Caramel-Stuffed Brown Sugar Cookies

Caramel-Stuffed Brown Sugar Cookies - made dough June 16, 2016 from Carlsbad Cravings

Ever since I discovered these fleur de sel caramels at Trader Joe’s, I’ve been looking for ways to use them, preferably by “stuffing” them into cookies. Of course, you don’t really stuff them. Like those miniature boats inside glass bottles, you simply build the bottle around the boat. Or in this case, you wrap the cookie dough around the caramel.

This cookie dough was very easy to work with and that’s key when you have to handle the dough and do more than form it into a ball. For this, I scooped out the dough, patted into a disc, placed the unwrapped caramel in the center and sealed it inside the dough. I kept the shapes halfway between ball and thick disc to accommodate the caramel. I didn’t want it to bake thin so (of course) I froze the dough. When making this type of cookie, always make sure you seal the caramel completely inside the dough. You don’t want any cracks that will enable the caramel to leak out. I did have that happen with one cookie but fortunately the crack in the dough was on top so the caramel stayed inside the cookie and peeked out rather than leaked out.

I had hoped these cookies would stay thick and chubby and that when you bit into it, the caramel would flow out. You know me and flowy by now. It didn’t quite work out that way. The cookies did spread to an even thickness but fortunately, so did the caramel. It’s almost amazing how neatly it stayed within the cookie and matched its spread. Subsequently, you had caramel in almost every bite of cookie, even near the edges.

I did find these brown sugar cookies a trifle too sweet for me though. They were still good and the caramel made them great but if you want to cut the sweetness, you might want to sprinkle a little fleur de sel on top of the cookies before serving.

14 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla
20-24 caramel candies

1. Whisk flour, baking soda and baking powder together in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Combine melted butter, brown sugar and salt and beat until combined. Add egg, egg yolk and vanilla; mix until combined. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.
3. Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and place caramel in center. Add another tablespoon of dough on top of caramel, pinch edges together and roll into a ball or thick disc. Repeat until all remaining dough is gone. Cover and chill or freeze until firm, several hours or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Place cookies on prepared baking sheets, evenly spaced apart and sprinkle with fleur de sel. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until barely golden. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.