TAKE 5 COOKIES

If you like Take 5 candy bars, you are going to love this cookie recipe. It was invented by Carrie Fields, who sent it to the cookiemadness.net food blog. Carrie called her recipe "Mom and David's Faves", but I changed the name to "Take 5 Cookies." I've never had a Take 5 bar, but the recipe intrigued me, so I finally made a half-batch just to see what these would taste like. I decided to use Kraft caramel bits inside the cookie instead of melting them and using them as a glaze on top, mostly because of laziness. These cookies are very good. They're very peanut-buttery, soft and crumby inside, and have a nice crunch and chewiness because of the pretzels and caramel bits. They're not crisp on the edges, but you can't have everything. The cookies bake up high and don't spread much at all.

Take 5 Cookies (half-batch)
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar (I used 1-1/2 tsp. Stevia)
2 Tbsp. dark corn syrup
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla (I used pure vanilla extract)
1 cup all-purpose flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt (I used sea salt)
1 cup chocolate chunks (I used 1/2 cup Hershey's Special Dark + 1/2 cup milk chocolate)
1 large fistful salty pretzel sticks, lightly crushed (I broke them)
3/4 cup caramel bits

Preheat oven to 325F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In medium bowl, combine butter, sugars, syrup and peanut butter and stir with a spatula or heavy spoon till everything is well combined and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again till smooth. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and beat till incorporated. Stir in half the chocolate, pretzels and caramel bits. Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the prepared sheets, allowing 2-3 inches between cookies. Add 3-4 pieces of chocolate, 3-4 caramel bits and some pretzel pieces on top of each mound of dough. Bake for 15 minutes, or til cookies are lightly golden around edges. Let cool on baking sheets about 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. Yield: 21 cookies (Double this recipe for 42 cookies)