Have you ever noticed that it's times when you need to be the most focused and productive that you have the least motivation to get anything done? Finals are less than a week away, and I have yet to finish outlining for either of my tests. Am I locked away in some dark corner of the law school, frantically memorizing the finer points of wills and trusts? Nope! I am at home. Baking cookies.
A couple weeks ago all the Tuesdays With Dorie folks were making Dulce de Leche Duos. They looked amazing, and I've been wanting to make them ever since. But, does my Safeway carry Dulce de Leche? No, of course not. They do, however, have Smucker's Caramel Sundae Syrup! So I figured I'd throw that into the cookies, and make a chocolate ganache filling for sandwiching. Ah, improvisation. Emily often tells me I should have just called this blog "The Missing Ingredient" instead.
Instead of following the TWD recipe for the cookies, I decided to modify a chocolate chip cookie recipe instead. Don't ask me why. Probably because I felt like chocolate chip cookie type dough would go better with ganache. Anyway, this dough turned out to have a similar consistency to the Thumbprint Cookies I made a while back -- non-sticky and very malleable. I had a feeling they weren't going to flatten out as much as I wanted them to.
And I was right! The cookies were soft and chewy, but were a bit puffier than I wanted -- the TWD duos were so flat and pretty! But I'm just being nit-picky. A sandwich cookie is a sandwich cookie, no matter how flat or puffy it is.
And these were delicious. I probably could have added a smidge more caramel sauce to the batter, but overall the cookies were wonderfully chewy and caramel-y, and the chocolate ganache made them even more addictive. These definitely will not go uneaten for very long.
Caramel Cookie (Adapted from a Cooks.com Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe)
Ingredients:
- 1 stick of butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 tbsp white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup caramel sauce
- 1-1/2 cups flour
Steps:
(1) Preheat oven to 375.
(2) Cream together butter and sugars.
(3) Add vanilla, egg, and caramel sauce.
(4) Gradually add in dry ingredients. Mix until well combined.
(5) Add by spoonfuls to greased cookie sheet/pan.
(6) Bake for 8-10 minutes for softer cookies, 10-12 minutes for crispier cookies.
(7) While cookies are cooling, start making the ganache (below).
Chocolate Ganache:
Ingredients:
- 4 oz baking chocolate
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Steps:
(1) In a saucepan or double boiler, stir chocolate and cream until melted.
(2) Allow ganache to cool slightly before spooning it between the cookies.
woah i didn't know u cooked deliciousness, well done sir
ReplyDeletedulce de leche is quite possibly the easiest thing ever to make ever, just puncture the top of a condensed milk can and stick it in a pot of boiling water for 2 hrs (don't let the water run dry though or ur can will explode)