My Favorite Cookie of All Time

When I was a kid my parents used to call me the Cookie Monster. If there were cookies around, I would eat them. As many as they would let me. This obsession with cookies is what started my passion with baking. Cookies are a great starter for new bakers for two reasons in my opinion - first, the instructions are generally simple and two, most of the time all the ingredients can be found in a reasonably stocked kitchen.

My favorite cookie of all is the good old chocolate chip cookie - it always has been, until now....Enter the chocolate chip cookie with a creamy caramel center. It is like eating a candy bar inside that delicious, chewy chocolate chip cookie. It is ridiculously good. I highly recommend giving them a try...

CC Confectionary Caramel Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (your preference)
1/4 lb. bar CC Confectionary Madagascar Vanilla Bean Caramels or Other Fine Caramel

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy (approximately 30 seconds).

Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Cut your caramels into pieces that are approximately 1/2" x 1/2". If you are using CC Confectionary caramels, cut the 1/4 lb. brick into 10 equal pieces and then slice each of those strips into three equal pieces. Here is a picture of what the caramel pieces look like.



Using a 1 T. ice cream scoop, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 3 inches apart. Place one caramel square in the center and top with another tablespoon of dough.





Roll them in your hand so they are a nice even ball. Like this...

Bake for about 9 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie. I like my cookies on the softer side, so if you like them that way also, at 9 minutes exactly, remove them from the oven.

Let the cookies cool completely on the cookie sheet. Some of the caramel may have sunk to the bottom, so to avoid breaking the cookies, this is an important step.