Caramel Macchiato Cookies

These cookies are a favorite around my house. I generally double the batch in the hopes that they may last for more than 24 hours. Looking at these you might think they are your average cookie but you would be very wrong. These are packed with espresso flavor that is complimented perfect with caramel and chocolate. I found this recipe at a food blog called Cookie Madness. You can check it out at www.cookiemadness.net I pretty much follow the recipe exactly except that I usually double the amount of caramel used. The caramel bits are generally pretty hard to find other than during the fall. I usually buy up a lot of them to last me until I can find them again. You can throw the bag in the freezer to keep them fresh until you are ready to use them. One thing that cannot be skipped is that the baking sheets MUST be lined with parchment paper. If you try to simply grease the pans you will end up with a mangled greasy mess that hardly resembles a cookie.

Caramel Macchiato Cookies

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon espresso powder
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup Kraft caramel bits (more if you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; Set aside.

Using high speed of an electric mixer, beat both sugars, butter and shortening until creamy. Beat in espresso powder. Reduce speed to low and mix in egg, egg yolk and vanilla – do not overbeat after adding the egg. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir until flour is incorporated. Add chocolate chips and caramel bits.

Drop cookies by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden around edges and set. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Makes about 26 cookies