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I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

yellow cake mix

Caramel Apple Crumble Bars

Caramel Apple Crumble Bars

Now that we have unofficially hit summer, I’m gearing up to get ready for some BBQ’s this year. We always end up going to quite a few but I’m hoping that we do our fair share of hosting this summer as well. (Maybe we should buy a patio set? eek!) So I’m looking to get creative with our summer fare this year. We have great, fresh meat, fruits, and veggies at our fingertips so why not have some fun with them?

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That there alone is justification to spend plenty of time on Pinterest, no? Oh, man so addicted to that damn site! But it’s so much fun to find interesting recipes to make on the grill or to serve along side of your burger, grilled sausage, or chicken. I love giving anything a try, especially if it’s a twist on something. After making a wing sauce with apple butter I’m all of trying anything because you can be surprised with anything. Really, apple butter in a wing sauce? Trust me, so good.

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Well, when Musselman’s contacted me again to work with them so I can try a recipe that would be great for summer time BBQ’s I jumped at the chance. I browsed through their recipes and while their bacon baked beans and their BBQ sauces sounded great I wanted to make something that I could easily share now. So that means I turn to something I can bring into work… which means sweet treats! This recipe for Caramel Apple Crumb Bar would be perfect!

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These were so easy to make and the result was a really good caramel-y apple packed bar. They were a hit with everyone that had a piece. Don’t you just love when that happens? 🙂 I swear I’ll be making these again but next time I’ll definitely remember to grease the pan this time. FACEPALM! Other than that a total success.

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Caramel Apple Crumble Bars

Makes 32 bars

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1 18.25 ounce box of yellow cake mix
  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup Musselman’s Apple Butter
  • 1 egg

Caramel Layer

  • 1 14-ounce package of vanilla caramels, unwrapped
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons Musselman’s Apple Butter

Topping

  • 2/3 of a cup of chopped walnuts
  • 2/3 cup shredded coconut
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter

Process

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13×9 baking dish.
  2. Beat the cake mix and butter on low speed until the mixture is crumbly. Remove 1 cup of the mixture, set aside. 
  3. Add the apple butter and egg to the remaining cake mixture. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Spread into the prepared baking dish and bake for 20 minutes, or until it’s starting to brown and set.
  4. While the crust is baking, combine the vanilla caramels, butter, and apple butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth.
  5. Combine the topping ingredients with the cup of the reserved cake mixture until crumbly.
  6. Pour the caramel mixture over the partially baked crust. Evenly sprinkle the crumbly topping over the caramel. (Some of the caramel will show through.)
  7. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the topping us starting to brown. Cool completely prior to cutting into 32 bars.

Source: Musselman’s

 

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Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars

Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars

When I was younger I was a Brownie. I used to do activities and earn badges for a few years. I remember little ceremonies at our local library. But when I remember the most were the cookies. Oh, those Girl Scout cookies were so awesome.

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I used to sell the cookies at my dad’s office and things would get pretty insane. My chart would fill up and then some. And then of course the cookies would be delivered to our house and things would be even crazier. Boxes and boxes filled with boxes of girl scout cookies would fill our living room. My parents would have to sort the cookies quickly that night since my mom ran a day care in our house and we could not have a bunch of toddlers attack boxes of cookies. Their sugar high would just be out of control! ha!

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Now my best friend’s daughter is a Brownie so when the opportunity to help our the Girl Scout’s organization fund-raise I could not pass that up. Nor could I pass up the chance for cookies that only come around 1 time a year. I love Thin Mints and Caramel deLites so I definitely had to order those. But I did order the new Mango Cremes to give them a try.

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The Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts sent me a box of Thin Mint Cookies and a recipe for Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars so I could see how versatile the cookies are, besides just being so yummy. Oh, my gosh! I thought I was going to have to lock up the box of cookies so Price couldn’t eat them before I made the Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars.

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These were so easy to make and before I knew it our house was filled with the sweet smells of chocolate and mint. Just be sure to well grease the pan to make it easy to remove the bars once they are cooled. And the worst part is that you really do have to wait until they are cooled before cutting into them or they will fall apart. Oh it was so hard to wait!! But it was worth the wait since these were so good. The cake layer is a great base and then it gets intense with all that chocolate and mint piled high. It’s a bar you are going to want to sink your teeth in as they are soft, chewy and yet crunchy at the same time.

Girl Scout Cookies are available for sale until March 12th. Find a Girl Scout you know to purchase directly from her or you can find a booth where they are being sold in your area. There even is an app you can download to find cookie sale locations!

Thin Mint Gooey Cake Bars

Makes 24 or 32 bars, depending on size you cut

Ingredients

  • 1 box of yellow cake mix
  • 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup Andes mint chips or candies chopped into small pieces
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 20 Girl Scout thin Mint Cookies, broken into pieces.

Process

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9×13 baking dish by coating with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Mix together the cake mix, butter, and egg in a large bowl.
  3. Press the dough mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
  4. Spread the chocolate chips and Andes mint chips evenly over the dough. Then pour the condensed milk over the chips and then sprinkle the pieces of the Thin Mint Cookies over it all.
  5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until baked through. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

I received a box of Thin Mint Cookies from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts to write this post. The options are my own.