Sweet and Salty Recipes

What two things go together better that sweet and salty? I love things that have that combination though I tend not to be a sweets fan at all. Unless it's salty too I'm probably not going to eat chocolate- I just don't like it. Gasp, yup, I never really have. I figured I'd share some sweet and salty recipes for those of you that love it too. Valentine's day is coming up, so why not? Some of these recipes are going to strike you as odd, but seriously, don't knock it till you try it.

Chocolate covered potato chips:



Makes 1 (15 ounce) bag 

Ingredients:
1½ cups chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, dark is your choice)
1 (15.25 ounce bag) bag ridge-cut potato chips
Directions:
1. Place chocolate chips in a heat resistant bowl and place over a pot of simmering water. (make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl)
2. Completely melt chocolate until smooth and begin dipping the chips, about ½ way.
3. Shake off any excess chocolate and place chips onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
4. Allow chocolate covered chips to dry completely before serving.
5. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

NOTE: You can decorate these however you'd like, designs with more chocolate on the top or vary between a white chocolate and milk chocolate (or dark) drizzle, sprinkles, colored (food coloring) or plain white chocolate, sparkly colored or white sugar- be creative.

Chocolate Dipped Pretzels:

Ingredients

• 15 large salted pretzels
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• Rainbow sprinkles

Directions

1. Place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds then stir. Microwave for another 30 seconds and stir again – at this point, the chips should be melted. Keep stirring until they are totally melted and smooth.
2. Lay out a piece of wax paper on the kitchen counter. Pour your sprinkles into a small shallow bowl for easy dipping. Dip half of each pretzel in the white chocolate then into the sprinkles. Lay flat on the wax paper to dry. Repeat with remaining pretzels.

NOTE: You can decorate these however you'd like, designs with more chocolate on the top or vary between a white chocolate and milk chocolate (or dark) drizzle, sprinkles, colored (food coloring) or plain white chocolate, sparkly colored or white sugar- be creative.

Chocolate Dipped Bacon:



It sounds unusual, but it’s really delicious.
6 pieces thick cut bacon
8 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate
Sriracha hot sauce
Cook bacon until crisp. Cool on paper towel to absorb excess fat. Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Dip cooled bacon into chocolate and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Leave in a cool place until chocolate hardens. Serve with hot sauce.

 Rolo Pretzels:



What You’ll Need::

• 1 bag of rolos
• 1 bag of buttersnap pretzels. You know, the ones that look like little window panes

What To Do::

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, or grease and flour if you’re out of foil
3. Cover cookie sheet in a single layer of pretzels
4. Place one rolo on each pretzel
5. Place in oven for approx 3-5 min. You just want to warm the candy, and you’ll know they’re ready to come out when the chocolate starts to sweat a bit
6. Place one more pretzel on top of each rolo and smoosh it down, so that the two pretzels are stuck together with the rolo
7. Allow the candied goodness to cool before serving
8. Enjoy!!

Sweet and Salty Brownies:



 Ingredients:

For the caramel filling

1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon Fleur de Sel
1/4 cup sour cream

For the brownie

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces quality dark chocolate (60 to 72%), coarsely chopped
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

For the caramel filling

1. Combine the sugar and corn syrup with 1/4 cup of water in a medium saucepan, stirring carefully so as not to splash the sides of the pan. Cook over high heat until an instant-read thermometer reads 350F or until the mixture is dark amber in color, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat, and slowly add the cream, and then the Fleur de Sel. Whisk in the sour cream and set aside to cool.

For the brownie

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Butter the sides and bottom of a glass or light colored metal 9 x 13 inch pan. Line the bottom with a sheet of parchment paper, and butter the parchment.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cocoa powder.
4. Place the chocolate and butter in the bowl of the double boiler set over a pan of simmering water, and stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water of the double boiler, and add both sugars. Whisk until completely combined and remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be at room temperature at this point.
5. Add three eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Add the remaining two eggs and whisk until just combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage, or your brownies will be cakey.
6. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate. Using a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until there is a just a trace amount of the flour mixture visible.
7. To assemble the brownie, pour half of the brownie mixture into the pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Drizzle about 3/4 cup of the caramel sauce over the brownie layer in a zigzag pattern, taking care to make sure the caramel does not come in contact with the edges of the pan or it will burn. Use your offset spatula to spread the caramel evenly across the brownie layer. In heaping spoonfuls, scoop the rest of the brownie batter over the caramel layer. Smooth the brownie batter gently to cover the caramel layer.
8. Bake the brownies for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, and check to make sure the brownies are completely done by sticking a toothpick into the center of the pan. The brownies are done when the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
9. Remove the brownies from the oven and sprinkle with an extra 1 1/2 teaspoons Fleur de Sel and 1 teaspoon coarse sugar.
10. Cool the brownies completely before cutting and serving.

Sweet and Salty Caramel Snack Mix:

Sweet & Salty Caramel Snack MixRecipe adapted by Our Best Bites from Southern Living
6 cups graham cracker cereal (like Honey Grahams)
1 cup honey roasted peanuts
1 cup salted cashews or macadamia nuts
1/2 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup light Karo syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups Pretzel M&Ms (about 1 large bag)
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or wax paper and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Toss together the cereal and the nuts in a large bowl and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, and Karo syrup and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it begins to boil. Allow to boil for 2 minutes (3 if you’re at a high elevation) and then remove from heat. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Drizzle the caramel mixture over the cereal/nut mixture and stir quickly to combine. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. When the caramel mixture has cooled but isn’t solid yet (just a few minutes), add the Pretzel M&Ms and toss gently to combine. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Filled Bugels:

Ingredients

• 1 (7.5 oz) bag of Bugles
• 2 (9.5 oz) bags of Dove Milk Chocolates..use whatever chocolate you most prefer
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2+ Tbsp of milk

How to Make

1. In a large bowl combine your peanut butter and powdered sugar. Add milk 1 Tbsp at a time until it's smooth. (I used 2 Tbsp)
2. Beat until smooth.
3. Using a piping bag or a Ziploc with the edge snipped off pipe the peanut butter into the Bugle.
4. Melt your chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute on 50% power, stir and repeat for 15 seconds until melted.
5. Dip the peanut butter end of the Bugle into the melted chocolate and set on a wax paper lined baking sheet.
6. When all are dipped put in freezer until set and ready to eat.

Sweet and Salty Popcorn: AKA: Kettle Corn

4 Tbsp. coconut oil
2 Tbsp. white sugar
2/3 cup popcorn kernels
salt, to taste

Put everything in a tall pot and begin cooking over medium-high heat. Once it starts to bubble, place the lid on it and swirl it around as the kernels begin to pop. You kind of want this part to go fast so the last kernels to pop don't get burned. Quickly pour the popcorn out into a very large mixing bowl and immediately sprinkle with salt and stir until evenly coated.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz Sandwiches:

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz Sandwiches
Makes 16

Ingredients:
2 cups milk chocolate chips
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup powdered sugar, sifted
32 Ritz crackers

1. Place chocolate chips over a double boiler and melt.
2. Place peanut butter and sugar into a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.
3. Spread a small amount of the peanut butter mixture onto a cracker and sandwich together with another cracker.
4. Repeat until all the crackers and peanut butter filling have been used.
5. Place crackers onto a parchment line baking sheet and place in freezer for about 30 minutes.
6. Once the chocolate has melted, using a small pair of tongs, or tweezers, dip the chilled peanut butter sandwiches into the chocolate until completely covered.
7. Shake off any access chocolate and place back onto the parchment lined baking sheet.
8. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches and set aside to dry, about an hour.
9. Carefully peel from the parchment and serve.



I've got more, I just think this particular post has gone on too long already. But, other recipes you might consider would be maple bacon donuts, chocolate covered peanuts, bacon chocolate chip biscotti, beer caramel ice cream, salted caramel shortbread cups, salty caramel sauce, strawberry pretzel bars, as you can see the list goes on and on. As always, these are recipes I have saved for my use, but I didn't come up with them, the titles (like all my recipe titles) will take you back to the original recipe I found.