Dulce de Leche Caramels

Ever find yourself with an extra can of dulce de leche? If you're not in the mood to make butterbeer, here's how to keep from eating it with a spoon. Also happens to be a stupendously easy way to make "OMG where'd you get these?!" chocolates for your next gathering or gift-giving occasion. =)

Dulce de Leche Caramels

Ingredients:

• Dulce de leche (canned, or you can make your own by boiling a can of condensed milk!)
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips (or a bar; dark or semi-sweet works best since the caramel is so sweet)
• Oil (olive and coconut work well without imparting too much extra flavor)
• Salt
• Cocoa powder (or hot cocoa mix)

Materials:

• Spoon
• Parchment paper
• Plates or baking sheet (whatever will fit in your fridge/freezer)
• Glass bowl (for melting chocolate)
• Small bowl (for cocoa powder)

Directions:

1. Spoon small globs of dulce de leche onto parchment paper, and stick it in the freezer to harden. (Should take between 20 minutes and an hour, depending on your machinery.)
2. Once they've hardened, drop them one by one into the cocoa powder and roll them between your palms to create smooth spheres. Put 'em back in the freezer.
3. While they're re-hardening, Melt chocolate chips and oil (1tsp. oil per cup of chips) in the microwave in 10-second increments once it gets warm, stirring frequently. Once it's smooth, add salt to taste (make it a little saltier than you'd like with just the chocolate, as the caramel will add an enormous amount of sweetness to it.)
4. Pull the caramels from the freezer, skewer one with a toothpick, and use a spoon to coat it evenly with chocolate. Move quickly, as the caramel will soften and melt into the chocolate if you're not careful. Drop them back onto the parchment paper, garnish with salt if desired, and stick 'em in fridge to harden. (Note: They might be messy-looking. Don't panic! Once they're back on the parchment, use toothpicks to pull away excess globs of chocolate that form around the base.)
5. Enjoy!