THE APRON GAL

I'm not sure if these really went with my Paninis and Pop Party, although they do contain the letter P several times: Caramel Apple Pizzas....but they just sounded really good!

The original recipe is for one large pizza but the dough stuck to the bottom of the pan and I only managed to salvage parts of the large cookie so I opted for using my favorite cookie cutters and turning these into "Mini Caramel Apple Pizzas." (nice save, right?)

As you may or may not have heard me mention several dozen times, I love anything MINI more than regular sized so it all worked out!

When you make these, you can bake the sugar cookie crust in a 14 inch pizza pan or make them into sugar cookie sized circles for "mini" pizzas. 

My biggest advice is although the sugar cookies and frosting can be made ahead of time, the apples are best sliced right before serving to prevent browning. Then drizzled with caramel and nuts. Additionally, only assemble the pizza/cookies right before serving, otherwise the cookie can get soggy.

If you make the minis, allow at least 10 to 15 minutes to assemble all the mini pizzas, since there are so many parts. I also used a mandolin to easily slice the apples but you could cut them up with a knife easily too. I just put the apples on the cookies however I thought they looked nice, you can see each one is slightly different. But they will all be gobbled up, I promise!

Ingredients

1 package (1 pound) refrigerated sugar cookie dough

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese (softened)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

2 large Granny Smith apples

caramel topping

1/4 cup chopped peanuts

Directions

Bake sugar cookies according to package directions in one large 14 in pizza pan or roll into balls and make regular sized sugar cookies. Allow to cool. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla until smooth. 

Slice apples thinly using a knife or by gliding over a mandolin slicer. 

Assemble pizza or mini pizzas by spreading cream cheese mixture over each  sugar cookie. Then layering with apple slices before drizzling caramel and crushed peanuts over top. 

Enjoy immediately!