Caramel Apple Cookies

Doesn't that sound like the best idea for a cookie EVER?! I was so excited when I stumbled across this recipe and couldn't wait for the weekend to try it. You would think they would have turned out grrrreat, right?!

Epic fail.

Don't let the first picture I used fool you. About 10 of these cookies actually turned out into real live cookies. The rest crumbled as soon as they came off the baking sheet or the caramel bits melted out of them while baking. See sad picture below. Boo.

Although I have no for sure reason why these cookies were so drastically terrible, I have a few ideas. For one thing, I was using the final dregs of our can of cooking spray, which maybe meant it didn't have the full nonstick punch. Second, I chopped up those caramel candies because I couldn't find caramel baking bits. And third, I didn't ground the oatmeal.

Surprisingly enough, the cookies tasted delicious. I couldn't stop eating the crumpled remains of the broken cookies and my roommate couldn't stop eating the actual cookies. Lesson learned. I will follow directions from now on.

Caramel Apple Cookies
Craftzineblog.com

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cup flour
2 3/4 cup old fashioned oats (not quick cooking oatmeal)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz caramel baking bites
2 cups granny smith apples, chopped

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs, beat until combined.

Measure oatmeal into a food processor and pulse until ground finely. In a medium sized bowl, stir the oatmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda until combined. Set aside.

Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until combined. Stir in the caramel bits and apples.
Refrigerate dough for one hour. Roll the cookie dough into golf ball sized balls. Bake on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F, for 10-12 minutes. Cool on the pan for 4 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.