Chocolate Chip Caramel & Cherry Chip Cookies

I found this basic chocolate chip cookie recipe on landolakes.com. I made a double batch and added tart dried Montgomery cherries & white chocolate chips to half and to the other half I added semi sweet chips & cut up chunks of Kraft caramels. The cherry chip cookies turned out really buttery and quite good. I didn't expect that I would like them but I was pleased with the results. I just wanted to make something different and I see many recipes with dried cranberries or cherries in them and many folks seem to like them so........

The chocolate chip caramel cookies were also good. I wasn't exactly sure what the caramel would do after baking the cookies in the oven. The caramel bits that were near the edge of a cookie, spread out onto the cookie sheet and caramelized into a toffee like crunch. The caramel bits in the middle of the cookies turned into a caramel pool of goodness. After cooling, the caramel hardened but was still softer than it started.

I thought both of the cookies were delicious but I don't think the basic dough recipe from Land O Lakes was one of my favorites. The cookies ended up being pretty flat. I like mine thicker. They also were kind of greasy on the bottom. They didn't leave grease on your hands or anything, just on the parchment after baking. The were lightly crisped on the edges after baking but very chewy in the middle. The recipe got rave reviews on the Land O Lakes site so it seems that many people love them.

I bought a small bag of the dried Montgomery cherries at Trader Joes. They were extremely fresh and have lots of flavor. I like the Montgomery a lot better than the dried sweet cherries, like Bing.

FIVE STAR CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES from landolakes.com

Preparation time: 45 min Baking time: 10 min

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

1 1/2		cups LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened
1 1/4		cups sugar
1 1/4		cups firmly packed brown sugar
2		LAND O LAKES® All-Natural Eggs
1		tablespoon vanilla
4 1/4		cups all-purpose flour
1		teaspoon baking powder
1		teaspoon baking soda
1		(12-ounce) package (2 cups) real semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375°F. Combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder and baking soda. Beat until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets.