DESSERT

This Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake is moist and sinfully decadent! So if you love chocolate and caramel, you’ll LOVE this easy recipe for how to make Chocolate Caramel Cake!

• Prep: 1 hour, 1 min
• Cook: 30 mins
• Inactive: 1hour
• Total: 2 hours, 31 mins
• yield: 9″ layer cake

Ingredients

For the chocolate cake:

• 2 cups granulated sugar

• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed

• 2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (not packed!)

• 1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

• 3 teaspoons baking soda

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt

• 3 large eggs + 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

• 1 and 1/2 cups full-fat sour cream

• 1/3 cup whole milk

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil (you may also sub in melted coconut oil)

• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

• 1 and 1/2 cups hot water

For the salted caramel chocolate frosting:

• 2 cups unsalted butter (4 sticks, 16 ounces), VERY soft

• 4 and 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3 tablespoons heavy cream (more if needed)

• 2 tablespoons salted caramel sauce

• Garnish:

• 1 and 1/4 cups salted caramel sauce

• Flaky sea salt

Instructions

For the chocolate cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°(F). Cut out three 9-inch round segments of parchment paper to line your cake pans with. Spray each pan generously – sides and bottom – with nonstick cooking spray, then place the parchment paper cut out in the bottom of the pans and spray again. It’s important to make sure every bit of pan and paper are sprayed so your cakes don’t get stuck. Set pans aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, combine both sugars, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt; mix on low until dry ingredients are thoroughly combined. Use your hands to break up any large clumps, if needed.
3. In a separate bowl combine the eggs, egg yolks, sour cream, milk, oil and vanilla extract; mix until completely combined. Pour mixture into the dry ingredients and beat on low until just incorporated. Pour in hot water and continue mixing until completely combined; about 1 minute. The batter will quite thin.
4. Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached. Cool cakes for 10 minutes in the pan before removing from pans and transferring to a cooling rack; cool cakes completely before frosting.

For the chocolate frosting:

1. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the softened butter on medium-speed until completely smooth; about 3 minutes.
2. Turn the mixer off and sift the powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn the mixer on the lowest speed and mix until the sugar/cocoa have been absorbed by the butter; about 2 minutes. Increase mixer speed to medium; add in vanilla extract, salt, heavy cream and salted caramel; beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting appears a little too thin, add a little more confectioners’ sugar; If your frosting needs to be thinner, add additional heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Assembly:

1. Using a serrated knife, carefully trim the raised top of each cake, making each one an even, level surface. Transfer 1 layer to a large plate or cake stand. Spread a thin layer of frosting on top, then add a 1/2 cup of caramel; top with another cake layer, and repeat, thinly spread it with a layer of frosting, then adding a 1/2 cup of caramel. Top final cake layer and place cake in the fridge to set for 1 hour. Once set, finishing frosting the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle with sea salt. Slice and serve, or keep refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Notes

Cake may be baked up to 5 days in advance and stored in the fridge. Unfrosted cakes may be wrapped and frozen for up to 2 months. For best results, follow the recipe as written.

All you need are 3 easy ingredients to make these yummy S’Mores Pops.  No campfire necessary! 😉

TOTAL TIME: 10 MINS

PREP TIME: 5 MINS

COOK TIME: 5 MINS

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bag large marshmallows

• 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips*

• 1 package graham crackers (about 9 full sheets)

• lollipop sticks or popsicle sticks

DIRECTIONS:

1. Begin by twisting the lollipop sticks until they are securely in the middle of the marshmallows. (Insert them on the flat, not rounded, side of the marshmallows. Then push them in until they almost poke through.)
2. Place the graham crackers in a strong ziplock bag, and use a rolling pin (or whatever you’d like) to crush them until they are finely crumbled. Transfer the graham cracker crumbs to a small bowl.
3. Heat the chocolate chips in a double-boiler or (carefully!) in the microwave until they are melted.*
4. While holding the stick, carefully dip a marshmallow in the chocolate mixture until it is completely covered. Then gently roll the sides and top of the marshmallow in the graham cracker crumbs until they are well-coated. Place on a plate or on wax paper to let cool and dry. Repeat with remaining marshmallows.
5. Serve immediately, or store in a sealed container for up to 3 days.

Tip:

If your melted chocolate mixture is still too thick, stir in a spoonful or two of shortening or melted butter until it reaches your desired consistency.

Fluffy paleo banana muffins made in the blender- in 5 minutes! Easy gluten free and paleo banana muffin recipe made with cauliflower! Best healthy paleo-diet breakfast banana muffins.

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 45 mins

Servings: 12 muffins or 6 large bakery style muffins

INGREDIENTS

• 3 medium/large bananas

• 1 cup raw cauliflower

• 3 large eggs

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour

• 1/2 cup almond butter

• 1/4 cup coconut sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips and some for sprinkling on top

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a blender combine all ingredients (except chocolate chips) until smooth. Pour batter 3/4 way up a muffin pan lined with paper liners. Sprinkle tops with more chocolate chips (optional).
3. For six large bakery style muffins bake 350F for 45 mins. Cook less for twelve regular muffins.

These shortcut homemade bagels are just 2 ingredients and take less than an hour to make.  

• PREP TIME: 5 MINUTES

• COOK TIME: 30 MINUTES

• TOTAL TIME: 35 MINUTES

• SERVINGS: 4 BAGELS

Ingredients:

•  1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt

•  1 cup self-rising flour or mix 1 cup all purpose flour + 1 1/2 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp table salt

For the Toppings

•  1 egg whisked (for egg wash finish)

•  white sesame seeds

•  everything bagel seasoning I bought mine from Trader Joe’s

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
2. In a large bowl, add yogurt and flour. When measuring out the yogurt, make sure that you strain out any liquid. Any extra liquid sitting in your yogurt will cause the dough to be too wet.
3. Using a large spoon or spatula, mix together flour and yogurt until it begins to form a crumbly dough. Use your hands to push the dough together into one ball. The dough will be very sticky.
4. Add your dough to a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Knead the dough until it comes together in one ball and has pulled away from the sides of the mixing bowl. As soon as it reaches this stage, it is ready and you should stop the mixer immediately. (You can view my video above for reference). If you continue to let it knead, the dough will actually become sticky again. If you do not have a stand mixer, you can knead the dough by hand. You will need to cover your kneading surface with flour and knead the dough by hand until it is tacky and no longer sticky. I prefer using the stand mixer because it is faster and the dough comes together without the extra flour which results in a lighter bagel.
5. Divide dough into four equal balls. Roll out a ball on a lightly floured surface until it becomes a rope about 3/4 inch thick. Try to make the rope as even and smooth as possible. Pinch ends shut to form a round circle. Repeat with remaining dough.
6. Place bagels onto a baking sheet. Brush tops with egg wash. Sprinkle tops with whichever seasonings you prefer.
7. Bake bagels for about 23-25 minutes or until bagels are cooked all the way through. Remove bagels from the oven and turn heat up to 500°F. Place bagels back in oven and bake about 2-3 minutes until surface is browned. (If you are making plain bagels without toppings, you can also set your oven to low broil for 2-3 minutes to brown the bagels but I don’t recommend this if you have toppings as the toppings will start to burn before the bagels finish browning.) Let bagels cool a few minutes before eating.

Notes:

Some Tips for Making the Bagels

• A few recipes I found boiled the bagels before baking them. Traditional NY bagels are boiled first but I didn’t feel that it was necessary for this recipe. While it did expand the bagels and make them bigger, they also took a lot longer to bake and they were not as smooth and round because of the boiling.
• You can knead the dough by hand or use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. I prefer the stand mixer because it’s less labor and it doesn’t require as much flour coating so the bagel comes out lighter and airier. You do need to watch the mixer carefully. As soon as the dough comes together in one ball and is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl, it’s ready. If you over-knead it, it will actually start becoming too sticky to work with again.
• Make sure you use a brand that makes a thick Greek strained yogurt. Not all brands offer the same consistency. I used Fage for these.