Happy Friday, everyone!

I hope your sweet tooth is ready, ’cause you’re in for a sweet treat today.

Do I really need to say more? I feel like the chewy chocolate and oozing caramel kind of speak for themselves… Ah, what the heck, I’ll tell you more anyway.

Now, these cookies don’t like to brag, but these cookies are a little bit awesome.

For starters, they require no remembering to soften butter. (Yaaaay!)

You don’t need a stand mixer or even a hand mixer to make them. (All right!)

And here’s the real treat, folks: you’ll dirty only one bowl making them! (Awesome!)

Well, okay, you’ll also dirty a spatula and a knife, but who cares about those? They take a second to wash.

So those reasons make these cookies pretty cool, but what would it matter if they didn’t taste good? Well let me tell you, their taste is “eat-three-of-’em-before-9am” good.

Wait, what? I didn’t do that… But, you know, they’re good enough that you’d want to…

Anyway, I’ve said enough. On to the recipe!

Ingredients:

2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate

5 Tbs. butter (I use unsalted.)

1/2 c. brown sugar, packed

1/2 c. granulated sugar, plus more for rolling dough in

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/8 tsp. almond extract (optional, but highly recommended)

1 1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

12 caramels (I use Kraft.)

Instructions:

In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate and butter. Heat for one minute, stir, then heat in additional 30-second intervals until smooth. The butter will probably melt sooner if the chocolate isn’t chopped, but lots of stirring after about 1 1/2 minutes should should cause the hot butter to melt the chocolate. Add the sugars, and mix well. A rubber spatula will do just fine. Mix in the eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Add the flour and baking powder, and stir until fully incorporated. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and pop it in the refrigerator to firm up a bit while you do the next steps. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat. Unwrap the caramels, and cut each one in half. Then, use your fingers to shape them into rounded caramel disks. Now, take the dough out of the fridge, and assemble your cookies. Take a pinch of dough about the size of a rounded tablespoon, and flatten it. Set a caramel disk on top, and wrap the dough around it. Flatten the top, and round it into a smooth mound. Repeat with the rest of the dough, and place them on the baking sheet one inch apart. Pour some granulated sugar in a small dish, and coat each unbaked cookie in the sugar. Place the cookies back on the baking sheet, and bake for 9-11 minutes, until the tops of the cookies have just set. Do not over bake. They’ll set up more after you take them out. Cool slightly, and enjoy! The cookies are best when the cookies are still warm, and the caramel is still gooey. You can heat them in the microwave for 15 seconds to warm the chocolate and make the caramel gooey again. Recipe yields 24 cookies. Store at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to five days.

Just look at that– Soft, chewy, sweet, chocolatey, gooey, caramel-y goodness.

What could be better?

Well, eating these outside on a warm, Spring day would be nice, but since I can’t control the weather, I’ll stick to making cookies and just hope that it warms up outside. 🙂

What are you making this weekend?

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