Day 255

I love cookies.  Homemade or store bought, like Oreo's or Chip's Ahoy.  What're your favorite kinds of cookies?  I have too many homemade cookies that I love to even start.

I know that cookies aren't the healthiest things to eat, but I can feel a little better with these Cooking Light Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies.  One cookie is 83 calories.

 The Cast of Characters.

 Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine 1-1/2 cups flour, 1-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl.

 Stir to combine.

 In another bowl, combine 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, and 6 Tbs unsalted butter (softened).

 Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

 Add 2 tsp vanilla extract and one large egg.

 Beat well.

 Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed until just combined.

 Resist eating spoonfuls of this.  It is so delicious.  This would be so good on some vanilla bean ice cream.  Ohhh yum.

  Add 3/4 cup finely chopped dried apple slices and 3/4 cup caramel bits, chopped.  I forgot to chop mine up so they're pretty large.

And this is where my pictures end.  From here you fold the apple and caramel into the mix then drop the dough by 2 teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with evil parchment paper (I obviously don't have parchment paper so I just sprayed the pan with cooking spray).  Flatten balls slightly and bake for 9 minutes.  Cool on pans for 3 minutes; remove and cool completely on wire racks.  Beware: this makes 4 dozen cookies!!!  Who in the world needs that many cookies!  If I had made the entire batch, I would definitely have thrown some into the freezer.

However, I don't think I softened my butter enough so my dough was pretty dry.  I had to smash the dough into balls and it was a total pain.

While they tasted delicious, they weren't how they were supposed to be so I didn't take any incriminating photos of my poorly executed cookies.

I'll definitely be retrying this recipe and will let you know how it goes the second time around.