It's my favorite food, ever ever ever...

Well, he's done it again. When reality doesn't agree with Jack, he often decides to go ahead and change it (Hey, maybe he can be President someday!).

Last year we enjoyed his skillful personal fate twisting when he gave himself a better role in the first grade musical (See November 18, 2005). This time, he was asked in school to write down his favorite food--the one thing mom or dad makes that makes him happy. They were to guess at the ingredients and instructions, and then later compare it to the real recipe, supplied by mom or dad on a notecard. The recipes are going to go into a class cookbook full of (probably very, very sugary) good stuff. Cute project, right? Very cute. Jack's favorite food? Chocolate Caramel Cookies. Yummy! As soon as he brought home the assignment, I started craving Chocolate Caramel Cookies. I could have written down the recipe and whipped up a batch for us to enjoy were it not for one teensy hair of a problem. I've never made anything called Chocolate Caramel Cookies in my life. He just thought they sounded good.

Thankfully for Jack and the class cookbook, we came up with a tweakable recipe this weekend, made and sampled them. I'm pleased to report that they are deee-licious! We're guessing they have about 697 calories each, but what's life without your favorite things?

Jack's "Favorite" Chocolate Caramel Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
24 caramels
2 T milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Drizzle:
Microwave caramels and milk in a glass container for 2-3 minutes, stirring after each minute. Drizzle melted caramel on top of cooled cookies.