I stumbled upon this recipe with my Southern Belle, Ruth, from South Carolina. She knows me far too well. Anything with caramel is a weakness of mine. This past week I was really sick, and one of my sisters made me homemade chicken noodle soup. I wanted to give her the Tupperware back, but not empty; I couldn’t do that. I just had to make these carmely delights. I can’t wait for you to try these gooey cookies!
Ingredients
12 tablespoons butter, softened
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
11/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix – dry, not prepared (one 3.4 ounce box instant)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
24 soft caramels (such as Kraft square caramels, unwrapped)
Coarse sea salt
Directions:
Beat butter and sugars together with an electronic mixer until fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and egg. In a separate bowl combine together flour, pudding mix, and baking soda. Slowly add dry ingredients to butter mixture and beat until dough comes together. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll 3 tablespoons of the chocolate chip cookie dough into a ball. Roll another cookie dough ball. Press a caramel square into the center of one dough ball, then combine two dough balls together and roll into one ball. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough. Bake cookies for 10-14 minutes until set but slightly undercooked. Remove from oven and sprinkle immediately with coarse sea salt. Allow to cool, then indulge.