I could be wrong, but I’ve never made cookies before. Full disclosure- not too fond of them. I’d eat them for sure if they were offered, but I don’t go crazy for them. We have a steady, free supply of cookies and biscuits at work and I do have one or two every day (!) but it hasn’t become a habit. Given the choice between a packet of choc-chip cookies or a deli pork-belly roast, I would always pick the latter.
Fact: I love a rum-raisin cookie though and on the rare times I get a Subway sandwich, I always get one if it is available.
But I decided to make this cookie because I saw it on Instagram- the current source of culinary inspiration- and the guy just did it well, plus, it was salted caramel, with emphasis on salt (using Maldon sea salt) which is my go-to flavour for sweet stuff.
Alas, I neither had the time to make the caramel (didn’t feel like watching a pot of simmering sugar) nor had Maldon sea salt. Tried to use Himalayan, but it’s not really fine and flaky as Maldon.
But I was committed and in lieu of caramel, I bought a packet of cranberries. The recipe is as follows if you want to make the caramel:
Ingredients:
200g granulated sugar
a pinch of Maldon Sea Salt Flakes
Cookies
210g unsalted butter, cubed
200g dark brown sugar
100g granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
330g all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
1 tsp Maldon Sea Salt Flakes
300g dark chocolate, chopped
Maldon Sea Salt Flakes for finishing
Method
1. To make the caramel, add the granulated sugar to a small saucepan. Over a medium heat, melt the sugar until you reach a golden amber colour, swirl the pot to mix the caramel
2. Season the caramel with a pinch of Maldon Sea Salt Flakes, then pour it onto a heat proof surface covered in greaseproof paper and set aside to harden
3. Add the cold butter, with a pinch of salt to a saucepan and melt. Once the butter has melted, continue to cook until it starts to develop a darker colour and smells almost nutty. Then, pour the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and let it cool for 15-20 minutes
4. While the hot butter is cooling, get all your dry ingredients ready in a separate bowl, chop your chocolate into large chunks, and smash the caramel into small coin size pieces
5. Once your butter has cooled slightly, add both the sugars to it. Mix using the paddle attachment. Once the sugar has dissolved into the butter, add the eggs one at a time and beat until the eggs have emulsified
6. Add your dry ingredients to this in 2 or 3 batches, at this point you’re trying to bring the batter together - you don’t want to overwork it
7. Add the chopped chocolate and caramel and mix for another 2-3 minutes
8. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and give it a light spray with cooking oil. Roll the cookie dough into balls and place them on the tray evenly spaced apart. Pat them down so they form a slight disc shape, then finish them with some Maldon Sea Salt Flakes
9. Bake the cookies at 180°C for 10-12 minutes. Take them out of the oven while they’re still a little bit soft.
It’s funny when you get recipes that call for eye-balling the amount of dough or using an ice-cream scooper where there’s really no guarantee of scooping consistent quantities. Use a digital scale- I have one which I got as a Christmas gift- and you’ll always get your quantities and sizes correctly. Turns out, the weight dictates the eventual size.
And don’t believe what you see on social-media; 9 times out of ten, the quantities they prescribe don’t match what you just watched. In the video, the guy made FOUR cookies.
I weighed the entire thing before portioning them out and the grand total was 1239 grams. I ended up making six 100 gram cookies; four 46 gram ones; three 80 gram ones and three 75 gram ones (these are not exact weights- some of the cookies were a couple of grams smaller).
As expected, they were delicious especially when they were still warm. But also so rich that I couldn’t finish even half a (large) 100 gram cookie. Since everyone in the house is dieting, will be bringing them to work instead.
