chocolate caramel sandwich cookies

Have you ever had a treat which upon eating, you

• promptly ate the rest of the bag, OR
• (showing restraint) ate and savored one, then swore you would hoard and hide the rest from anyone and everyone else

Such was the scenario last week, after The Marathoner-PTA Prez-Superwoman Neighbor shared these cookies with me. I ate them all, save for one little bite. Supposedly for The Daughter.

The crisp cookie, cloaked in chocolate, contrasts brilliantly with the creamy caramel. It is beyond delicious and definitely on my top five cookie list.

To be honest, it is not a fast cookie to make.

You must roll out chilled dough and use cookie cutters.

There was the sticky issue of caramel and under-greased wax paper.

This fiasco was a good thirty minutes of surgery with boning knife.

More cookie cutter action.

But let me not dissuade you with minor drawbacks. Those are just the realities. The greater reality is that the cookie is worth every minute spent on it. And whether you care to share or hide and hoard, you'll love every bite.

Chocolate-Caramel Sandwich Cookie
slightly adapted from foodandwine.com/Rachel Thebault

Printable recipe

Cookie Dough
1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Caramel filling
2¼ cups sugar
1¾ cups heavy cream
⅓ cup honey
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¼ teaspoon salt

Chocolate glaze
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
fleur de sel, for sprinkling or festive sprinkles

Make the dough
In a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy. Beat in the egg. Sift the flour, cocoa and salt into the bowl and beat at low speed until the dough comes together, 2 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 2 or 3 times. Flatten into 2 disks, wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat. Roll out each disk of dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to a scant ¼-inch thickness. Using a floured 1 ¾-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out as many rounds as possible; transfer to the bakings hseets. Gather the scraps, reroll and stamp out as many cookies as possible. Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes, until puffed and set, shifting the baking sheets for even baking. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets.

Oil the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square cake pan and line the bottom with a sheet of wax paper, long enough to reach 2 inches up 2 sides of the pan. In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar, cream, honey, corn syrup and vanilla seeds, and bring to a boil. (Reserve the vanilla pod for another use.) Set a candy thermometer in the saucepan and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches 250ºF. Remove from the heat. Remove the thermometer and stir in the butter. Pour the caramel into the prepared pan and let cool for 45 minutes.

Lift the caramel out of the pan and transfer to a cutting board. Using the same round cookie cutter, stamp out rounds of caramel and sandwich them between the cookies, pressing gently to flatten slightly. Wrap any remaining caramel bits individually in wax paper and save for another use.

Melt the chocolate with the butter in a double boiler. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Dip the cookies halfway into the chocolate glaze, allowing any excess to drip back into the pot. The Neighbor added this bit- sprinkle with a little fleur de sel. Set the cookies on the wax paper and refrigerate for about 20 minutes, until just set. Transfer the cookies to a plate and serve.

n.b.  I made mine thinner and baked them for 10-12 minutes. In order for the caramel to be thinner, I used a 9x13 pan.

This post is linked to the following: show and share, tatertots and jello, i'm lovin' it, frugal girls, show and tell, tasty tuesdays, tip me tuesday, crazy sweet tuesday, wow me wednesday, sugar and dots, somewhat simple, something swanky, Sundae Scoop, made by you mondays, this chick cooks, friday flair, c.r.a.f.t., show me what you got