Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mix

For Christmas this year I made a few different goodies to hand out, mostly candy types. My kids love hot cocoa and often love to get into the can of cocoa and make the recipe from the back. Well I thought this would be a nice treat to have on hand, ready to measure out saving any messes they make. This was really great, I used 1 1/2 TBL of salt not the full amount in the original recipe, I'm not a salty fan of most foods. You can still taste it just fine. Making the caramel is easy however you will need a food processor to pulverize it into powder, which almost killed mine, poor machine lol. I gave away this to family as gifts since it makes a lot.


Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mix
From Pennies on a Platter
Yield: 32 servings

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups good quality cocoa powder
1 to 3 tablespoons good sea salt (My preference is 1 1/2 TBL)
1 cup dry milk powder
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
10 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (or use your silpat); set aside. Heat the 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar in a large heavy pan, over medium heat, without stirring. When the sugar begins to melt, take the handle of the pan and swirl it to melt without burning. The sugar might seem to crystallize, but it will eventually melt to a deep amber color. (Can take 15-20 minutes, so be patient.)

Remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the vanilla. Whisk the caramel until smooth again, then immediately pour it onto the lined baking sheet. Allow it to spread without touching it. Set aside and let the caramel harden, at least 1 hour (mine took less time).

When ready to make the mix, use the back of a large spoon to tap the caramel several times into small broken pieces that can fit into the feeding tube of a large food processor. Turn the processor on, and while running, feed the caramel pieces into the tube so the processor pulverizes the caramel into a fine powder. Continue to add the pieces, a few at a time, until it is completely powder (a cloud of caramel dust will float out of the tube and it will sound like it's going to break your machine lol). Turn the processor off and follow the next steps to complete the mix.

Add the rest of the ingredients, except the chocolate, into the food processor with the caramel powder. Replace the lid and process until smooth. Add the chocolate to the bowl and process again until the mixture is a fine powder.

Store in an airtight container, in a cool, dry place for up to one month. To serve, stir 3 tablespoons mix into 1 cup hot milk.

caramel ready to harden

caramel being pulverized into powder

caramel powder

time to enjoy a cup on this cold morning

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Gluten Free Dinner Rolls

Oh my goodness!! I am so glad I finally tried this recipe out. I started my Thanksgiving prep early this year, and wanted gluten free rolls just so I can have my favorite leftover turkey & cranberry sandwich. So I made these, baked and froze ahead of time. These rolls must be what they serve in Heaven ;) they are SO good, so light and fluffy! I don't know what it is, but yeast breads sort of dislike me, they go flat during their baking, but they still tasted good so I don't mind. I'll have to try these as burger buns sometime too. This gluten free AP flour mix is what I keep on hand, this is where my fave GF pie crust recipe comes from too.


Gluten Free Dinner Rolls
makes about 18 rolls, adapted from The Art of Gluten Free Baking

Note: this recipe uses Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix (mix together and store in a cool, dark place):
1 1/4 C (170g) brown rice flour
1 1/4 C (205g) white rice flour
1 C (120g) tapioca flour
1 C (165g) sweet rice flour (aka Mochiko)
2 scant tsp. xanthan gum

Ingredients:
3 C (420g) Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix, above
2 tsp xanthan gum (this is in addition to the xanthan gum in the mix)
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 C (50g) sugar
2 TBL active dry yeast
2 C (475ml) warm but not hot milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 large or extra large eggs
1/4 C (60ml) olive oil (or neutral oil)
melted butter for pans and for brushing tops of rolls
tapioca flour for pans

Butter and flour muffin tins.
In a small bowl, whisk 1 TBL of the sugar into warm milk. Add yeast, whisk to dissolve; set aside to proof (start the yeast working)–it will get foamy on the top.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, the remaining sugar, and salt; set aside.
In bowl of mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together eggs, vinegar and oil. Add yeast mixture, beat to mix. Add flour mixture, beat on low to combine, then beat on high for about 3 minutes.

Spoon dough into prepared muffin tins–filling about 3/4 of each cup full (I use my ice cream scooper). With a sharp knife that has been dipped in tapioca flour, cut a deep slash in the top of each roll
Don’t worry if there’s a little extra tapioca flour left on the rolls.

Turn on oven to preheat to 375 degrees.
Let rise until doubled in bulk–about 40 mins. I put muffin tins on top of stove to let dough rise in proximity to warmth of the preheating stove.

Once rolls have risen, brush the top of each with melted butter. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes–until the tops are a nice golden brown. If they start to brown too quickly, loosely tent the rolls with aluminum foil.
Remove from oven. Release rolls from tins. Enjoy!

*Note: you can also make these into buns by dropping large spoonfuls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Follow rising and baking instructions for the muffin-tin rolls.
*Mochiko is often found in the Asian food aisle of the grocery store.

ready to rise 

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Easy Homemade Applesauce

We LOVE applsauce with pork and I was always forgetting to buy it so I made it with some ugly apples I had leftover one day, they LOVED it! This is such a super simple delicious recipe why would I buy it anymore? I've adapted this recipe and left out the sugar, it does not need it since the apples are sweet enough. I also add just a little flavoring but you can add more if you like.

 

Easy Homemade Applesauce
adapted from Allrecipes

Large batch 12+ servings:
6 lbs (12-16) apples, peeled, cored and chopped (fuji, gala)
2 C water
pinch cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch salt

Combine all in a medium saucepan and bring to boil, then cover and cook on low-simmer for 25 minutes until apples are soft. Allow to cool slightly then add to a processor to puree to your desired texture.

Smaller batch 4+ servings:
4 medium size apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 C water
pinch cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
pinch salt

Combine all in a medium saucepan and bring to boil, then cover and cook on low-simmer for 25 minutes until apples are soft. Allow to cool slightly then add to a processor to puree to your desired texture.

Photo by mommyimhungry • Instagram

 

 

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