Salted Caramel Chocolate Cookies

Salted caramel is a trend in the food world right now. Everywhere you go, there's salted caramel mochas, salted caramel cupcakes, salted caramel candies, and I love it all :).
The salt does a nice job of balancing out the sweetness of the caramel, and in a way makes the flavor come through that much more.
Yesterday I had a strong urge to bake so I made these delicious cookies, which didn't even last a full day at my house. And most of my family is supposed to be on a diet. My mom didn't like these, because she doesn't like salted caramel, but everyone else gobbled them up. Go figure.

I found the recipe via Tastespotting, which is a website where users can share recipes. The photographs are all so beautifully done that I would have no business posting there, but I get recipes from there all the time! The cookies were absolutely delicious. They're best fresh out of the oven, but if you eat them when they're cool, they're still delightful. I also found that if you heat them up in the microwave for 20 seconds, they get the same melted effect.

Here's the recipe:

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cookies

Makes about 20-24 cookies 
Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar 
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1 stick butter, softened 
1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour 

6 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder 
1/2 tsp. baking soda 
20-24 chocolate-covered caramel candies (such as Rolos), unwrapped 
1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 Tbsp. kosher or sea salt (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl combine sugar, brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix together until well blended. Add flour, cocoa powder and baking soda; mix well.
3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll dough into balls and place 1 chocolate-covered caramel candy in the center of each dough ball. Form the dough ball around the candy and roll each in sugar. 
5. Place on ungreased baking sheet and compress slightly with the bottom of a dry measuring cup. Sprinkle with a tiny pinch of salt, if desired. (This really brings out the sweetness of the caramel)
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for 2 minutes then transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
7. Eat.

Source: The Comfort of Cooking