Caramel Marshmallow Cookies

Sue and I, and our sister, Orra, recently went on a sister's trip to the US. It is always soooo much fun to discover all the candies and such that we just can't get here in Canada. 

Okay, maybe they are available some places in Canada but certainly nowhere around where we are! These cookies were developed based on two of the treats we bought while on our trip: teeny tiny marshmallows and Kraft caramel bits. 

Can we talk about how awesome the caramel bits are for a second? I mean, no more peeling the little cubes of caramel and then having to cut them while your knife gets all sticky. Let's bring those to Canada, okay? Thank you. 

That being said - if you don't have access to the teeny marshmallows and caramel bits then you can resort to cutting up mini marshmallows and Kraft caramel squares. Not as cute but it gets the job done!

Caramel Marshmallow Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter, room temp

1 3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 cup old fashioned oats

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 bag Kraft Caramel Bits (About 11/2 cups)

1 cup teeny tiny marshmallows

Topping (optional)

coarse sea salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Live a large cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside. 

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until creamy, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Beat in peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla until well combined. 

In a smaller bowl, place flour, oats, baking powder, salt, caramels, and marshmallows.

Stir the dry ingredients together to combine. Then stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until stiff dough forms. 

Using a large cookie scoop, scoop dough onto prepared cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Flatten the cookies slightly with the palm of your hand. (NOTE - I always press one or two caramels and marshmallows onto the top of the cookie so they show when the cookie is baked. This is optional but makes the cookies look prettier.)

Bake at 350 for 7 minutes, rotate the pan, and then bake about 7 minutes more - until cookies are golden brown around the bottom. 

Sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of sea salt as soon as they are out off the oven (optional).

Let cool on pan for about 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely. 

NOTE - you can bake these right away or chill the dough for about 30 minutes. If you bake them right away they spread a teeny bit more. If you chill them then they don't spread as much. 

Be sure to take them out as soon as the edges appear golden, if you over cook them they will be crunchy instead of chewy. 

You can also make up the dough and scoop it onto a cookie sheet, freeze it, then put the frozen scoops into a Ziplock bag. When you want to bake them: take out as many cookies as you want, place them on a lined cookie sheet and let them sit on the counter while the oven preheats. Then, bake as per recipe.

Using a large cookie scoop, I got 32 cookies out of the recipe. 

You can use a smaller scoop but remember to adjust your baking time then too.