I felt the urge to bake this weekend.  I guess it is my version of cabin fever.  Now that spring is right around the corner I have a burning desire to whip up sweet treats.  Or maybe it is because Christmas is so far in my rear-view mirror that I can justify baking again?

I spent some time browsing around the internet, looking for a recipe that would be interesting and something that I hadn’t tried before.  Salted Caramel  in a cookie, well, I have to give this a try!

I was a little apprehensive at first.  As you know, I normally make drop cookies, and this cookie dough has to be refrigerated before baking, so I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out.  But I put my trust in the recipe and decided to give it a go.

I went a bit off script with the instructions.  Instead of placing the dough in the refrigerator and then making cookies with the cooled dough, I formed the cookies and then placed them in the fridge.  I thought that baking directly from the fridge would keep the dough cooler, instead of handling it to form the cookies.

I used the back of a ½ teaspoon measure to make the indent in the cookies, it made sense to me since they were going to be filled with ½ a teaspoon of caramel anyway.

I let the cookies sit in the fridge for about 4 hours before I baked them.

These cookies on great on their own even without the filling!  They are the perfect base for any thumbprint cookie that you want to make.  But, once you add the caramel filling and a bit of kosher salt – these cookies really go up a level.

The caramel is classic – just butter and brown sugar, finished off with a bit of whipping cream.  I was kind of upset that it didn’t make more, as I really wanted to sit down and just eat the caramel.  There was a moment where I considered putting jam in the cookies and just sitting down with a spoon and the caramel, but that thought was fleeting.  I realized that I needed to start what I finished and make the cookie I originally planned.  Next time I might double the caramel recipe just to give myself a little treat.

I used kosher salt instead of sea salt, because of the bigger flakes, but you could use whatever salt you have on hand.  I have noticed when I am in the grocery store that you can purchase gourmet salts, so you could experiment to find your perfect flavour combination.

When these cookies are put together, not only do they look impressive – they taste so good.  In fact, when Jamie and I did our taste test, we both agreed that these cookies taste just like a butter tart.  Hearing that really made my day, since I still haven’t mastered pastry, and I know my Mom loves butter tarts.  Win-Win! 🙂

Spring has sprung with a new recipe to put into my cookie rotation.  Do you have a standard list of cookie recipes that you make on a regular basis?  Share your favourites in the comments below.

Adapted from:
Land O’Lakes
Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 2/3 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Caramel:

• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tbsp whipping cream (35%)
• Kosher salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla.  Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
2. Add in flour and mix until combined.
3. Shape dough into cookies.  Indent the centre of each cookie with the back of a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon.
4. Chill formed cookies on cookie sheet in fridge for 3-4 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 375 °F.  Bake cookies directly from fridge.
6. Cool cookies completely.
7. In small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar.
8. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to boil.  Continue cooking and whisking for one minute.
9. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in whipping cream.
10. Cool for about 15 minutes.
11. Carefully spoon 1/2 teaspoon of caramel into the cookie indent.
12. Sprinkle cookies with kosher salt.
13. Be sure to sample one before you share with others 🙂