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Chocolate Caramel Chip Cookies

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Back in April last year, I checked a big item off my to-do list and finally made my own caramels. I took these caramels one step further and chopped them into chip-sized pieces and added them to a new chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I am always a fan of salty and sweet combined, and the mixture of the small chips and chunks of high quality chocolate mixed with the gooey-ness of my handmade caramels made these the perfect snack. The hidden nuts in the mix add another layer of dimension that most people won’t be able to put their finger on.

Quick & Healthy Energy Bites

These energy bites are super easy to whip up and are ready in about five minutes. I always have oats on hand and whenever I’m in the mood for something sweet but not too bad for you, we make these tasty “balls”.

The flax seed adds a great roasty toasty flavor, especially if you grind your own from flax seeds. If you don’t have peanut butter, you can substitute it with any other nut butter. Sometimes I like to throw in a tablespoon or two of spiced speculoos cookie butter too. Because I can’t leave anything *too* healthy.

Chocolate & Cherry Oatmeal Espresso Cookies

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I wasn’t lying when I said that we make oatmeal cookies all the time. They serve as a great base for many different flavors and can be customized with consistent results. They take less than 15 minutes from bowl to mouth (if you don’t mind burning your tongue) and only dirty one bowl.

This particular flavor combination was inspired by a vacation we took to Seattle. I had heard a lot about Macrina Bakery and we loaded up on baked goods while we were there. We managed to keep ourselves from eating all of the cookies and brought back a Rick’s Apricot Chocolate Espresso cookie. I substituted apricots with dried cherries here and used ground espresso powder.

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Double Chocolate and Espresso Cookies

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You know something’s a success when people ask for the recipe after eating it.

I was a little doubtful while scooping these cookies out onto the baking sheet. The batter didn’t look like any cookie dough I had ever seen because it was pretty loose and some even lost their shape when they hit the pan.

I was still worried after they were done baking and I chomped on one while still warm from the oven. It just tasted o~kay.

But, I let them sit overnight and by the next day they had somehow changed. The flavors had mingled together and become stronger. The texture on the outside had become crunchier and the inside more fudgy, like a brownie. In fact, these taste like a delicious brownie-cookie hybrid, and they even double as a caffeine pick-me-up because of the chocolate covered espresso beans.

Everyone that tried these cookies became an immediate convert, even those that don’t like coffee (read: my mom).

Even though a little more work goes into these to melt the chocolate, there are only 2 tablespoons of butter in the entire recipe. Can you believe it? I think I’m going to try coating these with sugar next and see if they can replace my traditional Milk Chocolate Espresso Cookies at Christmas time. If you’re one of those that doesn’t like crunchy things like nuts or candy in your cookies (like my fiance), then you can replace the chocolate covered espresso beans with a strong espresso powder.

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