Chocolate Caramel Rocks

These Chocolate Caramel Rocks are super chewy and chocolatey with a gooey caramel in the middle. If you need to satisfy a chocolate caramel craving, this is the perfect vehicle. They are a lot of fun to feed to the kiddos, who get a big kick out of grandma feeding them "rocks."

They kind of look more like mud pies than rocks, and your hands will look like you've made mud pies when you are done shaping them, but trust me, these were a huge hit with my taste testers.

They are sifted with a coating of powdered sugar and cocoa powder right before baking, which helps give them that "rock from your garden" look (and also gets your hands all chocolatey, so have lots of napkins).

Honestly, I was a little worried about posting these because they are not exactly photogenic (kind of like a pile of rocks!), but after tasting them and seeing how everyone wanted seconds, who am I to deprive you of this recipe for tasty chocolatey goodness?

Get your Fred Flintstone on and head to the Bedrock Gravel Company (or was it the Cave Construction Company?), and tell Mr. Slate you need some rocks. Yabba dabba doo!!

After the recipe, check out the list of incredible cookies containing caramel from the member bloggers of the #CreativeCookieExchange.

Chocolate Caramel Rocks

Recipe slightly adapted from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook 

 Ingredients

3/4 stick (6 T) unsalted butter

3 ounces unsweetened Baker's chocolate 

8 ounces (1 cup) dark brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp espresso powder

1 large egg

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

6.25 ounces (1 1/2 C) unbleached all purpose flour

24 individual caramel candies, unwrapped
1/4 C powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and the chocolate over low heat until melted.
3. Pour the mixture into a medium mixing bowl and let it cool until it's lukewarm.
4. Mix in the vanilla, espresso, and egg, and mix, either with a spoon or hand mixer, until smooth. 
5. Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour, and mix by spoon, and then knead with you hands, until all of the ingredients are combined into a dough. It will be fairly stiff. 
6. Cut the dough into 24 equal pieces and cover them with plastic wrap while you shape the cookies. 
7. Flatten each piece of dough and wrap it around a caramel. Roll it around in your hand to form a smooth ball. Continue, until you have 24 balls. 
8. Combine the powdered sugar and cocoa powder into a plastic sandwich bag, and drop each ball, one at a time, into it to coat with the cocoa and sugar. 
9. Place the shaped balls on the baking sheets and bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 8 to 10 minutes. 
10. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, and then cool completely on a wire rack. 
11. Store airtight. 

The theme this month is Caramel--any kind of caramel in any kind of cookie! 

• Basement Brownies from Sidewalk Shoes
• Camel Milk Caramel Basbousa from Food Lust People Love
• Caramel Cashew Cookies from Our Good Life
• Caramel Shortbread Cookie Strips from Magnolia Days
• Caramel Thumbprint Cookies from Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt
• Caramelized White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies from Baking Yummies
• Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars from The Spiced Life
• Chocolate Caramel Rocks from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Chocolate Walnut Caramel Stuffed Cookies from Noshing with the Nolands
• Eggless Vanilla-Caramel Biscotti from What Smells So Good?
• Millionaire Shortbread Bars from Spiceroots
• Salted Caramel Butter Cookies from SimplyVeggies
• Take 5 Caramel Oatmeal Cookies from 2 Cookin’ Mamas