WERTHER’S ORIGINAL PUMPKIN SPICE SOFT CARAMELS

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Welcome to Tag Sale Tastes’ Pumpkinpalooza 2020!  I can hardly believe it’s been 5 years since the last Pumpkinpalooza.  Personally, I thought pumpkin spice products had enjoyed a good run, and it was time for a new fall flavor star — maybe caramel apple  — but I was so so wrong.  Throughout this pandemic we’ve experienced supply chain disruptions and shortages of everything from meat to toilet paper to cleaning supplies to frozen vegetables to pasta, yet the grocery store shelves are ripe for the picking with pumpkin products.  Join me as I once again check out some of these products, for better or worse, along with some pumpkin-inspired recipes and other pumpkinalia.

To kick off Pumpkinpalooza 2020, let’s take a look at Werther’s Original Pumpkin Spice Soft Caramels, soft and chewy caramels with a “touch of pumpkin spice”:

The candies are all dressed up in their shiny Sunday best.  You could probably tie the wrappers to your fall tomato plants to keep the blue jays away.  Or not.

See the fall leaves and the fat little pumpkin on the package?  Kinda makes you want to go put a sweater on and grab a rake, doesn’t it?

Well, that pumpkin is a lie — there’s no pumpkin in these caramels.  There are, however, 4 different sweeteners — glucose syrup, sugar, sorbitol, and sugar cane syrup (I’m not faulting Werther’s — these are candies after all, not health food):

And here they are:

I liked these chewy little candies.  I think they respect the pumpkin spice oath, which is (or at least should be) “first, do no harm.”  When they say a “touch” of pumpkin spice, however, I think what they actually meant was a “whisper” or perhaps a “whiff.”  Stated another way, these did not taste like pumpkin spice.  They tasted like caramels.  Which is why I liked them.  If you want to ease into pumpkin spice season slowly, this is a pleasant way to start.

Rating:  4 pumpkins (out of 5)

But wait . . . there’s more!  The highest and best use of these caramels, I discovered, is to chop them up and use them to make Chocolate and Caramel Monster Cookies.  The recipe is adapted from one for Monster Cookies, and they are really good.

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CHOCOLATE AND CARAMEL MONSTER COOKIES
Author: 
Recipe type: Cookies
 
Ingredients
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • ½ cup dark brown sugar
  • ½ cup light brown sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ teaspoon light corn syrup
  • 1-1/4 cups chunky peanut butter
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 4½ cups quick-cooking rolled oats
  • 1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped caramels
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Place butter and sugars in a large bowl, and using an electric mixer beat until combined. Add eggs one at a time, and continue beating until mixture is smooth. Add vanilla, corn syrup, peanut butter, and baking soda, and continue beating until thoroughly combined. Carefully beat or stir in oats, one cup at a time, until combined. Add chips and caramels and mix well.
  3. Scoop batter onto cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop or ¼ cup measuring cup, spacing approximately 2 inches apart. Bake until golden, approximately 16 minutes. Allow to cool briefly on cookie sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

 

Stir in all that goodness

Space them out so they can spread

This is a monstrously delicious cookie

Mmmmmonster Cookies!

PEPPERED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH CHERRY SALSA

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Let’s face it — life is not exactly a bowl of cherries these days, thanks to “the virus.”  In fact, some days it’s just plain pit-iful.  But cooking is still a bright spot for me, and before the cherry season is completely over, I’ve cherry picked an easy and delicious recipe for you.

Peppered Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Salsa is the cherry bomb.  The pork roasts in no time, and with the aid of a cherry pitter (if you don’t have one, fuggedaboutit), you can easily throw together the cherry salsa.  Don’t let Covid-19 get you down — eat, drink, and be cherry!

Pro tips:  (1) Have a Tide pen nearby when you pit and chop the cherries.  Trust me.       (2) Wear gloves when you seed and chop the jalapeño, or at least don’t rub your eyes.

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PEPPERED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH CHERRY SALSA
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • For the pork tenderloin:
  • 1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed of silverskin
  • Salt
  • 2 tablespoons crushed black peppercorns
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • For the cherry salsa:
  • ½ pound dark sweet cherries, pitted and chopped
  • ¼ teaspoon grated lime zest
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon minced red onion
  • 1 teaspoon minced seeded fresh jalapeño
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped cilantro
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Season the pork with salt and press the crushed peppercorns into ti. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking, and brown pork on all sides. Transfer pork to a shallow baking dish and roast until done (no longer pink in middle, or until a meat thermometer registers 155 degrees), about 20 minutes. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand 10 minutes before slicing into slices about ½" thick.
  3. While pork is roasting, make the salsa. Place cherries, lime zest, lime juice, red onion, jalapeño, and cilantro in a small bowl and stir together.
  4. Arrange sliced pork on a serving platter and serve with the salsa.

Sear that sucker

Roasted and ready to be sliced

Cherry salsa

Hi Ho Cherry-O!