Who needs a candy bar?

Recently my mom has started picking my three-year-old daughter up from preschool on Thursday afternoons. That frees up my day for much needed house cleaning, errands, and an occasional lunch date with my husband, and also allows a few hours after my son gets out of school to hang one-on-one with him.

This afternoon I gave my son his after school snack and asked if there was anything he'd like to do. It's a snowy day, and he suggested baking cookies. Since the last of Tuesday's cookies were finished off last night, I thought that sounded like fun, and it had the added bonus of being low key. (When both kids are at home I have not been able to have them help me because they start to fight and a big mess ensues...my solution is to include them when they're alone with me! It's much more relaxing, and they might actually learn something that way.)

My son wanted to make cookies with chocolate dough. I pulled out my favorite recipe and promptly cut the portions in half. I gave him several options for add-ins, and he thought caramel chunks, chocolate chips, and peanuts sounded tasty. I happen to have homemade caramel on hand, but if you live near a good candy shop, you can use theirs (King Arthur Flour sells blocks of good caramel as well). Softening the caramel in the microwave for just a few seconds makes the hard type a little easier to cut. Be sure to use good quality caramel, and a good brand of chocolate. I used both mini and big chocolate chips to add dimension, but chopped chocolate would do the same.

Chocolate Candy Bar Cookies

This recipe makes about 34 cookies. If you need to make more, double the amounts and use two whole eggs in place of the egg and egg yolk.

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup, plus 2 tbsp sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chunks*

approx 1/3 cup chopped unsalted peanuts (macadamias or pecans would be tasty too)

approx 1/2 cup chopped caramel chunks

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix well. Beat in the salt, soda, and vanilla. Add the cocoa powder and flour and beat just until combined. Stir in the chocolate, caramel, and peanuts.

Drop by the rounded teaspoon onto parchment lined cookie sheets (it's VERY imprtant to line you baking sheets). Bake about ten minutes. Refrigerate the remaining dough while one tray bakes; if the dough gets too warm it will spread too much. Remove from the oven and let stand for 3-5 minutes to allow the caramel to set up a little. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

*Use a combination of different chocolates, if possible, such as semisweet and 60% dark. White chocolate also goes very well with this dough...you can get creative!