Triple Delight Cookies

A lot of food bloggers have started their days-before-Christmas count downs already, and the result has been an explosion of posts featuring all kinds of different Christmas cookies, egg nog, gingerbread houses, and the like. Talk about peer pressure! I had originally wanted to wait until exactly 12 days before Christmas to start my list, but quickly realized that if I did that, I would have to cook/blog every single day for almost 2 weeks. I love my blog, and I love my readers, but…that’s just not going to happen.

So, I hereby declare that today is the first day of Christmas here at Just Putzing Around the Kitchen; and on this first day of Christmas, I give to you…super rich, super chocolate-y, so-good-it’ll-give-you-chills, Triple Delight Cookies.

Chewy chocolate cookies + melted caramel centers + white chocolate ganache = guaranteed food-gasm in your mouth. Trust me, you’ll be reaching for a second treat before the first one has even melted on your tongue. And, because these cookies are bite-sized, there’s a good chance that you’ll gobble up the entire plate before you know what’s happening. Such a great way to start off the holiday season.

Triple Delight Cookies

Ingredients:
(Cookies)
– 1 stick butter
– 1/2 cup chocolate chips
– 1 large egg
– 2/3 cup sugar
– 1/2 cup cocoa powder
– 1-1/2 cups flour
– 1 bag chewy caramel candy squares
– 1 tsp vanilla
– 1 tsp salt

(White Chocolate Ganache)
– 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
– 1 tbsp heavy cream

Steps:
(1) Preheat oven to 350.
(2) In a large microwavable bowl, combine butter and chocolate, and zap it in the microwave for about 1 minute. Chocolate chips will hold their shape, so stir until the mixture is smooth.
(3) Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla, and mix well.
(4) Slowly incorporate dry ingredients and mix well.
** I actually used my hands to mix/knead the batter towards the end. Dough should be crumbly but oily/buttery, and very malleable.
(5) Roll dough into 1 to 1-1/2 inch balls, and place them on cookie sheets. Set aside.
** Cookies will not spread much, so you can space them about 1 inch apart. Also, no need to grease your sheets — these cookies are very buttery.
(6) Using a pair of scissors, cut caramel candies into fourths.
(7) Gently but firmly press one fourth of each caramel candy into the center of every cookie dough ball.
(8) Bake for about 12 minutes.
(9) Let cookies cool on the pan/sheet for about 2 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool for another 10-15 minutes.
(10) While cookies are cooling, start making your white chocolate ganache. In a small microwaveable bowl, combine heavy cream and white chocolate chips, and microwave for about 30-40 seconds. Stir mixture until chips are completely melted and everything is smooth. Allow to cool for 1 minute, then transfer ganache to a squeeze bottle, piping bag, or zip-lock bag with one corner snipped off. Pipe lines of ganache over each cookie, using as much as you want.
(11)  Enjoy with hot chocolate or a big glass of milk!
** Fresh out of the oven, these cookies are soft and the caramel is gooey. After sitting around a bit, the cookies are crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside, and the caramel hardens a bit — still delicious, but chewier than it looks.

For other great cookie ideas, click here.