| 2 | teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder or granules |
| 1 | tablespoon hot water |
| 1 | pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix |
| 1/4 | cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour |
| 1/2 | cup butter or margarine, melted |
| 2 | teaspoons vanilla |
| 1 | egg |
| 18 | caramels (from 14-oz bag), unwrapped |
| 2 | tablespoons milk |
| 1/2 | cup semisweet chocolate chips |
| 1 | teaspoon shortening |
| 1. | Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, dissolve coffee powder in hot water. Stir in cookie mix, flour, butter, vanilla and egg until very soft dough forms. |
| 2. | Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Using thumb or handle of wooden spoon, make indentation in center of each cookie. |
| 3. | Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. |
| 4. | In small microwavable bowl, microwave caramels and milk uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring once, until caramels are melted. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon caramel into indentation in each cookie. Cool 15 minutes. |
| 5. | In another small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and shortening uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds or until chips can be stirred smooth. Drizzle chocolate over cookies. Let stand about 30 minutes or until chocolate is set. |
|
| "Cookies are my thing. The thumbprints are fragrant with espresso and vanilla, filled with creamy caramel and a drizzle of chocolate...heavenly!" |
|
| Chilll dough for about 20 minutes to make it easier to shape. |
|
| To drizzle chocolate easily, spoon melted chocolate into small resealable food-storage plastic bag; cut small tip from 1 bottom corner. Squeeze bag gently to drizzle chocolate over cookies. |
Nutrition Information:
120 ( 45); 5g ( 2 1/2g, 1/2g); 15mg; 75mg; 17g ( 0g, 10g); 1g 0%; 0%; 0%; 0% 1/2 ; 1/2 ; 0 ; 1 1