Two things that I want to point out up front about this recipe are that this is a snack recipe and that in order for it to be timely I'm posting it as a bonus recipe. Normally I post the snack series recipes on the last Tuesday of the month but if I do that this month you won't see it until the day before Halloween and that's just too late to be timely. So, bonus.
Generally speaking I don't bake; I like to cook and I appreciate the sense of creativity that I get from it but baking is a much more involved process that I don't want to dedicate my time to. Cooking is a general practice type of activity that require a little bit of knowledge in a lot of areas, baking is more of an exact science that requires a firm understanding of how ingredients actively interact with each other chemically. I'm not saying that baking is bad, I just find that if I want baked goods it's easier to go to a bakery and have the professionals do the work for me. The exception to my feelings about baking is the holidays; I like to bake holiday cookies a couple of times a year.
A recipe that I have recently found and have been saving for Halloween is Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies. These appeal tome on two levels, they are oatmeal cookies which are one of my favorite types of cookies and they are caramel apple which appeals to my childhood memories. I remember a time before the Tylenol scare of 1982 and the "razors in apples" scare that followed when my neighbors would hand out caramel apples and occasionally my mom would make caramel apples for special events. My next encounter with caramel apples was when Tootsie Roll came out with Caramel Apple Pops, they weren't really caramel apples but they were a great substitute. Now with this new recipe I have the memories of caramel apples and the deliciousness of oatmeal cookies in a healthier form.
So, let's take a look at today's recipe.
Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies
Prep time 10 Min. Cook time 20 Min. Serves 48
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
3/4 cup finely chopped dried apple slices
3/4 cup caramel bits or 16 small soft caramel candies, chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350f.
Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl; stir well.
Place sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture; beat at low speed until just combined. Fold in apple and caramel bits.
Drop dough by 2 teaspoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten balls slightly with hand. Bake at 350f. for 9 minutes. Cool on pans 3 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.
This recipe yields 1 cookie per serving.
These are delicious cookies that will quickly become a part of your halloween festivities. The one thing I want to clarify is that I use the apple chips that are partially dried and chewy not the apple chips that are fully dried out and crunchy.
As always, if you try them, leave a comment here to let me know how they turned out.
Next week- Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala or Somewhere In Between.
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