When considering what kind of desserts to make I have a few criteria that must be met. If I am going to take the time to bake something and then consume a criminal amount of calories it better be worth it! It must have chocolate or caramel or cheesecake. Bonus points if I can incorporate a cookie crust into this dessert somehow. The answer is usually to make a multi layered dessert with a little bit of everything. I like chocolate. I like caramel. I like cookies. Why not combine them all for a truly sinful dessert? My friend Melissa made this for my birthday this year. In January. We all really loved it, so I of course requested the recipe. She immediately sent it to me. I had planned to make it right away but when I looked at the ingredient list I saw vanilla caramels listed. What is a vanilla caramel, and where do I buy them? I puzzled over this vanilla caramel situation for awhile and before I knew it I had forgotten all about the dessert I loved so much.
Luckily, this dessert popped back into my head a few weeks ago. I decided to just use regular caramels instead of vanilla caramels and I used Trader Joe’s Fleur de Sel caramel sauce instead of plain caramel sauce. I like to use Trader Joe’s caramel sauce at every opportunity. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should! This dessert is a breeze to make. Most of the ingredients I already had on hand. I saved about ½ of a piece for myself and gave the rest to my Mom to serve for her book club. I find that if I don’t give away all of these baked goods we make that I somehow end up eating them myself. So now, I try a bite and say good-bye! It is a hard task, but believe me, it is necessary. This dessert really has it all. Lots of chocolate, caramel, and nuts. Something for everyone!
Gooey Chocolate Caramel Fantasy Pie
Ingredients
- 2 cup Oreo crumbs (about 20 Oreos)
- 1/3 cup butter, melted
- 30 caramels
- 1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping (I used Trader Joe’s Fleur de Sel)
- 1/2 cup whipping cream, separated
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a food processor, or by hand, pulse the Oreos into fine crumbs.
- Mix the crumbs and the melted butter and press into a 9 inch spring form pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool slightly.
- While the crust is cooling prepare the caramel layer.
- Melt the caramels with the caramel sauce on the stove top over medium low heat.Once the caramels have melted add half of the whipping cream.
- Stir until combined and remove from heat.
- Stir in the chopped pecans.
- Pour the mixture over the crust.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour the caramel layer should be firm.
- Melt the chocolate chips over low heat in a heavy bottomed pot or a double boiler.
- Heat until the chocolate is melted and stir constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining whipping cream. Stir until combined.
- Pour the chocolate sauce over the caramel layer.
- Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- Take it out of the refrigerator just before serving.