Best of the Bake Sale: Gooey Chocolate Caramel Fantasy

Oh friends...this is going to be a love/hate relationship.  

You will LOVE this amazing & easy gooey delicousness.

And, you will hate what it will do to your waist line.

But, let's not think about that...

let's get shopping

Shopping List

2 cups of chocolate wafer crumbs 

(I used Stauffer's Chocolate Animal Crackers...who knew???)

1/3 cup of melted butter

30 vanilla caramels

1/2 cup of caramel ice cream topping

2 cups of chopped toasted pecans

(honestly, I was running short on time & didn't toast them.  and, trust me...no one complained!)

1/4 cup of whipping cream

3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup of whipping cream

Pecan halves (optional...for the top)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a gallon bag, drop in your cookies & smash them good.

This is cheap therapy, folks! And, the day I made this...it was good.

In a bowl, stir together your crumbs & melted butter.  Press into a 9-inch springform pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Cool slightly.

While the crust is baking, melt caramels and ice cream topping in a heavy sauce pan over low heat & stirring often.  Stir in a 1/4 cup of the whipping cream.

Remove from heat.  Stir in chopped nuts.  Spread over crust.  Chill for 1 hour.

For the topping, melt chocolate over low heat with whipping cream.  I needed more than the recipe called for.  I just added a splash or two more. 

Drizzle (I spread it...it was easier...and, I was in a hurry) over pecan mixture & chill for another hour if you can wait that long. 

Garnish with additional pecan halves.  I didn't.  Again...in a hurry.

Cut into 12 pieces.  Cuz this thing is R.I.C.H.

Sinful.  Truly sinful.

Recipe Credit:  Better Homes & Garden (and, surprisingly the only tweaking I did was the chocolate animal crackers & a couple extra splashes of whipping cream.)