(Caramel) Dreams Can Come True

Some might say it was a bad sign that it was raining.  I had to take a cab through the city to get to the airport, and as luck would have it, the cab I was in had a flat tire.  The cabby pulled into the parking lot of an office building to ask for help, and to my delight, the office building was dry and warm and (best of all) had cookies.  An unattended plate of home-made caramel chocolate chip cookies.  Without hesitation or permission, I reached out and chose one--the best one--just for me.  It was the most incredible cookie I've ever tasted.  Then I woke up.  

It was the best bad dream ever, and it sent me straight to the kitchen.  Before long, I had come up with my Caramel Dream cookie.  They take a little more prep time than the average chocolate chip cookie, but I promise they are worth it!

Caramel Dream

Prepare ahead:

1/2 cup chocolate caramels and 1/2 cup vanilla caramels, all cut into quarters

Make sure the caramels are room temperature when you quarter them.  There are many flavors of caramel, but I like chocolate and vanilla the best.  Use what you prefer.  When the chocolate caramels are quartered, they're going to make a mess:

You have a choice:  eat the crumbs or toss them into the mixing bowl. Big decisions, folks.  Big decisions.

Despite my best efforts, I've become addicted to Riesen chocolate caramels.  I am sure there are other brands, but Riesen is all I can seem to think about.  They will be my downfall.  Once you have quartered the chocolates and measured them, they need to be frozen for at least 30 minutes.  (You can skip this step, but you will be awash in a sea of melted caramel when you are done.)

I know the recipe only calls for 1/2 cup of vanilla caramels, but a little more can't hurt, can it?

Once your caramels are in the fridge, fire up your oven to 350 degrees and get those cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.  Seriously.  If you don’t, the melted caramel will be a killer to clean up after baking and even worse if you skip the freezing step.  I can prove it:

Best case scenario: the caramels were frozen for 30 minutes before baking.

The vanilla caramels tend to behave better than the chocolate when baking. Regardless, the caramels that end up on the edge of the cookie will melt away from it.  You can try to make sure the caramels are somewhat hidden within the dough before baking, but as the cookie spreads during baking, some of the caramels inevitably end up on the edge and seep out onto the pan.  (What can I say? If you want tidy baking, go visit with Martha.)

Speaking of Martha, I have issues with parchment paper.  I love it, but it drives me nuts.  It's too stiff and never fits the pan right, etc.  One day when I have free time (two weeks after never), I will go to a specialty store and buy parchment paper sheets, instead of rolls.  Yes, I know silicone baking sheets are an option, but those have to be cleaned.  I love crumpling and  tossing the parchment paper when I'm done.

Those 30 minutes are ticking by....time to get going on the dough:

Cream:

 1 stick unsalted butter

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

Add:

2 eggs (one at a time)

2 ¾ c. flour

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

Slowly add:

1 to 1 ½ cups dark chocolate chips

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

your quartered and frozen caramels

Once everything thing is mixed well, ferret out your sea salt.

Drop cookies onto your lined cookie sheet by the teaspoonful, placing them about two inches apart.  Salt lightly with sea salt before baking.  Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly brown on top.  As soon as the cookies are done, salt the tops lightly again with sea salt. Don’t even think about removing them from the pan until they’ve cooled for at least 5 minutes;  they’ll fall apart if you do.

Once the cookies have cooled for at least 5 minutes, pick them up one at a time and trim the mess with kitchen scissors:

A bit of a mess?  Maybe...

...but we can fix that.

If you're lucky enough to have a cooling rack, place the trimmed cookies on them to finish cooling.  If not, wing it.  I just got my first cooling racks last week (thanks Mom!), so I promise they will not make or break the recipe.  However, I do love them now that I have them.  

Collect all the caramel trimmings and feed them to people who will love you for it (or yourself). Or toss them.  When all is said and done, you'll have these beauties waiting for you:

Where's the milk?  Do not tell me you forgot the milk!?

So, that's it.  Except for one thing:  How will you make your dream come true?