Do you realize how long I’ve been searching for the BEST caramel apple cookie?! Years….I mean years!! I’ve found plenty that have real apple in them, the juice apple cider or just spices. They all tasted like a snickerdoodle with a tad bit of apple. Good but just not what I was searching for. Until I found this recipe!! These cookies are bursting with flavor. The apple cider creates a tang in your mouth followed by the smooth taste of caramel. Talk about a mouthful of perfect flavor!! These just made it into my top five favorite cookies!!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 7.4 oz box Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix (10 packets – found next to hot chocolate mix)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 14 ounce bag Kraft chewy caramels (or tid bits)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicon mats, (you need this so that the caramel doesn’t stick to the bottom of your cookie sheet).
2. In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.
3. With an electric mixer, cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
5. Add vanilla and mix well.
6. Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined.
7. Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut (about 2 tablespoons).
8. Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough (I could only find the tid bit caramels and so I just squished them together in tiny balls, about the same size as a caramel square, and they worked great) and seal the dough around it, covering it completely.
9. Shape the dough into a ball, and place on the prepared cookie sheets about 3 inches apart.
10. Bake 11-13 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. They may not look quite done in the center but that is OK.
11. Once the cookies are done, carefully slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter.
12. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down on the parchment or on a cookie rack. If they are not upside down while they cool they may drizzle caramel out the bottom.
13. Makes around 2-3 dozen cookies. Eat at room temperature or slightly warmed in the microwave.