Ooey gooey and delicious. I just love the subtle hint of peanut butter in these cookies and the chewy caramel together. Rather than putting the peanut butter in the batter, the flavor comes from the chips. I also found that it works best to dice the caramel chunks in small pieces before mixing it in the batter. In this way, the caramel is less likely to melt in large masses in the cookie. I also found that wrapping the dough around the caramel helps to prevent the cookie from sticking to the baking sheet during the cooking process.

Yield about 20 -24 cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 cup flour (I love Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
    1 cup golden brown sugar, firmly paced
    2 tablespoons sugar
    1 large egg
    2 teaspoons vanilla
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    1 cup peanut butter chips (I used Reese’s)
    1 cup diced caramels, about 6 ounces (I used Kraft, divide each square in 4-6 pieces)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Place caramels in freezer for about 10 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove from fridge and then cut caramels in small dice (cooling them will greatly assist in the cutting process.) In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Using a standing mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together on high until smooth, creamy and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg and blend well. Turn mixer on low and add flour mixture and blend until combined. Next blend in peanut butter chips until evenly incorporated. Scoop out batter in a heaping tablespoonful and nestle 2 or 3 caramel bits in center of cookie. This will help prevent caramel from sticking to baking sheet during cooking process. If you have a few extra caramels place them on top of the cookie. Place cookies on baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart and bake for 10-12 minutes until tops of cookies begin to crack a bit and cookies are golden. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack after 5 minutes to cool completely. Enjoy!

*cookies freeze well in ziplock bag for several weeks if they last that long