Hey, I’m thrilled you’ve stopped by today! So… I have a question for you… Do you have a sweet tooth?

Did you say yes? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Especially if you have a thing for chocolate and caramel. Or sweet and salty. This will tickle your taste buds into ecstasy.

Here’s one more question… Have you ever made your own caramel? I used to help my grandma when I was little and what I remember most are the arm cramps I got from stirring the pot. I really had no desire to make caramel without my grandma…

… Until this barely-stir recipe entered my life. It’s absolutely amazing and super simple. It takes a little bit of time, but you can totally just set it and check on it every so often. There’s no heavy arm work!

If you’re in a rush and don’t have time for homemade from scratch, that’s ok! I’ve got a quick and easy version for you too. Check that recipe out down below.

HOMEMADE FROM SCRATCH CHOCOLATE CARAMEL POKE CAKE

CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE

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Chocolate Cake

Prep time:  20 mins

Cook time:  30 mins

Total time:  50 mins

Serves: Approx 20 servings

A not-too-sweet chocolate cake that is moist, light and fluffy and perfect for poke cakes.

Ingredients

• 1 c. white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 c white flour
• 1 c milk
• ¼ c butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 6 tbs cocoa

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13" glass pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl cream together sugar and butter.
3. Beat in eggs.
4. Add vanilla.
5. 
6. Combine flour and baking powder. Mix well.
7. Stir in milk until batter is smooth.
8. Pour into pan. Lower oven temperature to 325°F and bake for 28-32 mins.
9. 
10. (This is the perfect time to get your caramel started. See recipe below.)
11. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 mins.
12. Use a butter knife to poke holes in the cake. The more holes you make, the more caramel will soak down inside. Poke your knife into the cake and give it a little twist to make the holes bigger. The caramel will soak in better.
13. 

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CARAMEL SAUCE RECIPE
(I originally found this recipe on leafytreetopspot.blogspot.com a few years ago and I LOVE it. I tweaked it slightly to fit my needs for this recipe. You can see the original recipe at the link above.)

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Caramel Chocolate Poke Cake

Prep time:  20 mins

Cook time:  35 mins

Total time:  55 mins

Serves: Approx 20 servings

The perfect sweet and salty dessert that will leave your taste buds wanting more!

Ingredients

• - ¼ Cup butter
• - 2 cups sugar
• - 1 Cup light corn syrup
• - ½ tsp salt
• - 1 Cup whipping or heavy cream
• - 2½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. ** If you're in a hurry or don't want to mess with making your own caramel sauce, just use a jar of your favorite caramel sauce from the store and skip to step 11.
2. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat on the stove.
3. Increase heat to medium-high. Add sugar and corn syrup and mix until well blended.
4. Add the salt and combine with a spatula.
5. Slowly stir the mixture until it comes to a boil.
6. Reduce heat to medium low and let boil 4 minutes without stirring.
7. Remove from heat and slowly stir in the whipping cream. Be careful and don't pour too much in too quickly. It might spatter and could burn. Stirring nice and slow will help get the cream mixed in smoothly as well.
8. Return to medium low heat and continue cooking without stirring until mixture is 245°F on a candy thermometer.
9. *Note: This makes the caramel a firm chewy candy. You'll probably have to cut the caramel on the cake with kitchen shears, but I love the chewy texture. For most people, a caramel sauce will be more to your liking. There's lots of recipes, but I've never tried any and don't have a favorite to point you to. You can even add sea salt to the sauce and make it salted caramel sauce if you'd like.
10. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
11. Pour caramel over the cake (recipe above). If your cake is domed after you bake it, you can use a spatula to pull the caramel back to the middle as it soaks in and cools down.
12. If desired, sprinkle caramel with sea salt before it cools too much. If the top has already started to firm up, you can gently press the salt into the caramel with the palm of your hand. Be careful, the caramel will still be hot!
13. Allow to cool completely (2-3 hours). Slice and serve topped with whipped cream, pretzel sticks and M&M's® Red, White & Blue Milk Chocolate for the perfect sweet and salty ode to America.

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Maybe you’re more a Skittles® fan? Well, there’s Skittles® Red, White, & Blue too! I’m not sure I’d eat them with the chocolate caramel cake, but they are pretty tasty little treats.

Right now MARS/Wrigley is showing appreciation of our troops by donating M&M’s® to the troops for every bag purchased at Walmart. Select stores will have representatives sharing more information about the “1 For You, 1 For the Troops” campaign exclusively at Walmart.

Did you know that M&M’s® were originally created for the troops?  Keep the tradition going and buy M&M’s® at Walmart or Walmart.com.

Supporting the troops is definitely something I can get behind. America has always held a special place in my heart. I truly love this country, despite any flaws she may have.

When I met my husband, he was a soldier. We have lived the life of a military family and I had a love-hate relationship with the military, for many reasons. But, I will be forever grateful for and to the courageous and selfless men and women who defend our freedom. The brave people who leave their families to stand against and protect our rights and privileges. I admire and respect the families that are left behind, the single parents who hold their homes and families together while the one they love most is thousands of miles away, often in mortal danger.

The men, women and families who make up our armed forces are some of the strongest, bravest, courageous and selfless people I have ever had the privilege to know. I am so grateful for the time we had among those heroes. I will always respect, admire, and love those who have, who do and those who willingly sacrifice holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, time with their families, their health and even their lives to protect this country and all those within her borders.

If purchasing a bag of M&M’s® or Skittles® can help lift a service member’s day with a small treat, it’s the least I can do. Help support our troops and grab a bag (or two!) at Walmart today. And check out more fun patriotic recipes for your celebrations this summer!

I hinted at the quick and easy version earlier; but, as promised, here’s the recipe. This is a little different consistency and flavor, but still really yummy.

QUICK AND EASY
CHOCOLATE CARAMEL POKE CAKE

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Chocolate Caramel Poke Cake

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  30 mins

Total time:  40 mins

Serves: One 9x13" pan

Quick & easy chocolate caramel poke cake ready to serve in 45 minutes!

Ingredients

• 1 Family-sized Chocolate cake mix box (should bake in a 9x13" pan)
• 12 oz bottle Caramel ice cream topping
• Sea salt to garnish (optional)
• Whipped cream
• Pretzel sticks
• M&M's® Red, White, & Blue Peanut

Instructions

1. Mix and bake the cake according to the directions on the back of the box.
2. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 mins.
3. Use a butter knife to poke holes in the cake. The more holes there are, the more caramel will soak in. You can give the knife a twist after you poke it in the cake to make the holes a bit bigger.
4. Pour half the caramel over the cake and let it sit and soak in for 10 minutes.
5. Pour the other half of the caramel on top and let it soak in.
6. Slice and served topped with whipped cream, pretzel pieces and M&M's® candies.

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The post Chocolate Caramel Poke Cake appeared first on While He Was Napping.

It’s official… autumn is here!  Hooray!  I love summer, I really do.  But, since becoming a mom, autumn has slowly stolen my heart.  The colors, the traditions, the holiday season kicking off, and the foods.  Oh, the foods.  So many fabulous flavors come with the autumn season.  One of my favorites is apple and my sweet tooth has a soft spot for caramel.  How perfect is the caramel apple combination?  Perfect enough for some cupcakes!  Caramel Apple Cupcakes have some of autumn’s best flavors all in a delicious little cake just bursting with flavor.

I’ve got a killer recipe for you today that will make you taste buds scream “AUTUMN IS HERE!”  They are super easy to make – from a box!  Wanna make baking even easier?  Enter the #bakeinthefun sweepstakes by voting for your favorite submission.  You could win a KitchenAid!  Get the details!  Let’s get to baking those amazing autumn Caramel Apple Cupcakes, shall we?

CARAMEL APPLE CUPCAKES

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Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  22 mins

Total time:  32 mins

Serves: 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes bursting with delicious autumn flavors - caramel apple. Soft, moist cakes full of apple flavor and topped with creamy tangy frosting.

Ingredients

• 15.25 oz Pillsbury Moist Supreme® Caramel Cake Mix
• ¼ cup Mott's® Apple Sauce Original
• ¼ cup oil
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup Snapple® Apple
• 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Place cupcake liners in a muffin tin. Spray lightly with cooking spray, if desired to help the cupcakes release more easily after baking.
2. Combine the cake mix, apple sauce, oil, eggs, water and Snapple® Apple in a large bowl.
3. Mix until well combined.
4. 
5. Fill each cupcake liner ¾ full.
6. 
7. Bake 22- 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean.
8. Cool 10-15 minutes before removing cakes from the pan.
9. Cool completely before frosting.

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You’ve got the cupcakes, now comes my favorite part of making cupcakes: the decorating!  When I think of caramel apples, I think bright green and that beautiful brown caramel color.  I wanted to put those on display on these cupcakes.  While I was at Walmart the other day, I saw these new M&M’s® I couldn’t pass up – M&M’s® Pecan Pie!  They were perfect with their fall colors to use as a garnish.

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Caramel Apple Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep time:  10 mins

Total time:  10 mins

Serves: 24 cupcakes or 48 mini cupcakes

Tart apple and sweet caramel combine in this delicious cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients

• 2 sixteen oz cans Pillsbury Supreme Creamy® Cream Cheese Seasonal Frosting
• 2-3 Tbsp caramel sauce (I used a store-bought ice cream topping, but you could make your own)
• Lime green gel food coloring
• M&M's® Pecan Pie flavored for garnish
• M&M's® Milk Chocolate Harvest for garnish

Instructions

1. Prepare a pastry bag with a large round icing tip. The larger, the better.
2. Place the empty pastry bag inside a tall glass and fold the top of the bag over the rim of the glass.
3. 
4. If you want to create a marbled effect in the frosting, draw lines or dots inside the bag with the gel food coloring.
5. 
6. Fill the bag with the Pillsbury Supreme Creamy® Cream Cheese Seasonal Frosting. Add a small squeeze of food coloring into the glass as you put each scoop of the frosting into the pastry bag. When the bag is full or the frosting is all in the bag, remove it from the glass.
7. Squeeze the frosting around a bit to help mix up the food coloring. You just want it streaked, not completely mixed; don't squeeze and mix it too much.
8. 
9. Pipe the frosting onto a cupcake, starting at the outer edge and moving inward in a circular pattern, ending with a point in the middle.
10. Put the caramel sauce inside a zip top bag. Snip off just the very point of one corner of the bag.
11. Drizzle the caramel sauce on the cupcake. I put it between the lines of frosting, which helped hold it where it needed to be and kept it from dripping all over. If you frost the cupcakes with a knife, you can drizzle little zigzags of caramel sauce on the tops of the cupcakes.
12. Garnish the tops of the cupcakes with M&M's®.
13. 
14. Place the cupcakes in the fridge until ready to serve.

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I really love the way these cupcakes turned out.  The apple is just tart enough and the caramel just sweet enough… it’s a perfect combination.  It’s autumn in a little cake.  I can’t think of a better way to start out the season!  Grab everything you need at Walmart to make these delicious treats and check out these other delicious recipes!  And don’t forget to enter the #bakeinthefun sweepstakes!

MARS Bake In The Fun Sweepstakes

Grab your ingredients for these deliciously Harvest-inspired cupcakes on your next trip to Walmart. All ingredients can be found in the grocery section of the store.

The post Caramel Apple Cupcakes appeared first on While He Was Napping.