Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookie Bar

I've had this recipe on my list to make for a few weeks. When I read my list to Kayla she immediately zoned in on this one and wanted me to make it, I thought that I was out of caramel so I wasn't able to make it right away. I made this recipe and did not bring it right away to work (for which I got in trouble for :D). I brought it Friday morning and Derek immediately ate 3 or 4 pieces, he told me that it was the best thing that I have every , another employee told me that this brought me "this" much closer to being an angel again, plus I received several other positive reviews. I hadn't realized until I started making the recipe that it contained peanut butter and wasn't sure if Kayla was actually going to like it, luckily the peanut butter doesn't actually have that much of a flavor (so you could add more or take it away based on if you like peanut butter or not). These are super soft and gooey, best if they are kept in a cool area as they get even messier to eat when it is warm. 

Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookie Bars

Recipe came from Mom on Timeout

Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookie Bars

INGREDIENTS

   Caramel Filling

      11 oz. bag Vanilla Caramels

      14 oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk

      4 Tbls. Butter

   Cookie Dough

      1 1/2 sticks Unsalted Butter

      2 cups Light Brown Sugar

      1/2 cup Creamy Peanut Butter

      2 Eggs, room temperature

      1 Tbls. Vanilla

      2 cups Flour

      1 cup Old Fashioned Oats

      2 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

      1/4 tsp. Salt

      2 cups Chocolate Chips

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper. 

3. Unwrap caramels and place in a small saucepan with butter and sweetened condensed milk.

4. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramels have fully melted and the mixture is nice and smooth. 

5. Cream butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add peanut butter and continue mixing. 

6. Add eggs one a time, mixing well after each egg. Add in vanilla. 

7. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a small mixing bowl. 

8. Add the flour mixture slowly stirring until well combined. 

9. Stir in the chocolate chips. 

10. Spread 2/3 of the dough on the bottom of the pan. 

11. Slowly pour caramel mixture evenly over the dough. 

12. Drop the remaining dough on top by the teaspoon. It doesn't have to be perfect!

13. Bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool completely and then cut into bars. 

Chocolate Rolo Cookies

Derek gave me a cookbook for Christmas (Chocolate Never Faileth) and I've been meaning to try something from it. A few weeks ago Kayla was over and we were talking and I decided to start looking for something new to try, I was listing names to Kayla of suggestions and she jumped on this one. These cookies were awesome but a little more work than I really wanted to put into cookies all of the time. I will probably make these again but they most likely wont be ones that I make all of the time. 

Chocolate Rolo Cookies

Recipe came from Chocolate Never Faileth

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 sticks butter

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups flour (see note)

3/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

40-50 rolo candies, unwrapped (one standard bag of rolos)

Preheat oven to 375. Grease cookie sheets. Cream sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add flour (see Note below), cocoa, and baking soda. Mix until well combined. Add a little more flour if the dough is too sticky to work with your hands. Pinch off walnut-sized balls of dough and wrap a piece of dough around each Rolo. Place on cookie sheets a couple of inches apart. Bake 7-9 minutes, until the cookie is set but the top is still soft to the touch. Don't overcook, or the caramel will get hard. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for about five minutes before transferring them to the wire racks; doing that will allow the cookie bottoms to set up and will prevent caramel from oozing out. 

Note: Josi uses 2 1/2 cups flour. Maybe because of humidity, that little flour resulted in such sticky dough that it was totally unworkable for me. I had to add another 1/2 cup. Use as much flour as you need to result in a workable dough. 

Copycat Kneaders Caramel Syrup

This is one of the easiest yummiest syrups that I've ever made (ok there's not really that many but still it's GOOD!). If you've ever been to Kneaders you've probably tried or at least heard about their all-you-can-eat Chunky Cinnamon French Toast (yummm!!). You eat the french toast with a delicious caramel syrup. Last week my family had a our quarterly dinner and we decided to have waffles and other breakfast yummies. I decided that I had to make the syrup so i went to good ol' trusty google and found a recipe. I love this because it is a really fast recipe and it re-heats really nicely to use later.

Copycat Kneaders Caramel Syrup

Recipe came from Confessions of a Bake-aholic

Copycat Kneaders Caramel Syrup

1 c. Brown sugar
1 c. Whipping Cream
1 c. Light Karo Syrup
Blend together and heat on stove top until sugar is smooth.
Serve warm.