Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Source: Our Best Bites, via Ashlee Webster

Ingredients:

Cakes: 

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tbsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

1 c. oil

1 c. dark brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

3 c. pumpkin puree

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

Cream Cheese Filling:

1/2 c. butter

1 8-oz. package cream cheese

3 c. powdered sugar

3 tablespoons maple syrup or 1/2 - 1 tsp. maple extract

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Lightly spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level with a knife. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside. 

3. In a large bowl, beat together the brown sugar, white sugar, and oil. Add the pumpkin puree and mix well. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix well. Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until combined. 

4. Using a 1 tablespoon scoop or a 1/2 tablespoon measuring spoon, drop the batter onto a baking sheet (lined, if possible, but not necessary), leaving about 1" between the drops. Try to keep the batter as circular as possible. 

5. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until the tops are done and a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack. 

6. To prepare the filling, beat the butter on high for 1-2 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, maple, and vanilla and beat until combined. Transfer to a large Ziploc bag and cut 1/2" - 1" off the corner. 

7. Flip the cakes over on a flat surface. Squeeze about 2-3 tablespoons of filling per large whoopie pie (less if you used a 1/2 tablespoon measuring spoon) onto every other cake. Top each pie with the remaining cakes. Serve immediately if possible; otherwise, these can be refrigerated in an airtight container. Makes about 30 large whoopie pies. 

Notes: Once again, this treat was sampled at the Webster household and we nearly died. Prepare yourself, these are a calorie-laden celebration of autumn! So wonderful warm or cold!

Croissant Bread Pudding

Source: Ann Gallagher's family (via The Food Network)

Ingredients:
3 extra-large whole eggs
8 extra-large egg yolks
5 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 croissants, preferably stale
1 cup raisins

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla. Set the custard mixture aside. Slice the croissants in half horizontally. In a 10 by 15 by 2 1/2-inch oval baking dish, distribute the bottoms of the sliced croissants, then add the raisins, then the tops of the croissants (brown side up), being sure the raisins are between the layers of croissants or they will burn while baking. Pour the custard over the croissants and allow to soak for 10 minutes, pressing down gently.

Place the pan in a larger one filled with 1-inch of hot water. Cover the larger pan with aluminum foil, tenting the foil so it doesn't touch the pudding. Cut a few holes in the foil to allow steam to escape. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 40 to 45 more minutes or until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Baked Peach French Toast

Source: my friend, Ashlee Webster


Ingredients:
1 loaf french bread cut into 1" slices (I have also used a texas toast loaf of bread)
8 ounces cream cheese
1 bottle sliced peaches, drained (I used home-bottled. You'd use a 28 ounce if you buy it at the store)
1 cup milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
3 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons melted margarine
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions: Preheat oven to 400. Spread cream cheese on both sides of all slices bread, arrange in 9x13 pan (I usually fit 6), top with peaches, and another layer of bread (or you can leave the top layer of bread off...we love two layers). Stick bread with fork to allow absorption. Whisk together milk through vanilla, then pour over bread. Bake for 25 minutes.


Notes: We've made (and eaten) this with our friends, the Websters, several times. It's so rich, but oh so incredibly delicious. Next time you want a knock-your-socks off, high-calorie breakfast, make this the star of your menu!

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

Source: Janae Duncan via Our Best Bites

Ingredients:
1 (9 ounce) box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon hot sauce
2 teaspoons dry parsley
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 (15 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Use a clean dry cloth to squeeze all moisture out of spinach and then roughly chop. Place in a medium bowl. Add the cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
3. Place in an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 inch pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

*This can be assembled 1-2 days ahead of time, covered tightly, refrigerated, and then baked for an additional 5-10 minutes.

Comments:
This stuff is insanely good! Janae made both this and the caramel toffee dip for my book group Christmas party last week, and we all begged for both recipes. By far the best spinach artichoke dip I've had. . .even if it isn't exactly figure-friendly!

Gingersnaps

Source: My mom's recipe box

Ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening (Mel's Kitchen Cafe's version is almost identical to this recipe, but she uses all butter, which is also super delicious and I do that when I need a shortening-free version of these cookies)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup light molasses
1 egg, beaten
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon ginger

Directions:
Cream shortening and sugar, add molasses and egg, beat well.  Add sifted dry ingredients.  Mix well.  Roll in small balls and roll in sugar.  Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes.  (I'd say definitely toward the lower end of that time scale - you don't want them to burn!)

Notes:
A Christmas tradition at the Elwood house.  These gingersnaps are so wonderful - and the best part is that they are soft - so maybe not "snappy" but definitely delicious and spicy.  (If yours tend to harden up, just keep them in an airtight container with a slice of bread - the bread will dry out leaving the cookies soft as can be.)  We love these!

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

Source: food.com and Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
3/4 cup cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup warm applesauce
2 tablespoons of white glue

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Knead to stiff dough. (You may need to add more applesauce, but a little at a time.). Roll out between sheets of foil to 1/4 inch thick.  (I just rolled it out on the counter - if it stuck to the rolling pin, I dusted it with a little more cinnamon so it wouldn't stick.)

Cut out with cookie cutters. Use straw (or, if you don't have a straw, the barrel of a ball point pen) to make a hole near the top for hanging.

Let dry. You may also want to turn over so both sides dry thoroughly. (Martha suggests - and this is what I did - to dry them in a 200F oven for 2 hours, flipping once in the middle.)

Thread the hole with ribbon, thread, twine, or yarn and hang on your tree.  They would also make cute gift toppers.  Breath deeply and enjoy the magical scent of Christmas!

Notes:
I realize this isn't a recipe that you'd really want to eat, but I just had to share since they smell so good!  I remember my mom making these cute little ornaments a long time ago, and I always loved pulling them out of the decoration box to put on the tree each year.  When I saw this idea floating around Pinterest, I knew that I had to try them this year for our little tree.  They are really easy and fairly quick.  I made two batches to get the number of ornaments shown in the picture - about 20.

Caramel Toffee Fruit Dip

Source: Our Best Bites


Ingredients:

1 8-oz. package cream cheese (you can use light cream cheese)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla (you can add more to taste)
Toffee bits (look by the chocolate chips and try and find the chocolate covered ones if you can! Your dip won’t be pretty, but it will sure taste good!)
1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
1/8 tsp. (about a pinch) nutmeg (optional)

Directions:

Meanwhile, combine cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla with an electric mixer. When ready to serve, stir in about 1/2 a bag of toffee bits with more sprinkled on top. Serve in a hollow pumpkin with the spooky cinnamon chips and fresh fruit.

Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Braid

Source: A combination of a few sites: here, via Pinterest, for the main idea and filling recipe and, here and here, from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, for the homemade bread recipe/use

Ingredients:

For the bread:

1 1/2 cups warm water

3/4 Tablespoon instant yeast (or 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast)

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups all-purpose flour, give or take a few tablespoons (I subbed 1 cup with whole wheat flour)

note: I've also been successful using my regular pizza dough recipe, too (it's really similar and I have it memorized)

For the filling:

2 cups chicken chunks, cooked (I had 1 1/2 cups shredded, cooked chicken in my freezer and just used that)

2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

2 cups broccoli, frozen, steamed and chopped (I used fresh - chopped it up, then popped it in the microwave with a spritz of water for a couple minutes to get it started cooking)

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1 egg yolk

fresh rosemary (didn't have fresh, though that would be much prettier, I'm sure, so I used the dry stuff from a bottle)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.  (400F if you're using my pizza dough recipe for the bread.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl by hand, combine the warm water, yeast, sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups of the flour (if you are using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, let the yeast proof in the warm water and sugar for about 3-5 minutes until it is foamy and bubbly before adding the oil, salt and flour). Begin mixing and continue to add the rest of the flour gradually until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Judge the dough not by the amount of flour called for in the recipe but in how the dough feels (see a tutorial on working with yeast here). The dough should be soft and smooth but still slightly tacky to the touch.

Knead the dough in the stand mixer or by hand until it is very smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes in a stand mixer or 8-10 minutes by hand. Lightly spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it has doubled (this usually takes about an hour).

While the dough rises, make the filling by combining chicken, cheese, broccoli and mayonnaise.

Roll the dough into about an 11X17-inch rectangle (Mel rolls hers out directly on a silpat liner to make for easy transfer to the baking sheet and oven, but I don't have one of those, so I just carefully lifted the large rectangle onto my cookie sheet). Spread chicken/cheese/broccoli mixture over the center of the dough evenly to create a log.  Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut 1-inch wide strips in towards the center, starting on the long sides. There should be a solid strip about 3 inches wide down the center (where the "log" of filling is), with the cut strips forming a fringe down each side.  Fold the side strips over filling, alternating strips from each side and pressing them into the dough on the opposite side, forming a braid. Pinch or twist to seal.  (Check out Mel's blog for detailed picture instructions.)

Brush the top of the braid with a beaten egg yolk and sprinkle fresh rosemary on top.  Bake for 28 – 30 minutes until golden brown.  Let the braid rest for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut braid into sections and serve warm.

Notes:
Mel's instructions for her braid, using her bread recipe (the one I used here), said to split the dough in half and make two braids.  I thought I had too much filling to do that, so I just used the whole bread recipe for one braid.  Well, it raised a lot in the oven, and there was a lot of bread around that filling when it came out of the oven.  It was still awesomely delicious, but if you like a smaller bread-to-filling ratio, I'd suggest doing it her way.

In other news, this was awesomely delicious!  (Did I already say that?)  I've seen braids like this before, but have never been brave enough to try it.  It's really not hard at all.  And if you make it with canned crescent dough like the original recipe said, it would be so speedy.  I had time, and no canned crescents, so I went with the homemade version.  That bread recipe is a keeper, for sure!  This whole braid is - very reminiscent of broccoli cheddar soup in a bread bowl.  And also hinted of a leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwich on homemade rolls with a dab of miracle whip.  Yumminess all around.  (And it's even pretty good cold the next day!)

Update:
I've made this again a few times now, with a few new variations on filling (and I do make two braids, which I like better - not quite so much bread in each bite):

Variation #1: Ham and cheese - I made the same basic filling as above, but substituted cubed ham for the chicken and left out the broccoli (though I think it would still be awesome).  I sprinkled in a few sliced green onions for some pizzazz and it was awesome.

Variation #2: BBQ chicken - taken from Mel's Kitchen Cafe - basically BBQ sauce, shredded, cooked chicken, sliced onions, and cheese.  Mmmhmmm.

Variation #3: Reuben - inspired by RecipeGirl.  We spread some Thousand Island dressing on the dough, added a generous helping of sauerkraut (1/2 a can per braid, drained), shredded leftover corned beef from our St. Paddy's Day feast (that had been stored frozen for a while since our big meal), and topped with slices of Swiss cheese.  We used extra Thousand Island as a dipping sauce.  Gregg said this was his favorite braid by far.

Gingerbread Muffins

Source: The Sisters Cafe

Ingredients:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice (I didn't have any so I did 1/8 teaspoon cloves + 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg)

Glaze
Mix the following together until desired consistency is reached (this makes a lot of glaze - way more than I needed, so I think I'd half it next time)
1 Tablespoon butter softened
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
2-3 Tablespoons milk

Directions:
Heat oven to 400.  Grease bottoms only of 12 regular size muffin cups or place a paper baking cup in each muffin cup.

In a large bowl beat brown sugar, molasses, milk, oil, and egg with spoon (or use a mixer).  Stir in remaining ingredients just until flour is moistened.  Divide batter evenly into the muffin cups.

Bake 18-20 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Immediately remove from pan to wire rack to cool.  Drizzle powdered sugar glaze over top.  Enjoy!

Notes:
If you know anything about me from reading my latest posted recipes, it is that I really love muffins (maybe even more than soup ... I'll have to see which wins for most posted by me).  I also really love gingerbread - especially the smell.  And oh my!  Does our apartment ever smell good!  :)

Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken

Source: this site, via Pinterest

Ingredients:
One 24-ounce jar medium or mild salsa (since I used less chicken, I only used 2 cups of salsa - Pace medium - and it was plenty juicy!)
Juice from one lime
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
One 1.25-oz. package taco seasoning
2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (optional)
4-6 boneless chicken breast halves (I used about 2 1/2 ... ish - cut into "tenders")

Directions:
Mix salsa, lime juice, cilantro, taco seasoning and jalapenos in crockpot.  Add chicken and make sure it's coated with the salsa mixture.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.  (My chicken was shreddable after about 3 hours, but I left it in there for a few more, just because we weren't ready to eat just yet.)  Serve the chicken with the salsa mixture spooned over the top.  If you're feeling crazy, throw a dollup of sour cream on top with some crushed tortilla chips.  This is also delicious as a taco filling or in a taco salad (which is the way we ate it.  Nachos are good, too.  I love nachos).

Notes:
Here I present to you more of that awesome lime/cilantro/cumin combo that I love and adore.  Easy.  Delicious.  'Nuff said.

The Best Guacamole Ever. Seriously.

Source: my friend, Ashlee

Ingredients:
2-3 ripe avocados
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/2 cup onion, chopped
1-2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
juice from 1 lime
1 tablespoon salsa

Directions:
1. Mash avocados
2. Stir in remaining ingredients
3. Serve

Black Bean Soup

Source: Our Best Bites (love this site!)

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
4 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3/4 cup diced carrots (about 2 med carrots)
3/4 cup diced celery (about 2 ribs)
1 cup diced onion (about 1 sm-med onion)
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 3.5oz can green chilies
2 cans low-sodium beef broth
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano leaves
1 bay leaf
1 lime, juiced
Optional Toppings: sour cream, tortilla chips, grated cheese, chopped cilantro, etc. (I definitely recommend the cilantro!  SO good)

Directions:
Place a large stock pot on the stove-top and set to medium-high heat.  When pan is warm, add olive oil.  Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and saute 4-5 minutes.

Add in the black beans, chilies, and beef broth. Stir to combine and then add the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf.

Simmer uncovered for about 20-25 minutes or until carrots are tender.

Remove from heat. Remove bay leaf from soup.

Place soup in a blender. (You could use an immersion blender in place of this step.) Place lid on blender, but remove the stopper in the lid to let heat escape. Place a paper towel over the hole to avoid splatters.

Puree soup until completely smooth.  Optionally you could pulse until a semi-chunky soup is achieved. Squeeze in the juice from one lime and pulse to combine.

Ladle into bowls and top with desired toppings. Serve with extra lime wedges.  Makes about 8 cups soup.

Notes:
Holy smokes!  This soup is GOOD!  Gregg just kept raving about how delicious it was last night as we were eating, and he even said that it wasn't only because he was ending a fast.  ;)  Really, though, it is delicious.  The combination of flavors really hit the spot - cumin (my favorite spice, I'm convinced), lime, cilantro.  Mmmm-mmm.  Totally yum!

Sweet Potato Casserole

Source: Susan Brown
Contributor: Victoria Blanchard

Ingredients

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (Yams)

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter

Topping

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup chopped pecans (Sue said she probably doubled the amount of nuts---I'd recommend doing that!)

Directions

Combine first 6 ingredients. Pour into a buttered 1 1/2 to 2 quart casserole dish. Mix remaining ingredients together and sprinkle over top. Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes until hot and browned. Serves 6 to 8.

Notes: This was my and Ryan's favorite dish at the Thanksgiving dinner potluck we shared with some friends this year. We've never been big fans of marshmallow topping on sweet potatoes, but pecans, mmm, boy! There were several versions of this served at the Ward Christmas Party, so I think this is a pretty classic southern holiday dish. I recommend it (especially with extra pecans for the topping). Also, I'm pretty sure she used fresh sweet potatoes, not canned, which probably makes a difference.

Italian Salad

Source/Contributor: Victoria Blanchard

Ingredients
Fresh, dark greens (I like Wal-Mart brand organic half-and-half mix)
Pepperoni, cut into quarter slices
Tomatoes, diced
Black olives, sliced
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Italian dressing

Directions
Top your greens with an appropriate amount of each ingredient depending on how many you are serving. Enjoy!

Notes: Although I came up with this "recipe" myself, I'm sure it's not original, but I really can't think of what official source inspired me for this combination. I came up with this for our ward Christmas Party because I wanted something pretty and I had decided to go savory rather than with one of my typically sweet salads (which was a good move since most of the other salads there were sweet). Also, the fact that pepperoni is in a recipe that I came up with is a clear indicator of my gestational status. I usually am only interested in eating pepperoni (or more accurately, I'm ok with not avoiding eating it) once in a blue moon, but when I'm pregnant it's on my A list. Seriously, I probably eat it once a week (mostly on pizza). It's crazy what hormones do to my taste buds.

Vegetable Barley Soup

Source: The back of my Goya brand barley bag (with some alterations by myself)
Contributor: Victoria Blanchard

Servings: 2-3 (I highly recommend doubling this recipe if you are going to serve more than 2 adults and/or want to have leftovers)

Ingredients:
2 cups of vegetable, chicken, or beef stock
2 cups of water
1/2 cup dry barley
2-3 carrots, diced
2-3 stalk of celery, diced
1/2 white onion
1-2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste (I usually don't add any while cooking and let people season their own soup in the bowl; I like salt and Ry tends to go heavy on the pepper, so it makes sense for us)
Optional: meat or substitute other vegetables, but you would probably need to reduce the amount of something else, because this soup is already pretty "full"

Directions

Saute onion, carrots, and celery in olive oil in a large pot for 5-10 minutes so they start to cook. Add broth, water, seasonings, and barley. Let soup rise to a boil, then lower heat to simmer. Depending on how high you keep the heat (if you're in a hurry, you can keep it boiling, but you'll have to watch it closer), it will take about 40-60 minutes for the barley to soften. Note that if you have leftovers, the barley will continue to absorb water. By the next day it will have absorbed all the remaining liquid. It still tastes great, it's just not what you could call soup by that point. But it's kind of nice to have big soft veggies and barley to fill your tummy with.

Notes: Ryan and I both LOVE this soup, especially with fresh oatmeal wheat bread on the side (topped with butter and honey, to die for!), and we can even get Katie to eat it without too much fuss. Two of my cooking goals in the past year or so have been to get more comfortable making soups and to start incorporating more grains and legumes into our meals. This recipe has been perfect for both. It is incredibly easy, and has helped me feel much less intimidated about soups. And now we eat barley once or twice a month, although I'd like to find another go-to recipe with barley in it because it is so good (and good for you, of course).

Broccoli Cheese Soup (for the Crockpot)

Source: food.com

Ingredients:
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine (I used Canola oil - lightening things up (NOT like this can save it!))
1 (10 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1 lb Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli (I used fresh instead - just chopped some up and didn't even measure)
Black pepper, to taste (my little addition)

Directions:
Sauté onion and green pepper in butter (or oil, if you're like me).  I added the broccoli after the onions and pepper were soft and sauted it around for about a minute or so before proceeding on to the next step.

Combine all ingredients on low in crockpot for 3-4 hours. Do not add salt.  (Because I didn't think ahead enough about this, I ended up making it in a pot on the stove - worked fine and was done in about a half hour I think.  Just be careful to not heat it too hot or the cheese does something funky on the bottom of the pan!  Nice and low and slow!)

Notes:
This is definitely not a light or healthy soup.  If that's what you're looking for - just turn around now.  And I normally wouldn't pick a Velveeta recipe over something with more real ingredients (you know, cheese).  But I had some leftover Velveeta from the Taco Plop recipe and decided this would be the way I would use it up.  Very creamy and rich and a warm way to cozy up on a very blustery cold day.  (Oh, and SUPER easy!)

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Source: here, via Pinterest (surprise!)

Ingredients:
1 cup softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix -not sugar free- all 10 packets (You can find this in your grocery store near the hot chocolate mixes - and I just used the store brand (no need to pay more!))
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups all purpose flour
1 bag Kraft Caramels (14 oz)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. (The blog author says "You really need the parchment!" but I didn't have any and the world did not end - amazing!)

In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.

With your mixer (or an energetic spoon) cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well. Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined. Refrigerate for about an hour. (If you're really impatient you don't have to do this, but it makes it so much easier to work with.)

When you are ready to bake, unwrap your caramels.  (Oops - we did this first!)

Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut. (I used a rounded cookie scoop-full. My scoop holds about a Tablespoon.)  (We just used our hands and pulled out globs.)  Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. Please don't over-bake!

Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.) If you forget about them and they cool too much and stick to your parchment, put them into the freezer for a few minutes and they'll pop right off. (This sounds really complicated, but we just sprayed our cookie sheets with cooking spray and made sure to scoop them off to a cooling rack before they cooled completely on the pan.)

Yield: about 4 dozen, depending on how large you make your cookies (or how many caramels have been snitched out of your bag before you begin.) Store in an airtight container.

Notes:
I saw this recipe on one of my first days on Pinterest and thought it looked intriguing and tasty.  My friend Anika came over yesterday and we whipped up a batch - a fun little First of December activity on a windy day.  They are definitely different than any cookie I've ever had - very apple cidery and VERY sweet.  And maybe I cooked mine a titch too long, because they are a bit on the crisp side and the caramel is kinda hard now that they are cool.  But they're still good - especially when they're warm.  (Update: I found nuking them for 11 seconds in the microwave restores their yummy, gooey, warm softness.  My faith is restored!)