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Kicked Up Caramel Pie!

 

 
One of my favorite desserts is caramel pie.  O'Charley's, which is a restaurant chain primarily in the southeast...I think, is the creator of the caramel pie.  At least, that is where I discovered it.  This is the homemade version which I have kicked up a bit and even if I do say so myself, I think I improved on it a little.  Like it wasn't fattening and rich enough, I add extra chocolate chips and nuts for additional flavor and crunch.  This is really a simple dessert to make and you will get so many oohs and aahs when you serve this! 

Here is what you will need:

A large graham cracker crust (the 2 extra serving one), walnuts, mini chocolate chips, whipped cream, and sweetened condensed milk (2 cans).



Remember this step from the 'White Chocolate Caramel Banana Pudding' post?  If you missed it's under Best Dishes.  Take the labels off of 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk and place them in a pan of water that just covers the top.  Bring this to a low boil and boil for 3 hours. 

 DO NOT let the pan boil dry, keep adding water to keep it over the top of the cans.  This can be dangerous and it might explode if you do not keep an eye on it.  I always set the oven timer for this.   Once the 3 hours are up, carefully pour off the hot water and run cool water over them.  Once they are cool to touch open them carefully (in case the caramel is hot). 
 
An alternative method for turning the milk to caramel is putting the cans in your slow cooker, cover with water just to above the tops, and set on low for about 10 hours.  The water doesn't evaporate in the slow cooker with the top on it, so you don't have to worry about adding water.  It's best if you lay some foil on the bottom of the slow cooker because the cans might stain the crock.   Remove the cans with tongs when the time is up to cool.



Sprinkle 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans in the bottom of your pie crust.  This is the difference in the O'Charley's version.


Now spread the caramel over the nuts and chocolate chips. This doesn't have to be smooth.

Cover the caramel with whipped cream and 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts!  Chill in the fridge until ready to serve. 

 
Ingredients:
1 large graham cracker crust
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans or you can use walnuts
12 oz. whipped cream
 


37 comments:

  1. done a similar, but covered the bottom on the crust with bananas....

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  2. This is an awesome pie! Have made it for years using sliced bananas on the bottom instead of the chocolate chips and nuts.

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  3. I tried this once years ago but the person who told me about it forgot to tell me to cool the cans before opening. When I started opening the can, hot caramel shot out like lava from a volcano. Luckily, I didn't get burned but when I moved there was still some caramel on the kitchen ceiling in that house. LOL

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    1. the same thing happened to me. Thank God for not letting us get burned by the HOT caramel.

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  4. Made two.of these for a church bake sale just over the weekend. Used chocolate chips in one and made the more traditional caramel.pie... in the other I used fresh apples sliced thin and made a caramel apple.pie. a friend of mine gave me the basic recipe... didn't know the caramel boiling was dangerous lol... I did it and lived and it was worth the effort

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  5. do you put these in fridge when done or just cover them??

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  6. Definitely put them in the fridge. They must be chilled really well.

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    1. What kind of chocolate chips milk chocolate or!!!!!!

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  7. also what kind of caramel do you use??

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  8. You make the caramel with the cans of sweetened condensed milk. The recipe give you instructions on how to do that. Read it carefully to avoid any mishaps.

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  9. My mom used to tell me about sending the cans of sweetened condensed milk to the soldiers during WWII. The soldiers would boil them like this and slice the caramel and eat as candy. Linda

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    1. This is how I had it growing up.

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  10. It seems like you're only using "1" pie shell with 2 cans of the condensed milk. Is that correct?

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    1. I would say that is correct. I made one last week before seeing this recipe. I only used one can and had a very thin layer of caramel~more Cool Whip than caramel. Not bad just not enough of the gooey goodness :) I will be trying this one minus the nuts~gets in the way of the caramel :)

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    2. Yes, one of the larger size pie shells. I think it says 2 extra servings.

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  11. So when you boil the sweet milk it turns into caramel or am I missing something

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    1. Yes - after the can is cool and you open it the sweetened milk is caramel.

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  12. This sounds delicious and I'll try it soon! But, I will say this isn't a "homemade from scratch" caramel pie. I've made probably hundreds of those with my own sugar, milk, butter, etc. It is delicious too but tastes different than the one above. As a note, you can put the sweetened condensed milk in a crock pot and cook it like that as well.

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  13. ive made this also but i dont use the pecans or whipped cream i put marshmallow creme on top and then add the nestle morsels omg it is awesome! but i have made it with the whipped creme and both ways are very delicious

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  14. I'm 50 & my made Carmel pie when we were growing up. Homemade crust though

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  15. This is how my family has always made caramel pie--gotta love dulce de leche!

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  16. Most of you don't read very well.

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    1. They sure don't!! It really amazes me.

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    2. I agree on people not reading well before responding!!!

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    3. To win the fabulous Carmel pie soap. The recipe calls for two cans of sweetened condensed milk :)

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  17. My mother has made caramel pies for many, many years...so I don't believe O'Charley's invented it...they may have been one of the first to serve publicly.

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  18. I love the pie at O'Charley's. I've wanted to try to make it for a while. So glad you posted it and provided some very helpful tips. Now to think of some awesome reason to make this pie! BTW, I thought the directions were very clear.

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  19. If your local grocery store carries it in the Mexican/Latin section you can use, "La Lechera" made by Nestle. It is already made caramel sauce (dulce de leche).

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    1. I have tried that and I do use it for some other recipes, but in this I like the texture of the boiled milk better. It's not as tight and a little creamier.

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  20. I've made these pies with meringue also. After spreading the meringue, making sure to seal the edges to the crust, either brown with a torch or in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or so. The caramel will stand up to the heat, unlike instant pudding.

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  21. Let me apologize in advance! This is probably a really good pie, and your instructions were quite clear. BUT O'Charley's did not invent the caramel pie. My mother made them all my life, some this condensed milk way, and some the really homemade way. Both were delicious! She didn't put any nuts, chocolate, or anything to interfere with the delicious caramel...sometimes meringue. Lord, but I wish she were here to make one now!

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    1. I don't mean that O'Charley's actually invented the first caramel pie, but this recipe is just almost identical to the one they use.

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  22. My mom made this pie -it was my favorite!! Her recipe though is totally different. You used the same recipe you used for vanilla cream pie, melted the sugar in a skillet til it browned (looked like caramel -which it was) poured it into the hot cream pie which is boiling in a pan, and stir like crazy until it comes together and is very smooth. She used a regular pie crust and put meringue on top. My mom was 88 when she died 4 yrs. ago and I'm sure it was my grandmas recipe (she came from North Carolina)

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