Disappearing turtle cookies

"One of my favorite things to do during the holiday season is to make sweet treats for all of the people that I love," she said. "There's nothing better than being able to make people happy by giving them something that they can really enjoy (even if their waists really hate it). When the weather is dreary and cold, it's nice to have good munchies on the inside to keep you well fed and happy. I think turtle cookies are the perfect comfort food because you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't love creamy caramel, chocolate, and a crunchy pecan."

Ingredients:
3/4 brick of cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (can use dutch processed cocoa for deeper, extra chocolatey cookies)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 - 1 tsp. baking soda
whole pecans
caramel candies
1/4 cup whipping cream

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and then the sugar. Mix in the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Add and mix the dry ingredients to the first bowl. Allow dough to refrigerate for 15 or so minutes to be more easily workable. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

While waiting, cook caramel candies with whipping cream over low heat while stirring constantly. Adjust amount of cream to achieve desired texture of melted caramel.

Take dough out and roll rounded tablespoon sized balls between your palms. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes. At 8 minutes, quickly drizzle the caramel on the cookie and press a pecan into the middle of the cookie. Cook for another 2 minutes. Remove, cool, and watch them disappear!