry I am new to this.

Start by making your caramel.  Take two cans of sweetened condensed milk, remove the outside labels and place in a pan deep enough to cover them with water.  Bring the water to a low boil and boil for 3 hours.  Make sure the water stays over the cans the entire time.  You will need to add water frequently.  DO NOT let the pan boil dry.  If you do the cans could explode and that won't be good.  You can also place the cans in a foil lined crockpot, cover with water, place lid on and cook on low for about 6 hours or overnight.  With both procedures, use tongs to place hot cans in a cool water bath to cool them.  When cool you can open them to the most delicious thing you will ever taste.

Mix milk and pudding mix in one bowl until it starts to set up slightly, then mix 1 can sweetened condensed milk and the block of softened cream cheese.  Once blended well beat the two together until thoroughly combined.  Next fold in 1/2 of the whipped cream.  Save the rest for the top.

Now you can start layering.  Begin with cookies, next pudding mix, then slice a couple of bananas over that and the 1 can of the milk.  Start another layer of cookies, pudding mix bananas, and caramel.  Last layer do the last two bananas, and layer of cookies. 

Finish it off with the whipped topping you reserved and white chocolate curls or shavings from the bar of white chocolate.  

Ta-dah!  

Ingredients

5 -6 bananas

3 cans sweetened condensed milk

1 box Trefoils Girl Scout cookies or any good shortbread cookie

2 cups milk

5 oz. box instant white chocolate pudding mix

1 8oz. block cream cheese (you can use lite, but I wouldn't use fat free)

1 12 oz container whipped cream

1 bar of good white chocolate for your shavings or curls