Pumpkin Caramel Brownie Pops

I have never been one to have issues with jealousy. It's just not natural to my personality as {most times} I'm genuinely happy for others' fortune and success.

"You got a raise?! Fabulous!", "Your husband bought you a 3 karat diamond ring? It looks gorgeous on you!" and these days even, "She had the baby?! How exciting!" are all things that I would feel authentic excitement over.

But last week, I was bombarded with a major case of envy...food envy.

There I was, minding my own business -- well, ok, minding other peoples' business while scrolling through my Instagram feed -- and I noticed these wonderful posts from some of my favorite food bloggers with the hashtag #BBRetreat. As it turns out, that stands for "Better Blog Retreat", which is a very exclusive retreat for some of the top food bloggers out there. {As a side note, I'm not sure how they'd make these blogs better... they're already pretty good if you ask me!} This year, it took place at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah and it looked like a wonderful time from the social media bits and pieces I gathered.

The food blogging world has grown pretty extensively over the past few years, and yet, sometimes it seems like such a small world. When you start following bloggers and attending food blogging conferences, you start to notice that there are groups of bloggers who often go to the same events and hang out together. That means that repeats of very similar pictures are bound to crop up on your news feeds.

At one point during the #BBRetreat weekend, my Instagram feed was filled with not one, but SEVEN different pictures of this drool-inducing creation:

Clockwise from top right: Julie of The Little Kitchen, Sandy of Reluctant Entertainer, Jenny of Picky Palate
Shelly of Cookies and Cups, Lindsay of Love & Olive Oil, Amanda of Kevin and Amanda

And that's when the green-eyed monster set in. Um, enough of the content, "happy for you" version of Dianna. GIVE ME THE BROWNIES, PEOPLE.

I blame it on pregnancy. Those hormones will do funny things to you.

So, what did I do? I marched into the kitchen and made my OWN version of these brownies. Because I needed my own little retreat right then and there.

Remember these Pumpkin Paws I shared last week, a copycat version of Williams-Sonoma's seasonal candy? And remember how I said the Pumpkin Caramel recipe makes an awful large batch? Well, I figured out what to do with it when I got into the kitchen to whip up these brownie pops...

I used my favorite brownie recipe, which happens to come directly from the back of the Nestle Cocoa Powder container. Two layers of brownies filled with a layer of pumpkin caramel, skewered onto a stick... and then coated with dark chocolate and a drizzle of a little extra caramel & a sprinkle of sea salt. Yes.

Of course, I ate like one of these over the course of a full day and then wrapped up the rest to give away... that's the safest thing to do when something this seductive is staring at you.

But I slayed that green-eyed monster. With a popsicle stick. And all is right with the world again.

Feeling a little jealous yourself? Get into the kitchen and make these babies!

Pumpkin Caramel Brownie Pops
Inspired by the ladies of the Better Blog Retreat
Makes 9 Brownies on a Stick

For Brownies:
Adapted from Nestle Chewy Cocoa Brownies

1 1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup {1 1/2 sticks} butter, melted
2 tablespoons milk {I just use almond milk because that's what I have on hand}
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 8x8 inch pans with foil or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter, milk, eggs and vanilla extract until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.

4. Slowly add dry mixture to wet mixture, mixing until just combined. The batter will be stiff and sticky.

5. Divide batter evenly between two prepared pans, smoothing the top with an offset spatula. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Try not to overbake.

Remove from oven and cool brownies for about 15-20 minutes in the pan before removing. Cool completely before proceeding to next step.

For Pumpkin Caramel:
Click here for the recipe!

For Coating:

About 5 oz. good dark chocolate, melted

{I'd hate to sound Ina here, but it's true that the good stuff is the easiest to work with. I used 1 1/2 bars of 70% cocoa Lindt chocolate. It melts like a dream and is easy to pour. You can use whatever chocolate you'd like, but good chocolate makes life easier.}

Break chocolate into pieces and microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring until completely melted.

For assembly:

- Place one layer of brownies {smoother side down} back in a foil-lined pan {flaps hanging over make for easy removal}. Pour about a cup or more of pumpkin caramel directly over brownie. Smooth out into an even layer with an offset spatula and makes sure it gets all the way to the edges, they'll be trimmed so it's ok if it's messy.

- Carefully place the second layer of brownies {smoother side up} over top of the caramel layer. Push down lightly to affix to caramel. Your caramel will most likely still be warm and will need to set. The fastest way to do this is to refrigerate for a little while - 30 minutes to an hour should do.

- Once the caramel is set, remove the whole brownie from the pan carefully. Using a sharp knife, cut the very edges off to make clean sides. Cut the brownie into 9 equal pieces. Insert a popsicle stick into each brownie and place onto a cooling rack.

- Pour about a tablespoon of melted chocolate over each brownie pop to coat, allowing to drip over sides. Refrigerate to set for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from fridge, flip, and coat the other side. Refrigerate until chocolate is set.

- Drizzle the tops with melted caramel and immediately sprinkle with flaked sea salt if desired. Allow caramel to set.

You're all done! Now share... because that's the right thing to do. ;)

Copycat "Pumpkin Paws": Pumpkin Caramel, Pecan & Milk Chocolate Clusters

Let's talk for a minute about the {brief} bout of guilt that I felt when I made these Copycat "Pumpkin Paws." They are in no way, shape or form healthy. Like, not even debatable. And then it dawned on me that I am far too pregnant to care about such things at this moment, and I went right on with my self-indulgence. And I'm happy I did.

I know it's been "all preggo, all the time" around here as far as talk goes, so I'm trying to appease those of you who might be getting all eye-rolly on me with treats that will make you forget that I can't talk about anything else at this moment because it has taken over my life.

I've reached the highly uncomfortable portion of the show at 37 weeks. The other day, I texted one of my friends, "If you ever decide to have a baby, I highly suggest planning nothing for the final 3-4 weeks of your pregnancy. And I do mean nothing. Like, hire someone to come wave palm fronds and feed you grapes kinda nothing."

Except, I can't seem to follow my own advice. Trying to continue normal life with a 6 pound weight in your gut and ever-widening girth isn't as easy as one would think it is. I mean, aside from feeling completely off balance and like I might actually bust open at the seams, all is well. So I keep on attending events and engagements like nothing is particularly off. My RSVPs, however, have become very conditional as I have to temper my enthusiastic, "I'll be there!" with a tentative,"... If I'm not in labor." Minor annoyance.

My clothes don't fit over the belly. {See, I knew there might be a little problem down the road when I was all, "I'm barely buying maternity clothes. It's just silly.} It's even more frustrating because they fit everywhere else. It's just that midriff baring isn't as adorable with a Buddha belly. So, I basically have 3 outfits left to wear until this child enters the world. Cute.

I have also been reduced to sleeping on the couch surrounded by a nest of pillows because it is the only place I can get anywhere near comfortable. The only issue is that Farley isn't fond of mom & dad's separate sleeping arrangements; he spends half the night scaring the crap out of me checking on me or sleeping on my feet, which doesn't lend itself to much rest.

Because I don't understand the word "rest", I sent myself into a Braxton-Hicks tailspin over the weekend and had crazy contractions that lasted for 2 days straight. In a panic that this kid was going to make an early appearance, I cranked preparations into high gear and am now pretty much as ready as I'm gonna get for him to join us, so that's a plus.

It was after this incident that I decided that a little bit of candy is not going to kill me. It might actually prevent me from killing anyone else.

Since Halloween is around the corner, I thought some homemade candy might actually be fitting. But honestly, I would have justified such a thing even if it were just Groundhog's Day... because chocolate.

While lustfully browsing Williams-Sonoma's fall products a few weeks ago, I saw something that stood out to me: Pumpkin Paws. "Clusters of spiced pumpkin caramel and crunchy almonds covered in Guittard milk chocolate." I liked the sound of it.

In my own version, I swapped out the almonds for pecans, which I think taste more Fall-like. I didn't even use fancy milk chocolate. Just melted Publix chocolate chips. And guess what? They turned out pretty darn amazing.

A word of warning -- the recipe for the pumpkin caramel makes a lot. Like, enough that unless you are accustomed to eating straight up chunks of caramel on the daily {which honestly doesn't sound like a horrible thing, if we're being real}, it's going to take you a while to go through. So... I used half the leftovers to turn into homemade chewy caramels and the other half for something that you will have to see to believe. If you thought this treat was naughty, then you may want to avert your eyes. Stay tuned...

Copycat "Pumpkin Paws"
Inspired by Williams-Sonoma

Pecan halves
1/2 cup pumpkin caramel {see recipe below}
Milk chocolate, melted

On a silicone baking mat or a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, lay out pecan halves in the shape of a paw -- I used 4 pecans going vertically and one going horizontally underneath.

When caramel sauce has cooled slightly {you don't want it to be too runny or you'll have a mess}, spoon about 1/2 a tablespoon over each pile of pecans. Allow to set completely. {This goes faster if refrigerated or put in the freezer for a little while.}

Once the caramel has set, spoon about a tablespoon of melted milk chocolate over the top of the caramel and pecans. Some people like to cover them completely, but I like to see the pecans poking out -- it's up to you how you do it.

Allow chocolate to set {again, in the fridge if you'd like to speed it up} and carefully remove from mat.

Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Pumpkin Caramel
Barely adapted from Challenge Dairy

1/2 cup butter {1 stick, 8 tablespoons}
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup light corn syrup
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk {not evaporated milk}
1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter. Mix in sugar and pumpkin pie spice until well combined.

2. Stir in corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk and pumpkin puree, making sure everything is well incorporated. Lower heat to medium to prevent scorching. {You'll get little dark bits throughout your caramel if this happens. Still tastes just as good, but isn't as pretty.}

3. Allow to boil until the mixture reaches 248 degrees. {As much as I hate using a candy thermometer, it's necessary in order to make sure this reaches the correct consistency. Trust me.}

The mixture will be super-duper hot. You don't want to mess with molten caramel. Don't be tempted to stick your finger in or lick a spoon -- you'll be sorry.

If using for Pumpkin Paws, allow the caramel to cool slightly {it'll start to thicken and get less liquidy} and spoon over pecans. This would also be the time to pour the caramel into a buttered or parchment-lined pan if you plan on making homemade caramels.

One the caramel cools completely, it'll hold its shape but retain a soft and chewy texture. Remove from the pan and cut into small squares; wrap individually in waxed or parchment paper.