Cashew Caramel Cookies

I love the sweet flavor of cashews and when I saw this recipe I knew that I had to try them. They are basically a version of peanut butter cookie, with homemade cashew butter and then drizzled with caramel. Yum!

I didn’t have a lot of time to make these cookies, but I read through the recipe and I didn’t think that they would take too long. They do bake a little longer than other cookies. It’s also a bit different that you bake the cookies half way and then flatten them and bake some more. I should have tried flattening them before baking, but I forgot to give that a try. I used a baking cup to flatten the cookies, which seemed to work well. I used caramel bits for the topping which is a lot easier than unwrapping a bunch of caramels.

Without topping, these are good on their own. Without the caramel they taste like a sweeter version of a peanut butter cookie. I thought that they might be quite salty, but they aren’t at all. They are soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside. The caramel adds a different type of sweetness and adds a nice finishing touch.

1-2/3 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

2-1/2 cups roasted salted cashews, divided

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

½ cup butter

¾ cup brown sugar

½ cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

7 ounces caramels

¼ cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats and set aside.

In a small bowl combine flour and salt and set aside. Chop 1 cup of cashews and set aside. In a food processor, finely chop the remaining cashews. Add the vegetable oil and process until smooth.

In a large mixer bowl combine cashew mixture, butter, and sugars. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes until pale and fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and stir in the flour mixture and the chopped cashews.

Drop dough 1-1/2 inch balls of dough onto the baking sheets. Bake for 6 minutes and then gently flatten the cookies and bake an additional 6 minutes. Allow to cool on wire racks.

In a small saucepan, melt the caramels and cream over low heat. Let cool. Drizzle caramel over cookies.

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cookies