With it being Halloween today, and with Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought it would be lovely if I made a delightful fall cookie. These cookies not only give you the warm fuzzy feeling of fall, but also make your entire kitchen smell delicious.

Ingredients:

1 cup softened butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 7.4 oz. box Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 14 oz. bag Kraft Caramels

Directions:

In a medium bowl,  whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, brown sugar, and all ten packs of apple cider mix until fluffy. About three minutes.

Beat eggs, one at a time, and add with the vanilla to the butter mixture.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture.

To make forming your cookie a bit easier, refrigerate for about an hour.

When you are ready to bake, unwrap your caramels.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper, not waxed paper.

Begin by rolling about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough into a ball. I found that a little more dough is better than less, as the caramel will seep out the sides during baking.

Then, flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand.

Press the caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, either completely covering it or allowing for the top of the caramel to be exposed. Place two inches apart on parchment-covered cookie sheets, b
ake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges.

Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment paper off the baking sheet right onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment paper. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist them off the parchment paper and allow to finish cooling upside down.

Recipe courtesy of Leavitt Siegal LLC. The recipe can be found here.

Emily Cassidy is the Promotions Chief and News Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.