Now, as promised, I’ll share my winning recipe from the cookie exchange 🙂 I won Best Tasting Chocolate Cookies. This year, I made salted caramel brownie cookies. They were so good! The salt really gave them a unique flavor and made them memorable. The inside is nice and fudgy, and putting some caramel on top makes them even better!

Begin by melting the butter and chocolate in a medium sized sauce pan. Resist the urge to stop and begin eating now. Set aside.

Beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together until nice and fluffy.

Add the chocolate butter mixture and mix well.

Gradually add the flour and baking powder. Now add all those Heath bits and the remaining chocolate chips.

You’re seriously going to think I’m crazy when you look at the batter at this point. It looks like it could use a lot more flour and that it is seriously heavy. Trust me, it’s perfect. Drop large spoonfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle sea salt onto each cookie. Use just a little bit more than you think you should. Trust me.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until the tops begin to crack, similar to brownies.

This part is optional. I only did it on the samples because it makes the cookies super messy, but even more delicious. When they’re done, drizzle caramel sauce on them. SERIOUSLY. AWESOME. Throw on some more salt if you’re feeling adventurous.

Try out these award winning (I can say that, right?) cookies now! They’re fudgy and salty and caramely all at once!

A few more pictures from our eventful day 🙂 If you didn’t hear, the Oregon Ducks won the civil war and are going to the National Championship Game! Very exciting! If I was rich I would be there, too!

My mom couldn’t resist eating the cinnamon whipped cream right out of the bowl.

Hot caramel apple cider with cinnamon whipped cream.

This is me, watching football. I was not aware of anything going on around me at this point.

Go ducks!

Salted Caramel Brownie Cookies
Adapted from Kitchenist
Makes 24

Ingredients
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 egg
2/3 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup toffee bits (such as Heath Bar bits)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
a few pinches sea salt
caramel sauce (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the 8 oz chocolate chips and butter together, either in a small saucepan over the stove, on in a bowl in the microwave. Set aside. In another bowl (or using a mixer), beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate/butter mixture and beat until combined. In another bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Stir in the toffee bits and remaining chocolate chips- batter will be very thick. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 1 to 2 inches apart. (These cookies will not spread much.) Sprinkle a small pinch of sea salt over the top of each cookie, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. The tops of the cookies will be shiny, crackly and brown, like a brownie. Cool on a wire rack. Drizzle a little bit of caramel sauce onto each cookie.