Thankful Tree

After seeing some cute "Thankful Trees" on Pinterest this year, we decided to make our own. And I am so glad we did! It has been so sweet to remember what we are thankful for and especially to see what my 3 year old comes up with! We just took some branches off of our tree out back and tied these little circle papers to them. It really got us in the whole spirit of Thanksgiving this year!

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

 When my mother-in-law showed me this recipe on Studio 5 , I got so excited to make these cookies! And they were not a disappointment. They are the perfect fall cookie and soooo yummy!!! 

You can easily print the recipe from the KSL website. Happy baking!

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 c. softened butter
• 1 c.granulated sugar
• 1/2 t.salt
• 1 box (1.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix -not sugar free- all 10 packets (I found this in my grocery store near the hot chocolate mixes.)
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 3 c. all purpose flour
• 1 bag Kraft Caramels (14 oz)

Method:

· Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. (You really need the parchment!)

· 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.

· Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut. (I used a rounded cookie scoop-full. My scoop holds about a Tablespoon.)

· 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.

· 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.

(Recipe from ksl.com)