MAKES 46 • PREP & DIP: 1 HR • BAKE: 14 MIN PER BATCH
1 stick (½ cup) light or regular unsalted butter, softened
cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 cup chopped nuts (black walnuts, cashews, peanuts or your favorite)
1½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup chocolate sprinkles (jimmies)
1 pkg (14 oz) classic caramels, unwrapped
1½ Tbsp water
1 Heat oven to 350°F. You’ll need a baking sheet(s).
2 Beat butter, sugar and yolks in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in ½ cup of the nuts, the vanilla, baking powder and salt. With mixer on low speed, gradually beat in flour until a soft dough forms.
3 Roll rounded teaspoons of dough into balls. Shape as acorns with a pointed top. Place point up, 1 in. apart, on ungreased baking sheet(s). Bake 14 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown. Cool on rack.
4 Place remaining ½ cup nuts and the sprinkles in food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Mound mixture on a sheet of wax paper. Melt caramels and water in a bowl in microwave as package directs.
5 Dunk acorn cookies into caramel 1 at a time, turning with a fork to coat. Lift and scrape excess caramel from bottom against top edge of bowl. Use a second fork to scrape acorn from first fork onto nut mixture to coat bottoms. Transfer to a wax paper–lined cookie sheet and refrigerate to set caramel. Reheat caramel in microwave to keep it fluid while dipping remaining acorns.
PER ACORN: 89 cal, 2 g pro, 13 g car, 0 g fiber, 4 g fat (1 g sat fat), 12 mg chol, 51 mg sod
Storage tip: Store airtight at cool room temperature with wax paper between layers up to 1 week.
