Cashew Caramel Cookies

These are like peanut butter cookies but rather than peanut butter, you make your own cashew butter. With the caramel melted on top, it is really more like eating candy than a cookie. I mean really amazing.

Recipe By:

See Notes

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups roasted salted cashews
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon canola oil
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup packed light-brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
24 cubes soft caramel candy (7 ounces)
¼ cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift flour and salt together. Set aside.
3. Coarsely chop 1 cup cashews. Set aside.
4. Process remaining 1½ cups cashews in a food processor until finely chopped. Pour in oil. Process until mixture is creamy, about 2 minutes.
5. Put cashew mixture, butter, and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
6. Mix in egg and vanilla.
7. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture. Mix until combined. Mix in reserved chopped cashews.
8. Shape dough into 1 ½ -inch balls. Space 2 inches apart on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets.
9. Bake 6 minutes. Quickly remove from oven and gently flatten. I use a cork that is just the right size to leave an indentation.
10. Return to oven and bake until bottoms are just golden, 6 to 7 minutes more. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
11. Melt caramels with cream in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring. Let cool. Using a spoon or plastic bag with hole cut in the corner, drizzle caramel over cookies.
12. Let set. Store airtight in single layers.

Notes:

Rather than melt caramels with cream, we took some of my favorite Peter’s caramel, formed balls about ¼ ounce or the size of fifty cent piece and placed one in the center of each cookie about 2 minutes before they were done baking.

I have no idea where I got this recipe but when I Googled it, I found the same recipe all over the web:

http://www.marthastewart.com/316696/cashew-caramel-cookies

http://everylastcookie.blogspot.com/2009/09/cookie-043-cashew-caramel-cookies.html

http://www.grouprecipes.com/73238/cashew-caramel-cookies.html

http://www.food.com/recipe/cashew-caramel-cookies-390761