Christmas cookie as good as it looks!

Have you ever been to a cookie swap? If you have, you know it's lots of fun. I mentioned here, we were getting ready for a cookie swap. Well, the cookies my daughter made turned out delicious and I knew you'd want the recipe.

She found the recipe for Chocolate-Caramel Thumbprints in the Southern Living Christmas Cookbook and it's a favorite at our house now. I'll list the ingredients at the end of the post.

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy: gradually add sugar, beating well. Add melted chocolate, egg yolk, and vanilla, beating until blended. Stir together flour, soda, and salt; add to butter mixture, beating well. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll balls in pecans. Place balls 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets.

Press thumb gently into center of each ball, leaving an indentation. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until set. Combine caramels and cream in top of a double boiler over simmering water. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until caramels melt and mixture is smooth.

Remove cookies from oven; cool slightly and press center of each cookie again. Quickly spoon 3/4 teaspoon caramel mixture into center of each cookie. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Microwave morsels and shortening on high 1 minute. Pour melted chocolate in a ziplock bag and seal. Snip a tiny hole in 1 corner of bag; drizzle over cooled cookies.

Wow! They are not only delicious, but pretty too!

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 (1-ounce) semisweet chocolate baking squares, melted

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup very finely chopped pecans

16 caramels

2 1/2 tablespoons whipping cream

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

2 teaspoons shortening

Yield: 2 1/2 dozen.

ENJOY!

I'm contributing to Tempt my Tummy Tuesday!