Irish Whiskey Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies

For the cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugars on medium speed, for 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and whiskey and mix for 1 minute. Slowly add the flour and on low-speed mix just until the majority of the flour is incorporated. Using a spatula, mix in the mini chocolate chips.

Roll dough into 24 equal sized balls, around 1 1/2-inches wide, and place them about 2 inches apart on Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheets. Using your thumb, make an indentation in the middle of each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes, or just until the bottom edges of the cookies start turning a golden brown. Remove from oven.

After removing the cookies from the oven, use the back of a spoon to reinforce the indentation in each cookie. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, before removing to a cooling rack.

For the filling:
Melt the caramels into the cream, in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. This will take several minutes, so be patient. Your arm will definitely get a workout.

Take the caramel off of the heat and add the whiskey. Be very careful—the caramel will bubble up with the addition of the whiskey. Hot caramel is like liquid lava when it hits your skin.

With a spoon, or a decorating bottle, fill the indentation of each cookie with caramel, and then top with a bit of the ground sea salt. Allow the cookies to rest for several hours before placing in an airtight container, with waxed paper between each layer of cookies.