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Ok. I know that I’m supposed to be getting all obsessed with peppermint and gingerbread right about now, but I have to admit that I am actually having a really hard time letting go of my beloved Fall flavors! This is why I have to start Fall baking at the beginning of August– there’s never enough time to get through all of the recipes I want to do before Christmas starts.
I could literally bake with pumpkin all. year. long. And cinnamon. Ohhhhhhh, cinnamon. I mean, I know you can still use it in Christmas baking. But somehow it’s just not the same as when you’re using it with classic fall ingredients, you know? Pumpkin… pecans… salted caramel…
Anyway. I think this pie is my attempt to grasp onto the last moments of Fall dessert-making happening in my kitchen.
And that Christmas-printed fork is my feeble attempt to force this post into the Christmas pinning frenzy that has already begun.
…did it work? Are you pinning it?
Yeah– right there. On your Christmas dessert board.
Got it pinned?
Oh, good. Thanks 😉
Confession: I’m being a little melodramatic about the dessert seasons changing. This pie actually isn’t just for Fall. It’s caramel, so you can really eat it any time of the year without committing any major foodie faux pas.
Another confession: I’m actually a Christmas freak. I have no qualms with turning on Christmas music in September, and I wish they made Candy Cane Hershey Kisses year-round. So who am I kidding? I’ll get 5 minutes into Christmas dessert baking and be all like, “Fall baking? Huh? Pumpkin? Wha??”
So basically… don’t listen to a word of my whining about the end of Fall. I’m thoroughly excited to start posting all about peppermint and gingerbread 🙂
Although you’ll probably catching me sneaking in another pumpkin recipe or two before the holiday season is over!
Anyway. About this pie.
It is INSANELY easy to make. It’s inspired/practically copied from this 5-Ingredient Caramel pie over at Culinary Covers. They’re not exactly the same recipe, but you could call them fraternal twins. The idea is the same: caramel + cool whip + Oreo pie crust = the-easiest-pie-you’ve-ever-made-that-people-will-think-is-super-fancy-and-decadent.
I also added some chopped up Twix as a garnish. We had some laying around from Halloween (which is, uh, completely true… I totally did NOT already have a massive basket of fun-size Twix bars just sitting in my office for months before Trick-or-Treating), and I thought they’d be a yummy addition!
It took about 10 minutes (if that) to throw together, and then I chilled this in the fridge for about an hour before serving it to company. And it was super delicious.
But then I froze this last slice (in the photographs) overnight and discovered that this pie is actually COMPLETELY AMAZING when frozen. So I definitely recommend freezing it if you have the time. It seems to tone down some of the sweetness while enhancing the flavor at the same time, and I think I actually prefer the texture frozen over thawed as well.
But if you don’t have the time to freeze, seriously don’t even worry about it. It’s going to hit that caramel-craving spot no matter what, and people are going to love it!!
Quick & Easy Caramel Pie
Ingredients
Chocolate Cookie Crust:
25 Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
3 tablespoons butter
Pie Filling:
14.5 ounce can Dulce de Leche*
16 ounces Cool Whip
8 ounces Cool Whip
Optional: top with chopped candy bars and drizzled Dulce de Leche
Instructions
Pulse together the chocolate sandwich cookies and the butter in a food processor until a fine crumble forms. Pour the crumbs into a 9 inch round pie dish. Press the cookie crumbs into the dish and up the sides to form the crust.
In a large bowl whisk together the Dulce de Leche with 16 ounces of Cool Whip until fully incorporated. Pour mixture into the pie crust, and spread into an even layer.
Spread 8 ounces Cool whip over the caramel layer. Top with candy bar pieces and Dulce de Leche drizzle if desired (or more crushed up chocolate cookies!).
*this product can be found in the Hispanic foods section in most grocery stores. It looks like a can of sweetened condensed milk-- because that's what it is (it's just been heated to form a thick caramel). Feel free to make your own duce de leche using sweetened condensed milk to use in this recipe.
How to make caramel from a tin of condensed milk in a microwave - Quora. It's easy, as long as you have a nice large bowl. Empty a can of condensed milk into a bowl and microwave it for 3 minutes. Take it out, stir it, and do it again, watching carefully.
The main ingredient in caramel is sugar. However, depending on the recipe you use, you may have to incorporate butter, heavy cream, water, or corn syrup as additional ingredients. High-quality, real caramel is always made with three basic ingredients and those are sugar, heavy cream, and butter.
An egg wash—a simple mix of milk (or water) and egg—creates that golden sheen we see on bakery pies, and it even gives the crust a little extra-crisp texture. Without the egg wash, the pie crust will brown but will look extremely dull. For a little sparkle, I always sprinkle pies with coarse sugar prior to baking.
The caramelization process happens quick, and you want to be there when it's time to remove it from the heat. From golden, the mixture will continue to darken. Pull you pan off of the heat when you see the mixture turn to the color of a shiny copper penny. That's how you know it's done!
What you make out of condensed milk is dulce de leche. It's often called caramel or toffee, but it's not really either. The recipe is trivial: pour the condensed milk in a pan. Heat it over low heat, stirring continuously, until it turns into dulce de leche.
Just a can of sweetened condensed milk in an oven safe dish and then put that inside another dish with 1-2 inches of water. Bake 425 for 60-90 minutes until it turns a caramel color. Stir and serve immediately. fallrecipes.
After the first two stirs, you'll notice that the milk bubbles and foams up as it expels moisture.Then, with each stirring, the milk will be thicker and more caramel colored. If after the 10 minutes, you like the color and consistency, stop!
Wet caramel is made by combining sugar and a liquid and cooking them together, while dry caramel is made from just sugar, heated in a dry pan until it liquefies and browns.
Caramel can be produced in so many forms such as, sauce, a chewy candy, or a hard candy because of how much of an ingredient is added and the temperature it is being prepared at.
Carmel and caramel are not different spellings of the same word. Caramel is the correct spelling if you're talking about food or colors. Carmel is a misspelling when used in those contexts, but it is a word that can be used as a name for people or places.
Whether you use a food processor, a stand mixer, or your hands to incorporate the ingredients together, overmixing is a common mistake that leads to a chewy crust. It's tempting when baking to combine the ingredients completely, but the texture should resemble a coarse meal before adding your liquid.
You do not need to pre-bake a pie crust for an apple pie or any baked fruit pie really, but we do freeze the dough to help it stay put. Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie. you should probably get: Pie weights are super helpful to have for pre-baking.
Pre-baking is a must if you're looking for a flaky pie crust. It's especially helpful for recipes with a wet center. Recipes for most tarts, pies, and quiches call for pre-baking to ensure that the final product doesn't end up soggy.
Increase heat to medium-high and cook until deeply golden, without stirring, 4 to 5 minutes more. (If you're using a thermometer, you want it to reach 175°C). Step 2Once caramel is a deep copper colour, turn off heat and immediately stir in cream and butter. Mixture will bubble up so be careful!
Caramel is done when the color is a rich, reddish-brown, similar to the color of an old copper penny. Perfect caramel should be cooked just past the point where it starts to smoke. Some recipes advise cooking caramel until it starts to smoke—but that's too soon.
As the milk cooks, the majority of the water evaporates, and the texture of the milk becomes gooey. And it becomes sweeter; another very important ingredient in condensed milk is sugar. (If there was no sugar added it would be evaporated milk.) Sugar is added not only for sweetness; it prolongs shelf life.
Introduction: My name is Errol Quitzon, I am a fair, cute, fancy, clean, attractive, sparkling, kind person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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