German Chocolate Caramel Bars | Cake Mix | Bar Cookies Recipe

Here's one of my favorite decadent baked bar cookie recipes for parties.  These German Chocolate Caramel Bars are ooey, gooey and very rich, yet easy to make from a cake mix!

German Chocolate Caramel Turtle Bars

Cake Mix Cookie Bars

This German Chocolate Caramel Bars recipe is a family favorite, passed down from one of my co-workers who's long retired and moved on to sunny Florida.  Every time I make sweets I have fond memories of the parties and bake sales held at the office. You'll enjoy these every season of the year, for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Memorial Day picnics, summer cookouts, during the winter holidays, birthday parties and even after Sunday dinner! 

These cake mix bars are so sinful! My oldest daughter has a sweet tooth (she takes after her mom), but my hubby is known to make anything chocolate disappear too, as does charming son-in-law.

Treat the kids and grandkids and watch everyone ask for more!

Especially delicious as a dessert treat for your family, dinner guests or kids' sports team celebrations. I usually made them with Duncan Hines Signature German Chocolate cake mix, if I can find it.  

Check out my other easy Cake Mix hacks for yummy bars, cookies and breads -

Banana Muffins from Cake Mix

Triple Chocolate Square Bars from Cake Mix

Sunshine Pineapple Cake from Cake Mix

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies from Cake Mix

Clean-Up is easy with my crochet handmade dish cloths at my Moomettes shop!

Check out my recipe for Fresh Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce or Cake Mix Cookie Recipes

German Chocolate Caramel Cookie Bars

Equipment:
Mixing Bowl
Wooden Spoon
Saucepan
Sheet Pan
Cookie Sheet
Cooling Rack

Ingreidents:

1 pkg. Duncan Hines German Chocolate Cake Mix
1 -1/2 c. Nestle chocolate chips (1 bag)
1 bag caramels (melt in top of double boiler)
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1/3 c. Carnation evaporated milk
3/4 c. melted Cabot butter
1/3 c. Carnation evaporated milk

Combine caramels and 1/3 c. evaporated milk in saucepan and melt. Set aside.
Mix by hand: Cake mix, butter, 1/3 c. evaporated milk, and walnuts.
Batter will be very thick.
Spread 1/2 batter in greased 9x13 pan sheet pan .
Bake 350 for 6 minutes.
Sprinkle chocolate chips over crust, drizzle caramel over mixture.
Spread remaining batter over it (use hands if necessary).
Return to oven for 18-10 min.
Cool and refrigerate 30 min. to set caramel then cut.
Can use Swiss Chocolate cake mix.
Put cookie sheet underneath pan when baking.

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© Frugal New England Kitchen 

Fresh Apple Cake With Caramel Sauce

Fall in New England is perhaps my favorite time of year.  While up in Vermont visiting my charming son-in-law's family and I took the grandkids to Stowe for the day.  Along the way we stopped at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill in Waterbury.  After sampling all the baked on-premises apple cider donuts and caramel apples, along with the hot pepper jellies, fresh fall produce and Cabot Vermont Cheddar cheese and crackers, I was hankering to get home and make a good old-fashioned Bundt Apple Cake. There's so many terrific things to do with apples!

Fall Desserts

Over the years I've collected from family and friends and tucked away plenty of apple cake recipes.  This is a new one that I've adapted from - Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake from Georgia.

Now even though I believe that New England moms and grandmoms can cook up  comfort food as good as anyone else, the gals down South really know how to mix together a cake from scratch!

This is fresh apple cake is considered a poke cake - the caramel sauce saturates the insides of the cake making it sticky and yummy, while the whiskey I've added makes it go down so smoothly on a cool fall night!  The sour cream and coconut that I added supplies  body and texture.

My family enjoyed it so much that I had to make one on Saturday and another for Sunday night dinner!  I inherited my mom's vintage Pyrex nesting mixing bowls and still use them to bake.  They're almost as old as I am - maybe even older!  Do the math! On second thought, maybe not!

Easy clean-up with my crochet Handmade Dish Cloths from my Moomettes Crochet shop for your kitchen decor !

IOne of my new favorite recipes is this Sourdough Apple Cake which turned out to be a big hit.

f you like caramel check out my recipe for German Caramel Turtle Bars 

Fresh Apple Cake with Caramel Whiskey Sauce

Butter, for greasing bundt pan
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1-1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. cider
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. ground cinnamon
1 Tbl. Vanilla Extract
3 c. peeled and finely chopped apples
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Sauce:
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. Whiskey (ok you can leave this out and substitute cider)
1/4.c. Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease a tube or Bundt pan

*For the Cake:*
In a large bowl, combine sugar and eggs and beat well. Mix in oil, cider, flour, sour cream, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Mix well. Fold in apples, coconut and nuts.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester or toothpick comes out clean, approximately 1-1/2 hours.

Shortly before the cake is done, make the sauce.

*Sauce:*
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. (Large is important, as the mixture doubles in size.) Stir in the sugar, buttermilk/Whiskey mixture, and the baking soda. Bring to a good rolling boil while stirring constantly. Boil for about 1 minute.
After the cake is removed from the oven, poke holes into it with a knife or fork. Pour the sauce completely over the hot cake while it is still in the pan as soon as you remove it from the oven.
Let stand 1 hour, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

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© Frugal New England Kitchen 

German Chocolate Caramel Bars | Cake Mix Dessert Recipe - Caramel Turtles

New ways to indulge and enjoy Caramel! Most people crave sweets or something salty when under stress.  Sometimes we have to indulge and give into our whims. Enjoy German Chocolate Caramel Bars also known as Caramel Turtles 

This recipe for a chocolate caramel bar was given to me by a coworker. It's truly a rich, chocolate creamy caramel goodness fix. And you wouldn't believe it starts with a doctored cake mix!

Easy kitchen clean up with Reusable Cotton Dish Cloths from Moomettes Crochet Shop -

Buy these pretty Handmade Dish Cloths directly here via Paypal https://py.pl/JBWE0

German Chocolate Caramel Bars

Ingredients:

                  1     pkg. German Chocolate cake mix
                  1     -1/2 c. chocolate chips (1 bag)
                  1 bag caramels (melt in top of double boiler)
                  1     c. chopped nuts (optional)
                1/3     c. evaporated milk
                3/4     c. melted butter
                1/3     c. evaporated milk

  Preparation:

               Combine caramels and 1/3 c. evaporated milk in
               saucepan and melt.  Set aside.  Mix by hand: Cake
               mix, butter, 1/3 c. evaporated milk, and walnuts.
               Batter will be very thick.  Spread 1/2 batter in
               greased 9x13 cookie sheet pan.  Bake 350 for 6 minutes.
               Sprinkle chocolate chips over crust, drizzle caramel
               over mixture.  Spread remaining batter over it (use
               hands if necessary).  Return to oven for 18-10 min.
               Cool and refrigerate 30 min. to set caramel then cut.
               Put cookie sheet underneath pan when baking 

Like my Recipes?  Buy me a Bag of Flour

© Frugal New England Kitchen