December is the most wonderful time of the year.

The decorations. The parties. And the baked goods.

This year, celebrate the holiday season with ginger cookies stuffed with caramel goodness from the Junior League of Omaha’s A Century of Serving centennial celebration cookbook, available in Fall 2018. Caramel goodness, you read that right.

The cookies, which are delectable on their own but pair well with coffee, cocktails and cocoa, are the League’s December Recipe of the Month. The “caramel goodness” alone is sure to impress your guests.

After you make the ginger cookies stuffed with caramel goodness, share a photo on social media using #JLOCookbook. Members who do will be entered into a drawing for a gift card.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cups salted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons salted butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 16 caramel candies, halved
• 1/2 cup Demerara sugar

Instructions 

• Beat brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla with a heavy-duty stand-up mixer on medium speed until mixture is smooth.
• Process flour, ginger, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until ginger is very finely chopped and mixture is well-blended, approximately 1-2 minutes. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture, and beat on low speed just until blended after each addition.  Shape dough into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill 6-24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Shape dough into approximately 30 (1 ½nch) balls.  Flatten each ball in your palm, and place 1 caramel half in center.  Wrap dough around caramel, and reshape into a ball by rolling in hand, completely covering the caramel.  Place balls approximately 2 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.  Sprinkle each cookie lightly with Demerara sugar.
• Bake in preheated oven until flattened and lightly browned on the bottom, approximately 10-12 minutest, switching pans halfway through baking (i.e. top cookie sheet is switched with the bottom cooking sheet). Cool on pans for 8 minutes.
• Serve warm either straight out of oven or reheated in the microwave.

The ginger cookies stuffed with caramel goodness were just one of the cookies on the table at the Cookbook Committee’s November meeting, which doubled as a holiday social for the members. Members also made ooey gooey butter cake cookies, dark chocolate and sea salt sables, rum buttercrunch toffee and other recipes exclusive to the cookbook.

Need some more inspiration for your upcoming parties?

• September Recipe of the Month: Cowboy Chic Black Bean Dip
• October Recipe of the Month: Pork Green Chile Stew
• November Recipe of the Month: Cilantro-Sesame Sticky Wings

Happy holidays! And happy hosting.