Caramel Apple Cookies

I usually don't like making cookies.  They always seem to take such a long time and I often discover that I've left them in the oven for too long.  When I saw this recipe, I can't remember where, I was instantly interested in the flavor combination.  Who doesn't love caramel apples?  After putting off making these for several weeks I finally made them and, after some initial disappointment, I think I got it right.  Here's the recipe, with a few tips I used to make things go a little more smoothly. 

Ingredients
1 C butter
1 C brown sugar
1 C white sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 C flour
2 3/4 C old fashioned oats (not quick cooking oatmeal)
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
12 oz. caramel baking bits (I couldn't find caramel baking bits so I bought a bag of caramels and cut them up)
2 C Granny Smith Apples (this ended up being two regular sized apples)

In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Add the vanilla and egggs, beat until combined.

Measure oatmeal into a food processor and pulse until ground finely.  In a medium-sized bowl, stir the oatmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda until combined.  Set aside.

Peel and finely chop the apples.

Using an electric mixer stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until combined.  Stir in the caramel bits and apples.  Refrigerate the dough for an hour (after making an initial batch, I froze the dough overnight and the next batches were considerably better).

Roll the cookie dough into balls, about golf ball size and bake on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in an oven preheated to 350 for 10-12 minutes.  Cool the cookies on the pan for 4 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

These cookies spread like crazy and the caramel escaped (and burned) in the first batch.  They were considerably more successful after I froze the dough, much less spreading and the caramel held up a little better in the hot oven.  I also thought the flavor improved after freezing; much more like a caramel apple.