Chocolate Caramel Calorie Bombs-XMAS
From the Kitchen of: Sue H
Measure all ingredients and Grease & flour a 9 x 13 pan (measuring inside of pan).
THEN in a 4-cup glass measuring pitcher, make the caramel mixture: Add 1/2 cup milk to caramels and use spatula to move caramels to gently coat. Microwave 8 min. on 60% power. After 4 minutes, stir "gently" with fork (so liquid doesn't fly out of bowl!) & scrape bowl to help incorporate the milk with the caramels. Repeat this process 2-3 more times before the 8 minutes is up. At 8 minutes, stir & scrape more rigorously to make sure all is completely mixed/melted, micro on 60% for 20-30 more seconds to reach a mini-boil. The mixture will thicken more as it sits. The goal is to reach a thick but pourable texture. Set aside to rest while prepping dough...
NEXT Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour cake mix into a medium bowl and break up lumps with a fork. Then pour in melted butter and 1/3 c. milk. Mix with fork until dough holds together. Place just less than 2/3 of the mixture evenly into the 9x13 pan, using 2 spatulas to gently spread out (Sticky!). Bake 8 min.
Remove from oven, sprinkle choco chips over dough & then pour caramel mixture to cover top of chips, and not higher than the sides of the dough (there will likely be small amount of carmel mixture left, for dipping some apple slices!) Then sprinkle pecans over caramel.
Next, using hands, grab Tablespoonish sizes of remaining dough (very sticky), flatten with fingers and place on top of pecans, scattering the dough around much of the top. No need to cover completely, dough will spread a little while baking, leaving some open areas of nuts & caramel. Return to oven & bake 20 to 22 min. Remove from oven when areas of the top dough are still a bit moist, they will continue to cook while on the cooling rack.
Let cool thoroughly (then refrigerate "only briefly" to make cutting easier) and cut into 8 large squares, refrigerate or freeze. These are VERY RICH, so BEFORE SERVING, cut into very small bite-size pieces.
Last Modified: December 9, 2019