You look like you need a cookie. But not just any cookie. Something a little crazy. Something really big and chewy and crunchy and filled with good things. Something that would make your dentist mad but your tummy happy. I’ve got the answer.

These cookies came about in kind of a funny way. When at the mall recently my Main Taste Tester stopped by Kernels to pick up some popcorn that he was craving. He decided on the Double Butter, Double Caramel flavor and when looking at the sizes, saw S, M, L and B. Thinking that “B” must mean a bucket with a lid to keep his leftovers fresh, so he decided on that. As soon as the girl hoisted it over the counter I could see he had more popcorn than he bargained for. Obviously “B” really meant “Biggest F&$%ing Bag Ever” because it was huge. Like, 10 pounds of popcorn, easy. We died laughing at this ginormous bag of popcorn he had to cart around the mall for the rest of the afternoon.

We snacked on the popcorn but we barely made a dent in the bag, and I started thinking I should re-purpose some of it into another treat. I decided to stir the caramel corn into cookie dough with salty peanuts and chunks of chocolate and I brought them to a family gathering to share. There were none left before I knew it, because these are amazing. The caramel corn sort of melts into the cookie dough, leaving chewy caramel bits. Luckily we still have a gazillion pounds of popcorn left, so I imagine they will be gracing us with their presence again soon. You’ve been warned: don’t get the “B” size at Kernels unless you have a crowd to help you eat it. Or you want a ton of these cookies. I can’t say I’d blame you there.

 Salty Sweet Caramel Corn Cookies

Makes about 18 large cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup salted butter
• 1 ¼ cups brown sugar
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 2 cups caramel popcorn, coarsely chopped
• 1 ½ cups chocolate chunks
• 1 cup chopped salted peanuts

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, remove from the heat. Add sugars and stir until smooth and blended. Chill the mixture for a few minutes until cooled to room temperature. Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir well. Incorporate dry ingredients. Stir in the popcorn, peanuts and chocolate chunks. Drop large spoonful’s (I wanted mine really big so I used a ¼  measuring cup) onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until just set. Cool and then store in an airtight container.

Note: Don’t chill the dough without scooping the cookies first unless you have time for it to warm back up. It gets really hard and you’ll have trouble scooping out spoonful’s after it’s cooled.