Caramel S'Mores Cookie Cups

I made these yesterday for the youth group at my church. The youth help me serve every year at our annual church Thanksgiving dinner, and they are invaluable to me with their willing attitudes and sweet smiles. I was looking for a dessert that might appeal to them and happened across this recipe on the Betty Crocker website. I normally don't use packaged mixes for cookies, but they are so wonderfully convenient, so why not? I have recently begun to adopt less labor-intensive methods in my kitchen, and I am enjoying the benefits of non-scratch cooking.

One of my adaptations of the recipe was to use Hershey's Caramel Filled Kisses, which are one of my favorite seasonal products from Hershey's, instead of Hershey's Rolos. The oozy caramel center is surrounded by a nice thickness of magnificent Hershey's milk chocolate - so hard to resist!

Another change I made was to make the cookies in two 12-muffin tins, using cupcake paper liners, instead of the mini 36-muffin tin specified in the recipe. Although I did not sample the final product, they looked delicious, and I intend to make them for hubby and me this weekend. I would also like to try an almond-flavored sugar cookie dough with Hershey's Cherry Cordial Creme Filled Kisses - YUM!

Caramel S'mores Cookie Cups
adapted from Betty Crocker
Makes 2 or 3 dozen cookies

1 pouch Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mix
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1 egg
24 - 36 Hershey's Caramel Filled Kisses, unwrapped
mini marshmallows 3 or 4 per cookie
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 24 regular muffin or 36 mini muffin cups with cooking spray, or use cupcake paper baking cups.

Make cookie dough as directed on package, using butter and egg. Shape dough into 24 or 36 balls and place 1 ball into each muffin cup or baking cup. Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove from oven; firmly press 1 candy into center of each cookie. Top each with 3 or 4 marshmallows. Bake 2 to 4 minutes longer or until marshmallows are puffed. Cool 30 minutes. Remove cookies from muffin tins or baking cups and cool completely on wire rack.

Place chocolate chips in small resealable freezer plastic bag. Microwave on High about 1 minute or until softened. Gently squeeze bag until chocolate is smooth; cut off tiny corner of bag and squeeze to drizzle chocolate over marshmallows. Let stand until hardened, about 10 minutes.

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