I’m ready to wear warm fall clothing and start enjoying the all of the wonderful flavors of fall recipes.

Apple cider is a popular favorite around our house on chilly days. I knew apple cider cookies fresh out of the oven would be just as popular.

The original recipe doesn’t call for walnuts with caramel drizzled over them. The cookies taste amazing without it, but I couldn’t pass up going for a cookie that tastes like a caramel apple!

Adding the walnuts and caramel makes these cookies the perfect fall treat! My family LOVED them, the whole batch disappeared in a day.

Enjoy!

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Apple Caramel Cookies

Course Cookie, Dessert

Author Adapted by Made From Pinterest

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 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 14 oz. bag Kraft Caramels

Instructions

• Use a medium bowl to whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside for later.
• Use an electric mixer on medium speed to mix butter, sugar, brown sugar, and all ten packs of apple cider, continue mixing until fluffy. About two three minutes.
• In a separate bowl beat eggs, one at a time, then add vanilla to the butter mixture.
• On a low speed add flour mixture in three portions, mixing each just until incorporated.
• Refrigerating the cookie dough for 1 hour will make forming the dough into balls easier, it is not required but recommended.
• Take an unwrapped caramel and place it into 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough that has been rolled into a ball. Seal the cookie dough all around the caramel square, flatten slightly and place on parchment lined cookie sheet.
• Bake in over at 350 degrees F for 12-14 minutes, be careful not to over bake. Remove from oven as soon as you notice the cookies start to brown along the edges. The bottom of these cookies burn easily.
• Slide the parchment paper and cookies off the cookie sheet directly onto your counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on parchment paper. Twist cookies off the parchment paper and allow them to finish cooling upside down,

The post Apple Caramel Cookies appeared first on TGIF - This Grandma is Fun.

Sometimes the simple things in life are the best. This Cream Cheese Caramel Apple Spread is case in point! It is ridiculously simple to make, only three ingredients are needed and it’s perfect for any occasion.

If you are like our family you are enjoying both the professional and collegiate football season. If we have a lot in common than you are also enjoying some great food while watching your favorite teams play. I like to have a good balance of sweet and savory options to eat while we cheer our team on and yell at the bad plays. It gets pretty loud at our house when a really close game is being played.

I also like recipes that can be put together fast, with common ingredients and that taste great. This Cream Cheese Caramel Apple Spread will take you no more than 5 minutes to make and about 5 minutes or less before all of it disappears. Seriously it will disappear right before your eyes in minutes! If you have a big crowd I suggest making a double batch.

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Cream Cheese Caramel Apple Spread

Author Adapted from She Wears Many Hats

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• caramel sauce homemade or store-bought
• toffee bits
• sliced apples pears, pretzels for serving

Instructions

• Place the cream cheese on a serving dish.
• Pour desired amount of caramel sauce over cream cheese.
• Top with generous amount of toffee bits and chopped peanuts if desired.
• Serve with sliced apples, sliced pears and pretzels.

The post Cream Cheese Caramel Apple Spread appeared first on TGIF - This Grandma is Fun.

This is the season for gift giving. Lots of treats will be shared, and I like to be the one with the coolest treats and ideas. One year for Halloween, I thought I had come up with a nifty alternative to candy for my giveaways to the trick or treaters at my door on Halloween.

At McDonald’s, they used to sell coupon booklets for each holiday season with 12 coupons for a $1. They were for things like an ice cream cone, french fries, cookies or a soda. I bought a bunch of them and gave 3 coupons away to the each darling child. The weather was good that year, so I had the windows open and heard one of those darlings tell another group of kids, “Don’t bother going to that house, all they give is coupons.”
This may not be the perfect thing for trick or treaters at your door, but it is a great thank you, teacher gift or hostess gift this season. This Caramel Cream Cheese Apple Dip is fall down good. It has everything! Crunchy and smooth, sweet and tangy. Oh and don’t forget crisp, juicy apples. I know it is traditional to use a green apple, but I prefer sweet red apples with this. Braeburn, or Fuji are great. I splurged on some Pink Ladies for mine. If you want to be the coolest lunch packing mom, this will be in your child’s lunch. They better give you a hug when they get home after school. Cool apple dip lunch packing moms like us deserve it. In fact, we should save a little dip for ourselves. We deserve that too. 

 For the full details and recipe, go to My Kitchen Escapades where I guest posted this recipe. Trust me, this one is worth the extra mouse click!

This pin rocks!

This post has been linked with these fun sites: It’s Overflowing, Be Different, Act Normal,  Kitchen Fun With My Three Sons, Your Home Based Mom, Just us Four, Dessert Now, Dinner Later, Will Cook For Smiles,  Sunny Simple Life, Raising Memories, I Heart Naptime

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