Salted caramel bark

Another Werther's post!  About a month ago, Werther's Originals sent me a box of their new baking caramels.  They gave me instructions to hold a baking party, invite my friends, and come up with some recipes using Werther's baking caramels.  I love an excuse to party with my girlfriends.  As Moms, we don't make enough time for ourselves.  This was the perfect reason to get out of the house and celebrate with some friends.  I've already posted a few recipes that we made that night, here is another one. 

We ended up going to my friend Gina's house.  She has this fancy pants oven that I was SO excited to use. 

See how there's no buttons?  I was instructed to WAVE at the stove and it would turn on for me.  After 5 or 6 waves, Gina finally had to step in. lol.  I ended up struggling with this stove most of the night. It wouldn't turn on for me, it wouldn't let me set the timer, it wouldn't let me turn on the burners.   Thank goodness for friends who don't mind helping out.  Gina was my savior with this fancy stove!!!  She definitely has the magic touch!

The stove clearly didn't like me, but after a few laughs, I got some Werther's Originals baking caramels melting on the stove.  I added a little bit of cream and melted it over low heat.  In a seperate pot, I put some Ghiardelli white chocolate chips in a double boiler (a metal bowl that fits over a saucepan works fine.  Put enough water in the saucepan so its about an inch or two BELOW the bottom of the bowl. This will help the chocolate melt but not burn or boil.) and melted those down with a little Crisco. (That there is a little baking tip from a friend of mine.  Crisco doesn't change the taste of the chocolate but it gives it a nice glossy, smooth consistency and look. She is absolutely right!)

I put some parchment paper down on a baking sheet and covered it with pretzel sticks.  When the caramel was melted, I drizzled it over the pretzels and let it cool a bit.  I then poured the white chocolate over everything, covering the pretzels completely.  We then went a little nuts with candy corn and M&Ms, dropping them into the warm white chocolate.  We put the baking sheet in the refrigerator for about an hour to set.  When it's fully hardened, take it out and break up the bark in nice size pieces.  You can store them in an airsafe container in the fridge.

 

You could top this with toffee, peanuts, or most other candies or nuts.  You could also use a dark chocolate or a milk chocolate.  You can absolutely put your own spin on it! It's a nice mix of salty and sweet.  I ended up sharing this with my friends that night, and leaving them with containers full of it for their families.  I'm pretty sure it was a hit with everyone!