Chocolate caramel-filled thumbprint cookies

Caramel-Filled Chocolate Espresso Cookie Cups
(adapted from Baking Bites who adapted it from Demolition Desserts)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp white sugar
2 tsp instant espresso powder (I used 3 tsp of Baker's Brew spice from Savory Spice)
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a mini muffin cup with paper liners (or grease well).
In a medium. bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Blend in instant espresso powder, egg and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, gradually blend in the flour mixture. Mix until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Stir in chocolate chips.
Bake for 10 minutes. Press centers of cookies down and then cool cups in the pan for 10 additional minutes. Remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Soften ~1 cup Nutella and ~1 cup dulce de leche/caramel in the microwave, scoop into a plastic bag, snip off the end and squeeze into cup holes.

Sprinkle with dark chocolate curls if desired

Makes about 3 dozen.

Salted Dulce de Leche* Cheesecake Bars

I decided I was going to make these for a 4th of July cookout before realizing that dulce de leche wasn't as easy to find as I would have thought. After looking in 6 stores, I gave up and bought caramel (Marzetti's caramel dip to be exact) and used that in place of the dulce de leche below.

The original recipe came from here, and other than the caramel sub, the only other change was to add about 1-2 Tbsp more cream to the topping, as the caramel was thicker than dulce de leche would have been.

These still turned out pretty well, and I'd definitely make them again -- hopefully actually using dulce de leche next time.

Crust
2 1/4 cups graham crackers, crushed
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
10 tablespoons melted butter

Filling
3 packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup Dulce De Leche (or caramel)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze
2/3 cup Dulce De Leche (or caramel)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
sea salt or fleur de sel

Combine the crust ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Press into lightly greased (spray Pam is fine) 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool.

In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese and sugar until fully blended. Add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add Dulce De Leche and vanilla extract and mix thoroughly. Pour and scrape over crust and spread evenly all the way to the edges of the pan. Bake at 350 for 38 to 42 minutes until filling is puffed, browning, and starting to crack. Remove and let cool.

Heat glaze, combine and spread over baked cream cheese and sprinkle with sea salt (start moderately) and refrigerate for an hour. Taste, and sprinkle with more salt if necessary before serving.

Caramel Toffee Chocolate Layer Bars

I've been on a serious bar-making kick...this was another good idea in theory but next time requires some tweaks. Really just to the caramel -- I used a microwaveable dipping type of caramel, and next time I think I'll just go the ice cream topping type of route, and decrease (or eliminate) the sweetened condensed milk. These were just ridiculously gooey...tasty, but hard to cut and a little messy to serve. I think a less-water-based caramel like the sauces would solve part of that.

Ingredients
1 box Ghiradelli double chocolate brownie mix
1 stick butter

1 bag toffee pieces/Heath/Skor bar pieces
1 bag (12oz) semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
1 10oz container caramel/caramel sauce
~ 7oz (1/2 can) sweetened condensed milk

Directions
1. In a 13x9 pan (or a Baker's Edge pan) melt 1 stick+2Tbsp of butter, then sprinkle brownie mixture over top.
2. Layer chips, toffee, and chunks over top.
3. Drizzle caramel and condensed milk evenly over pan.
4. Bake at 350 for 30-40min, until bubbly and golden brown on edges.
5. Let cool *completely* before cutting; drizzle with chocolate or caramel frosting/drizzle over top for decoration if desired.