Chocolate Caramel Cashew Balls

This is a food processor recipe because when I cook at home I like things to be as easy as possible with as little clean up as possible.

1 1/2 cups cashew pieces

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

8 ounces sweet butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons rum or vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

1/2 cup chopped salted caramels

1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350ºF In a food processor pulse the nuts and 1/4 cup of powdered sugar to coarse crumbs.  Add the flour and salt and pulse to blend.  Empty the flour mixture into a bowl and wipe out the food processor.  Add the butter and 3/4 cup powdered sugar to the bowl and process until light and creamy looking.  Add rum (I used Meyers) and process briefly to blend.  Return the flour mixture to the food processor and pulse until it comes together as a crumbly bowl.  Turn the dough out into the bowl originally used for the flour mixture and fold in the chocolate and caramel by hand.   

Form teaspoons of the dough into slightly flattened balls and place them on a cookie sheet about an inch and a half apart.   

Bake for 12-14 minutes rotating after six minutes.  Larger cookies may take longer to bake.   

Let the cookies cool and then roll them in a bowl with the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar till they look like snowballs.  If you like your cookies less sweet, you can eliminate this final dusting.

Recipe Source: http://blog.ideasinfood.com/ideas_in_food/2006/01/chocolate_caram.html