I learned a very important lesson yesterday. It all started during the recipe development for a creamy peanut butter treat. Being the frugal human I am, it was very important that I used the last scoop of peanut butter at the bottom of the jar — the one that was hardened because it hadn’t been mixed completely with the oil — even when I had a brand new jar sitting on the counter.
I placed the jar in the microwave, thinking that microwaving the cheap plastic probably wasn’t the best for the environment, but it was only for a few seconds anyways. Seconds after I hit “start” and started walking away, I heard this “pop pop” sound that seemed almost as loud as gunshots.
When I turned back and looked at the microwave, it was flashing bright rainbow colours and shapes, and it took a few seconds of me staring in awe before I screamed and jolted to the microwave to press “stop”. Fortunately it’s still alive and trucking, and our apartment remains fire free. Phew! Turns out there was a TINY piece of foil leftover on the ring of the jar from the seal. All I can say is, this is a pretty typical day in my kitchen.
All fires aside, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted a cookie recipe, so let’s just fix that right up, shall we? I’ve been curious about brownie cookies for a while, and wondered how it would be possible to get that chewy brownie texture in a cookie without the cookie becoming cakey. Try saying that five times fast.
This recipe from Food & Wine was my starting point, but since I seem to always have a can of dulce de leche kicking around, it only made sense to smother the cookies in caramel. I also adjusted some of the measurements as I found the original recipe a bit too dry. The result is a salty and sweet cookie with deep, rich chocolate flavours. This salted caramel brownie cookie tastes exactly like a brownie, with the decadence of a bakery treat. Enjoy 
Baker’s Notes (repeated in the recipe):
- It’s very important to freeze the dough before baking because it firms up the dough and will help give your cookies the lift you need
- You can use homemade or canned caramel/dulce de leche (found by sweetened condensed milk in the grocery store)
- Parchment paper is necessary otherwise the cookies will stick to the pan
- 1 lb semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup butter
- 4 eggs
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1½ cups flour
- 2 TB coarse salt
- ½ cup caramel sauce (canned)
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the chocolate chips and melt, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
- In a large mixing bowl add the eggs and sugar and beat with a mixer to combine. Add the vanilla, salt, and baking powder and mix to combine. Fold in the chocolate. Freeze the dough until firm, about one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Do not skip the parchment, as the cookies will stick to the pan otherwise. Scoop the dough onto the baking sheets and bake for 11 minutes or until cracked on top.
- When the cookies have cooled completely, drizzle them with caramel and sprinkle with coarse salt.
You can use homemade or canned caramel/dulce de leche (found by sweetened condensed milk in the grocery store)
Parchment paper is necessary otherwise the cookies will stick to the pan
Adapted from Food & Wine