Brace yourself.
For so many reasons.
First. These cookies. They are shut-up-shove-them-in-your-face good.
Second. This frosting. I have plans for it. So.Many.Plans.
I feel like I say this a lot but these cookies really are a breeze. Other than chopping some chocolate there really is nothing to them. They are incredibility delicious all on their own too. I would happily shovel them down with a tall glass of cold milk.
The frosting on the other hand was a bit more work. Making your own caramel is a cinch. I followed this great step by step tutorial from Bakers Royale. My caramel ended up being fairly hard when it cooled so I rewarmed it and thinned it with some more cream. Once it was cool (for the second time) I was able to use it in the frosting.
So yes, all in all there are three separate recipes here. They are time consuming but I believe the end result is worth it. I managed to make the cookies and caramel during Little’s morning naptime. The frosting was whipped up during the afternoon nap.
I wish I could say these are every day cookies. Perhaps the cookie part alone might be, that is if you are ok with two dozen cookies requiring over $4 in chocolate alone.
Brownie Cookie with salted caramel frosting (makes 10 large or 20 small two-sandwich cookies)
Adapted from Bakers Royale
Cookies:
12 oz. chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup confectioner sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup caramel (Make sure caramel is cooled if making homemade)
First make the cookies: Place 7oz. of the chocolate and the butter in a saucepan over low heat and gently stir until melted and smooth. Set aside.
Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat for 5 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add in flour, baking powder, melted chocolate mixture, remaining 5 oz. of chocolate and mix to combine. Set aside to to stand for 10 minutes. Spoon 2 tablespoonful for a large cookie and 1 tbs full for a small of the mixture, onto parchment lined bake sheet. Bake for about 8–10 minutes or until puffed and cracked. Allow to cool completely on trays.
Second make the frosting: Place butter in a bowl and beat until creamed. Add in confectioner sugar and salt and beat until light combined. Add in caramel and beat until combined.
Assemble: Spread a teaspoon and a half of frosting on underside of one brownie cookie and place a second brownie cookie bottom side down on top frosting.
Ps. I am trying to learn how to take better food pictures. I read through a wonderful tutorial this weekend and spent some time taking too many pictures of these cookies. As mentioned above I utilized naptimes to cook so when it came time to take pictures… Someone was up and intent on helping.
Oh. My. Gosh. Chocolate and salted caramel, two of my favorite things! I cannot wait to try these. Kimmy, you are a genius!
Next time I make them I will send some to work with Nathan 🙂
I made these last night. Holy. Cow. They are so incredibly rich and delicious. I wasn’t paying attention to the amount of chocolate I melted, so it was a little more than called for, so my cookies didn’t flatten out properly. But hey, that means more chocolatey goodness, right? I sure wish I had a big frosty glass of milk right now! Thank you for sharing this recipe. It is divine!
Should we use dark chocolate or baker’s (100%) chocolate?
I used the 70% dark pound plus bar from Trader Joes. NOT bakers.