TWD: Caramel Crunch Bars aka How My Head Can Explode Into My Brain.

I almost peed my pants in excitement when I saw that Whitney of What's Left on the Table (click for recipe) chose Caramel Crunch Bars pick this week.

This is my kind of snack.  I love anything with toffee and chocolate. Or caramel and chocolate. Or peanut butter and chocolate.  Or chocolate and chocolate.  

You catch my drift.

The best part was that I was able to combine this with ice cream. I would eat ice cream 12 times a day if my body could withstand it.  I rarely ever indulge full-fat ice cream, though. I usually will eat frozen yogurt. My favorite? Tasti-d-lite.  When I lived in Manhattan, I would eat a small, 4 oz serving of Tasti D Lite every single day. None of this PinkBerry tart yogurt crap. I like my frozen yogurt to taste like Ice cream! Not yogurt! It was only 10 calories an ounce (at the time. It is now 20 calories an ounce. Watch it, Tasti!  My hips don't lie!). Soft, rich and creamy, there are over 100 flavors, but only 4-6 selected flavors a day, where two of them are always chocolate and vanilla.  Whenever I go home, I go out of my way to get Tasti-D-Lite. I plan my trips around the store's operating hours. I do my research as to what store was serving which flavors.  It’s borderline pathetic.  Ok, it’s full-out pathetic. But it’s 20 calorie an ounce frozen yogurt that tastes better than the real thing!!! I dream about the day that I move back to NYC (only 6 more months!) and am once again reunited with my one true love, Tasti-d-Lite (sorry, boyfriend).

I wanted to make my own version of a creamy, rich, luxurious ice cream to go with these caramel crunch bars.  I came upon this recipe by David Lebovitz.  Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream.  Hmmm. Salted butter? 1 cup of heavy cream? 4 egg yolks?  20 calorie and ounce yogurt this is not. Did that stop me from making it/eating it?

No.  You want to know why? Because after making it, my head almost exploded in my brain. That’s how good it is. That my head can actually go inside my brain and explode.  Amazingly creamy. Luxe. Salty and sweet. And the best part is that after two days in my freezer, it is not hard as a rock. It is still as creamy as the first day. Which is dangerous, because I was only going to allow myself to eat it on Saturday, but I hear a small voice beckoning me from my freezer.

Eat me. Eaaaaaat me. In a cone. In a dish. You can’t resist my silky goodness! 

But this post is not about the ice cream (it totally is).  This post is about these caramel crunch bars (ice cream). My thoughts?  They were pretty good. Not mind blowing like I was hoping. But very good.  The coffee flavor in the shortbread base was a nice, subtle addition. It had a great crunch to it.   And as an ice cream sandwich? 

Well, you could have a sock sandwich and still have it taste good if there is ice cream as the filling.

Click here for Dave Lebovitz’s Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream.

And click here for more TWD shortbread! 

Comments

[Jin Hooi]

OMG .. the ice cream looks sinfully delicious !!! and u r real funny !!! Your bars look great, well done !!

[Susan]

oh no. now I have to make ice cream. in the WINTER...all thanks to YOU.
way to go.
(nice job!)

[Jill]

Oh my gosh, that ice cream sounds great! Your posts always crack me up - thanks for the laughs this morning.

[peggy]

Now you have gone and done it. You are making me want ice cream for breakfast. It is still early and yet here I am drooling over your ice cream. Forget the toffee bars. Lebovitz must have some great ice cream techniques. I keep hearing about him.

[Jessica]

That ice cream looks absolutely divine. I love the picture of the bowl of ice cream with the crunch bar nestled in the corner -- yum!

[Amanda]

These look perfect, nice job! Mine were a bit crisp, but still tasty :)

[Madam Chow]

Yes, this post is TOTALLY about ice cream. I completely lost track of what we were baking this week when I read it, and now I want ice cream! Unfortunately, my cholesterol came back too high and ice cream is off limits for now. Sigh.

[rainbowbrown]

Very cool. I've wanted to make that ice cream for a while. And head explodingly good sounds like something I can't put off much longer.

[Maria]

I love fro yo too!! It is the perfect treat! But WOW, look at this dessert!! AMAZING! I am a toffee and chocolate fanatic too! Great job!!

[Em]

Nice job!!! Love your write up :)

[Melissa]

I like chocolate and anything else too. You totally caught my interest with this ice cream. Sounds fabulous!

[farah]

Wow, this looks great. Well done on making the ice cream too, its sounds delicious! Btw, great blog :)

[Michelle]

Great looking bars and I like the icecream too. Im going to look into getting some of that stuff!

[pinkstripes]

I need to make this salted butter caramel ice cream. I'm indiscriminate in my ice cream love. YUM!

Ice cream made the caramel crunch bars in my opinion.

[Megan]

Ah ha ha ha ha! As far as frozen yogurt goes, the kids and I LIVED on Golden Spoon last summer. I swear, I needed a pie chart to show the budget because certain funds were needed to sustain our habit. I wish I could make it myself!

Sorry, I got distracted there thinking about it. Awesome looking dessert. I feel the need to bike another 3 miles just looking at it!

[Jennifer]

I love Dave Lebovitz's recipes and love salted caramel (heck, ANY caramel!) so I'll have to make that icecream.
Now, to concentrate on work, instead of drooling over your bar/icecream combo is going to be so difficult!

[chocolatechic]

It just looks fabulous.

I must make this ice cream.

[Katrina]

Wow! Just looking I think my head might explode in my brain. Love the whole sock sandwich scenerio!

[Kelly D]

That ice cream looks too good for a Tuesday afternoon in front of my computer. You should try the chocolate sorbet recipe in BFMHTY. It is not like regular sorbet. Far superior.

[Jennifer]

You crack me up...Your blog is always entertaining....a sock sandwich.

You had me at caramel.:)

I saw the ice cream and think I might have passed out.....