South African Chocolate Caramel Fingers

This is one of my favorite treats of all time. It's a good go to dessert when I have to take a treat to Relief Society, a neighbor, or with a meal. It has a secret ingredient in it-- maple syrup. Now, I hate maple syrup and always have. The smell of it makes me sick. I have to rinse the breakfast dishes really well if my kids have pancakes with maple syrup. But in this recipe it's the thing that makes you go "hmmm". You wonder what that flavor is and you'd probably never guess it was maple syrup. I got this recipe while I was at BYU. We had an enrichment activity where everyone brought their favorite chocolate dessert (that was one good enrichment). This returned missionary who went to South Africa brought these and told us they were a recipe from her mission. Later I served a mission in Portugal and there they don't have maple syrup. That wasn't a problem for me unless I wanted to make these yummy things. But I had companions who had mothers who sent them maple flavoring to make the syrup. So I made these while I had those companions and one member in an area loved these treats so much that she wanted her own stash of maple syrup just to make them. So this is one of my favorites. Try it, but you may want to make sure you have somewhere to take them or you might eat the whole pan.

Chocolate Caramel Fingers

Crust:

½ c butter

1 ½ c flour

¼ c powdered sugar

Mix butter and sugar first, then add flour. Press into 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degree for 15 minutes or until golden brown on edges.

Filling:

2 T maple syrup

1 c sweetened condensed milk

½ c butter

1 t vanilla

In saucepan melt butter, milk, and syrup together. Boil for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Spread over crust and let cool. Melt chocolate bar (or chocolate chips) on top. Let chocolate set (in fridge) Cut into squares.