“You don’t win friends with salad.”- Homer Simpson
“Party at 7. Saturday. Bring Cupcakes.”
When I was told I was in charge of bringing dessert to a dinner party with friends (and when I mean told I mean I received the brief text message above) I was immediately on the hunt for a great recipe! I knew I wanted to incorporate some fall flavors in the dessert(s) I decided to make. Pumpkin cupcakes were, of course, to be expected, but I also wanted to bring another recipe that I had never tried before. As soon as I saw this recipe for apple cider caramel cookies I knew it would be perfect for the dinner party!
The ingredients are fairly simple, using apple cider mix and caramels. The finished product, however, is full of gooey caramel deliciousness.
I found the apple cider mix in the grocery store next to the hot chocolate mixes. I’m usually not a huge fan of using artificial ingredients and whatnot but I had little time to try and find an alternative and the apple cider mix actually worked out great!
These cookies were a hit! They are delicious right out of the oven (I had four) and right before they were served at the dinner party I put them in the microwave for about a minute to warm them up. The cookie becomes soft and the caramel gets all warm…they would be great served with hot cider too! These cookies definitely bring out the flavors of fall.
Apple Cider Caramel Cookies
Adapted from, Six Sister's Stuff. Original Source: The Cooking Photographer
- Yield : 50 cookies
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter - 1 cup, (nearly melted)
- Granulated Sugar - 1 cup
- Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
- Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix - 1 - 7.4 ounce box (10 packets total)
- Eggs - 2
- Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon
- Baking Soda - 1 teaspoon
- Baking Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
- All-Purpose Flour - 3 cups
- Caramels - 1 - 14 oz bag
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packets of the instant apple cider mix until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract, then mix in the baking soda and baking powder. Add the flour and mix until just combined.
- Using a cookie scoop (or a spoon) form the dough into balls (about a tablespoon of dough each). Flatten the dough slightly in your hand and place a caramel in the center. Work the dough around the caramel, sealing well. Place the cookies two inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
- After baking, carefully slide the parchment paper with the cookies onto the counter. Let the cookies cool until they are no longer soft but still slightly warm. Twist gently to remove, and cool the rest of the way upside down on the parchment paper.
- Cookies are best served warm.
**Notes:
- If cookies get too cool before you twist them off, freeze the whole sheet for a few minutes and they'll come right off.
- For most of my cookies the caramels stayed in the dough, a few leaked out. For the ones that the caramel leaked out of I used a spatula to quickly flip the cookie upside down to cool. (I know it sounds weird to cool the cookies upside down but trust me, it's necessary!)
- This recipe yields about 50 cookies, it can easily be halved to make a smaller batch, if needed.
