Carmel, Pretzel and Chocolate Chip Cookies for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!

 

I was super duper excited to be a part of The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap this year. It's where you get to bake cookies and send them to 3 other food bloggers, and then 3 different food bloggers send their cookies to you! This was a great idea since I love baked goods from other people, and I love getting gifts in the mail!

I made these Carmel, Pretzel and Chocolate Chip cookies from Maggie's blog, and they are so salty and sweet at the same time, it's awesome! 

  

I think this cookie swap was so fun, and I'm definitely doing it again next year. It was a little hard to figure out the timing of making the cookies and then shipping them the next day so they don't get too stale by the time they arrive! But I hope they turned up okay to my 3 people.

 

The first batch of cookies I received was from Amanda k by the Bay, and they were really good! They were a ginger Swedish cookie called Pepper Kakor.

The next cookies I received were from Fatgirl Hedonist, and they were a Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Chip cookie. So yummyyy!

The last one's I received were from Not Starving Yet, and it was a classic Gingerbread Man cookie! How festive!

Is it sad I'm already looking forward to doing next year's cookie swap? 

Caramel, Pretzel and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yields: approximately 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (OR semi-sweet)

1/2 cup caramel bits or chopped caramel (Kraft sells the caramel bits)

1/2 cup crushed pretzels

Sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt;  set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in until thoroughly combined.

 

Add flour mixture, beating until just combined. Stir in chips, caramel bits and pretzels.

Using a large cookie scoop (about 2-3 tablespoons), drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet.  Top each cookie with a sprinkling of sea salt.  Bake for 9-12 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. The tops will not brown. I took mine out at about 11 minutes and the result was a perfectly soft, chewy center!

 

Let cool, on the sheet, on a wire rack for five minutes.   Remove from baking sheet and let cool completely.