Dark Chocolate Caramel Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces dark chocolate chunks or chips
- 8 ounces soft caramel candies, cut into 1/4 inch pieces*
Instructions:
- Use a mixer to cream together the shortening and sugars until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add eggs and vanilla, mixing another 2-3 minutes until fluffy.
- Add flour, baking soda and salt, stirring just until combined into a dough. I prefer too stir by hand instead of using the mixer to prevent over mixing and making the cookies tough.
- Stir in half of the chocolate and half of the caramels.
- Scoop into giant balls (I used a 2 ounce cookie scoop) and place on parchment-lined sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- When ready to bake, line cookie sheets with parchment paper and only put about 4 cookies on a cookie sheet. They will spread and flatten out into perfectly chewy, flat cookies, and you don't want them to all run into each other. Keep cookie dough in the freezer as you bake each sheet.
- Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle the tops of the cookies with the chocolate chunks and caramels that you set aside earlier. Return to the oven for another 3-4 minutes for a total baking time of 15-16 minutes. The cookies are done when the edges are browned, and the caramels on top have melted into golden puddles.