Salted Caramel Cookies

The hubby had the whole week off from work, and requested I bake him some cookies. No problem, I said. The problem? What to make!

My Pinterest addiction makes it very hard to pick something to bake, because every time I get on that darn website, I want to bake everything! After surfing for awhile, I quickly realize how impossible it would be to bake every cookie at one time. It also dawns on me that there would be no one to eat all those delectable bake goods. Thus begins the difficult task of narrowing down a list of 20 to 1.

I was pleased with this choice. They are a soft, chewy sugar cookie with caramel drizzled on top, and a sprinkle of sea salt. Yum! As I was baking these, the hubby defiantly told me he hated sugar cookies. I laughed, and said he was thinking of the harder, crunchier sugar cookies. He proceeded to pout until I gave him a bite of warm sugar cookie straight out of the oven. A sugar cookie hater has been converted to a sugar cookie lover :)

I must say, the small amount of sea salt added to these cookies makes the cookies. I love getting a taste of sea salt every other bite, and the explosion of flavor you get from one teeny, tiny speck of salt. Don't make these cookies without the salt!

Ingredients:

Cookies-
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 sticks of butter, softened
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Topping-
14 pieces caramel candy
1-2 tbsp half-n-half
Sea salt

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until smooth and creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, mix completely.
2. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In 3 additions, add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix until just combined. Chill dough in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees while dough is chilling. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray, and set aside.
4. Once dough is chilled, roll about 2 tbsp of dough into a ball, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake in oven 10-12 minutes. For best results, do not over-bake. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then remove to cooling rack. Cool completely before topping cookies.
5. Melt caramel candies in a bowl placed over a small saucer of boiling water. Add half-n-half to caramel. Whisk constantly until caramels are melted, and mixture is has a good consistency for drizzling.
6. With a spoon, drizzle caramel over cookies. While still hot, lightly sprinkle cookies with sea salt. Let cookies cool completely.

Sugar cookie recipe by Ice Cream Before Dinner.