Mike needed to bring a dessert to one of his meetings. I stumbled upon this recipe and I couldn’t resist – chocolate with caramel? Yes, please! These cookies are so good – soft, gooey, and so easy to make. I think the most difficult part was unwrapping all those darn Hershey’s Kisses 🙂

Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup and 1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
48 chocolate-covered caramel candies*

1. Beat butter until creamy. Gradually beat in white and brown sugars until well incorporated. Beat in eggs one at a time and beat in vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually add dry ingredients into butter mixture, beating well. Cover and chill dough for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 375°F.
4. Combine 1/2 cup nuts with 1 tablespoon sugar in small bowl. Place 1/4 cup sugar into another small bowl.
5. Divide dough into 4 parts. Divide each of the 4 parts into 12 pieces to get 48 cookies.
6. Take a piece of dough and form it into a bowl shape. Place chocolate in the center of the cookie and mold the dough up around the candy. Roll the cookie in your hands to mold into a smooth ball. Roll cookie into a ball and dip top into sugar or sugar/nut mixture.
   
   
   
7. Place cookies, sugar/nut side up on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 8 minutes.
8. Let cookies cool completely on cookie sheets before removing.

*I used Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Kisses with Caramel. They were great – the caramel stayed soft inside and it was easy to shape the cookie around them. I may try another chocolate next time, though!