A Little Taste of Fall

I LOVE the taste of fall.  Brad and I went to Revolution Grille a couple of weeks ago and had the most amazing sweet potato soup.  I have to find a similar recipe, so if you’re harboring one please feel free to share. I’ve been looking forward to getting to a pumpkin patch so I can make anything and everything pumpkin flavored; however, it just hasn’t been in the stars for me, hopefully soon though.  

Still I’ve been craving something fall and although I’ve been filling that void with various pumpkin ales (Shipyard is by far the best I’ve found but I’m open to suggestions) I needed something else.  Then, the other day after dinner Brad said to me “you know, what I really want, is a cookie.” Oddly, I had been craving cookies too.  I became encouraged to try a caramel apple cookie recipe I’ve been putting off for a few years.  I’ve wanted to try my hand at baking these cookies since I first found the recipe but I was too intimidated.

Whenever a recipe calls for a stand mixer, ingredients I haven’t previously used, and directions involving parchment paper I get apprehensive about tackling it.  Still, I had Brad pick up Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix and Kraft Caramels while grocery shopping.  I feel like once I’ve already spent money on obscure ingredients I should at least attempt the recipe. If I fail I’m out the money, but if I leave the ingredients to rot in the cupboard, I’m out the money and there is no chance of my victory over the intimidating recipe.

I preheated the oven, pulled out my stand mixer, and began adding the ingredients.  Lesson learned- actually a lesson I apparently didn’t learn from a while ago: make sure you have all ingredients in the correct amount before beginning.  I got to the last ingredient, flour, only to be exactly one cup short; it was so frustrating.  I had to turn off the oven and put the unfinished cookie dough in the refrigerator. Luckily, Brad said he would pick up a bag of flour on his way home from work.

After dinner I turned the oven back on and got the cookie dough out of the refrigerator.  It was much more difficult to add the last cup of flour now that the dough had gotten cold in the refrigerator but I made it work. Once the dough was finally ready I flattened out approximately 2 inch circles of dough and wrapped them around the caramels.  Brad tried to help but his cookies were the size of small boulders (she said dramatically).  I placed the cookies directly on the pan (foregoing the parchment paper), put them in the oven, and crossed my fingers.

Once you remove the cookies from the oven the directions state:

Carefully slide parchment paper with cookies onto the counter. 

Let cool until they are no longer soft but still slightly warm.

Twist gently to remove and cool the rest of the way upside down.

However since I didn’t use parchment paper I had to improvise.  I let the cookies cool for a while on the cookie sheet and then turned them over with a spatula, leaving them until they were completely cooled.

All that time I wasted being afraid to try my hand at making these cookies.  All those fall seasons I could have been enjoying these amazing cookies, and they ARE amazing!  Delicious apple cider flavored cookies with a gooey caramel centers. 

Go on, give it try, you know you want to!

Apple Cider Caramel Cookies

Ingredients:

1 Cup unsalted butter, nearly melted

1 Cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (7.4 oz) box Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix *Not Sugar Free*

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 Cups all-purpose flour

1 (14 oz) bag Kraft Caramels

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper

In a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packets of apple cider mix until smooth and fluffy.

Beat in eggs and vanilla extract,

Mix in baking soda and powder.  Then mix in flour

Flatten dough slightly in your hand, place a caramel in the center and work the dough around it sealing it well.

Place cookies 2 inches apart on cookie sheet

Bake 12 – 14 minutes

Carefully slide parchment paper with cookies onto the counter. 

Let cool until they are no longer soft but still slightly warm.

Twist gently to remove and cool the rest of the way upside down.

NOTE:  If cookies get too cool before you twist them off, freeze the whole sheet for a few minutes and they will come right off.

I found the recipe at Six Sisters Stuff