Godiva Chocolate Pecan Caramel Cookies

When Kyle cooks, he doesn't care about using real food or not: unless I am standing over him forcing him to choose good ingredients. As such, he sometimes finds recipes that he loves that I do not approve of (but, to be nice...because I have to...I eat them. HA!) These are his FAVORITE cookies. Hard to blame him.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 ounces chopped dark chocolate (recommended: 2 (1.5 ounce) Godiva Dark Chocolate Bars)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
18 pieces chocolate or vanilla caramels (recommended: Godiva chocolate or vanilla caramels)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugars and butter together until fluffy, using either an electric mixer or by hand. When mixture is light and fluffy, add egg, and beat to incorporate. Add vanilla and beat to incorporate.
3. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients slowly to butter mixture and mix to thoroughly combine until a soft dough is formed. Stir in chopped chocolate and pecan pieces until blended.
4. With a (2-ounce) ice cream scoop, scoop cookie dough and place 1 caramel into the bottom of each cookie, using extra dough to cover the caramel so that it is not visible. Lightly press each cookie onto the sheet pan or baking sheet, in rows of 3 by 4. Repeat until no dough remains. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cookies are golden on top. More baking time may be needed, depending on your oven.