A few weeks ago, when this blog was finally starting to come together in my mind, we had some good friends over for dinner. It probably won’t surprise you that I tend to take dinner, even one with just two guests, a little overboard. I just really love hosting and cooking for people!
I rarely make untested recipes for guests, except for dessert because that is plain hard to screw up. In this case I had a simple unfried chicken dish that is paired with a fun cabbage apple slaw in mind. I went outside my comfort zone and added a new pasta salad recipe to the menu. And then it felt like I was doing a riff on cute country picnic.
It should be noted that we don’t picnic so this is in no way based on reality. Picnics in my mind are old school with fried chicken and lots of sides that get spread out on a huge blanket. And apple pie. So while I was cruising through the dessert section of my recipe book I had a buttermilk apple pie I’ve made before in the back of my mind. It’s a great balance of sweet, sour and tart. (Note to self: Make that pie soon.) But it was kicked to the curb when I spied this recipe for Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies. Caramel AND apples – hello!!
Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies
from Cooking Light
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
3/4 cup dried apple rings, chopped
16 soft caramel candies, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Weigh Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Stir well. Place sugars and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg. Beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed until just combined. Fold in apple and caramel bits.
Drop dough by 2 teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten balls slightly with hand. Bake at 350° for 9 minutes. Cool on pans 3 minutes. Remove cookies from pans and cool completely on wire racks.
Notes: I totally forgot to flatten mine so they ended up shaped more like balls than flat cookies. It probably helped with my caramel issues (see below). Be sure to chop the caramel into small pieces so you don’t have blowouts like I did. Also, because you’re working with caramel, parchment paper is essential.
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