30 Days (or more) of Autumn Bliss ~ #1

In celebration of fall, I thought I'd start a little series featuring my favorite sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the season. Not only is it fun to share some of my favorite things with fellow fall-lovers, but I view it as a personal challenge to get myself blogging a bit more regularly.

A few years ago I got hooked on one of Starbucks' signature drinks...a salted caramel hot chocolate. Total indulgence! For me, this sweet-salty combo not only tastes incredible (kind of like a chocolate-covered pretzel), but there's a bit of heart-warming nostalgia involved, too. I remember, on one particular day, stopping at Starbucks on our way out of town to take an afternoon hike. The sun was shining, the trees were ablaze with color, and I was with my favorite guys. Cruising over the country roads, our van filled with laughter and music, I sipped and enjoyed my salted caramel hot chocolate all the way to our hiking destination. All was right with the world.

I was quite disappointed when the drink was discontinued the following season, but I discovered a way to make a pretty good clone of it at home. I also became a salted caramel fiend. I grow weak in the knees when I see a recipe for salted caramel anything. So when I discovered a recipe for salted caramel cupcakes yesterday morning, I made a bee-line for the grocery store. And you'll want to, too.



Salted Caramel Cupcakes
Make up a batch of your favorite chocolate cupcakes
16 oz. caramel topping
1 tsp. sea salt
Heath English Toffee Bits
Your favorite buttercream frosting

Combine caramel topping with sea salt and place in squeeze bottle with tip. As soon as cupcakes come out of the oven, insert tip into center of each cupcake and inject with that salty-caramely goodness. Allow to cool completely. Make buttercream frosting and frost each cupcake; sprinkle with Heath English Toffee Bits. Drizzle with remaining caramel. I lightly sprinkled a bit of sea salt on the tops of each one.

And there you have a bit of salted caramel bliss that will get your salted caramel obsession off on the right foot.

Thanks to Joy's Hope for the inspiration for these cupcakes!