Apple Cider Caramel Cookies
Above and beyond, this has my vote for winner of the 2009 holiday baking season. The buttery cookie with a filling-threatening caramel center is as fun to bake as it is to eat.
Original recipe: Caramel-Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies , Laura Flowers, aka The Cooking Photographer
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, nearly melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 10 packets (about 1 cup) apple cider mix
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1–2 (14 ounces) bags caramels
Preparation
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a mixer, cream butter, sugar, salt and apple cider mix until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract.
- In a small bowl, whisk together baking soda, baking powder and flour. Add to cider mix until just combined.
- With a small cookie scoop (2 teaspoons), scoop about a tablespoon of dough. Flatten the dough into a disk. Add a caramel in the center and fold the edges of the dough up around it, covering completely. Place the cookies two inches apart on the sheets.
- Bake 12–14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Slide the parchment paper with cookies off the cookie sheet. Let cool until they are no longer soft but still slightly warm, then remove from parchment and cool the rest of the way on a wire rack.
Notes
- I started with one bag of caramels but ended up with quite a bit of extra dough. I suggest splurging on the extra bag of caramels, just in case.
- Try to space the cookies out as much as possible on the baking tray, as they tend to spread quite a bit.
Yields 4–5 dozen cookies