Caramel Apple Bread Pudding-12 Weeks of Christmas Treats

Already we are at week 4 of 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats hosted by Brenda over at Meal Planning Magic.  This week I am posting a great fall recipe.  I am not sure I would call it a Christmas Treat, but I would call it very good.

Bread Pudding is a dessert that I am very fond of.  I love it when I can take everyday ingredients, including some that might have been thrown out, to make something delicious.  I recently decided to add some chopped apple and caramel bits to my old stand-by bread pudding recipe which came from a Better Homes and Garden cook book.  This addition added a nice autumn taste to the dish that we enjoyed very much

I  dry my left over bread and use it to make bread pudding, stuffing or bread crumbs.

Caramel Apple Bread Pudding
4 beaten eggs
2 c. milk
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
3 c. (4 slices) dry bread cubes (I just break the slices up with my hands)
1 medium to large, peeled apple, diced
1/3 c. caramel bits (Kraft) or caramels, cut into quarters

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.  Beat until sugar is dissolved.  Add bread cubes and let stand 5 minutes.  Meanwhile peel and dice apple and cut up caramels if necessary.  Stir apple and caramel into bread mixture.  Turn mixture into a 8-inch square baking pan or 2 qt. casserole.  (I use a round casserole dish and cut this like a pie to serve.)  Bake at 325 degrees 35 to 40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Mixture will puff up and then deflate when it is close to done.  Let cool.  Can be served warm, at room temperature, or chilled.  This is great with some caramel sauce spooned over it and some whipped cream dolloped on top.  Store any leftovers, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.  Makes 6 servings.

What are some of your favorite Christmas treats?  You can find out how to share them with us by checking out Brenda's page here.  There are 8 weeks to go so there is still plenty of time to share some of your favorites.

Linking to 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats

Improv Cooking Challenge-Caramel Apple Crunch Bars

I am so excited to be part of  Improv Cooking Challenge.  The first challenge requested that we make something combining apples and caramel.  Since I am the Cookie Monster's grandmother and love cookies, particularly bar cookies, that is where my mind went.  I couldn't find a recipe for what I had in mind so adapted a couple of recipes to make Caramel Apple Crunch Bars.

Most recipes I found called for a layer of melted caramels or caramel ice cream topping.  What I wanted was little pockets of caramel scattered through out a cookie bar.  I ended up cutting each caramel into six pieces and scattering the pieces over a cookie base.  I then covered the caramels with chopped apples and nuts and scattered a crunchy topping over them.  This is a little more work, so if you don't want to do that,  melt the caramels with 2 T. of milk in the microwave for a minute or so.  Layer the melted caramels over the apple/nut layer instead of underneath.  You may need to use a whole package of caramels if you do this.  If so, increase the milk to 1/4 c.

These can be cut for bar cookies or cut larger and served as a dessert topped with whipped topping or (better yet) ice cream and caramel sauce.  I made these with toasted walnuts, but I think that they would be wonderful with toasted pecans; and that is what I would used if making these for company.  Of course, the nuts could be left out completely it the need dictates it.

Caramel Apple Nut Bars
25 caramel (about half of a 14 oz. pkg.)
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 t. baking soda
1 1/4 c. butter or margarine, melted
4 medium apples, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/2 c. toasted walnuts or pecans

Unwrap caramels and cut each one in half.   Then cut each half into three pieces.  Use wet kitchen shears to do this.  You may have to clean the blades and rewet the shears a couple of times.  Put caramel pieces in a shallow container.  Set aside.  Place flour, oats, brown sugar, and baking soda in a mixer bowl.  Add melted butter or margarine and mix at low speed until crumbly.  Dump 1 cup of mixture into each half of a greased 10x15-1-inch baking pan.  Pat each cup of mixture out to evenly cover half of baking pan.  Reserve remaining mixture for topping.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.   While base is baking, peel and chop apples.  Set aside.  When base is done remove from oven.  Scatter caramel pieces over the hot  base.  Return to oven for 5 minutes or until caramels begin to soften.  Remove from oven.  Scatter chopped apples evenly over the top of base/caramel layer.  Scatter nuts over apples.  Sprinkle remaining sugar/flour/oat mixture over the top of the apples and nuts.  Press down slightly with hand.  Return pan to oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until golden brown.  Remove from oven.  Cool in pan on rack for 30 minutes.  Cut into 1 x 1 1/2-inch bars.  Let cool another 30 minutes.  Makes about 48 bars.