Chocolate Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies

It's no secret that another one of my favorite flavor combinations is salted caramel, as apparent by one of my past posts. There's something about the salty sweet that draws me in, and in these cookies, with the additions of chocolate and pecans, all is right in the world.

They're tiny little things, so I don't feel too guilty eating a couple, and pecans are added protein so they're kind of healthy. Right? No? Well, let me just live in my own world where cookies are healthy, because if eating cookies are wrong I don't want to be right.

I adapted this recipe from Taste of Home, and boy, am I glad I did. These cookies make me happy, so if you're feeling a bit down make these. They'll put a smile on your face and undoubtedly a smile on your tummy.

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Chocolate Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
by May-1-2014
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, separated
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup baking cocoa
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup finely chopped pecans
  • 12 to 14 caramels
  • 3 tbsp heavy whipping cream
  • Sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk, milk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Refrigerate, covered, 1 hour or until you can easily roll it into balls.2. Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into 1-in. balls. In a bowl, beat egg white. Place pecans in a separate bowl. Dip balls in egg white, then in pecans, patting to help pecans adhere to the dough.3. Press a deep indentation in center of each with the end of a wooden spoon handle. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. When I took them out of the oven I used the wooden spoon again to make the thumbprint deeper.4. In a large heavy saucepan, melt caramels with cream over low heat; stir until smooth. Fill each cookie with about 1/2 teaspoon caramel mixture. Sprinkle each top with a bit of sea salt to taste.
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Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 24 cookies
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Written by Mary Ryherd On In , Tagged , ,

Salted Caramel Crispy Treats

I have an exceptionally wonderful aunt, who I affectionately think of as the Martha Stewart of our family. She's the aunt who brought homemade marshmallows and homemade graham crackers for s'mores while vacationing in North Carolina this past summer. I can still remember her putting together beautiful tea parties for the cousins, where I ate the sugar cubes instead of plopping them in my tea. Basically, my Aunt Glenda is all that I aspire to be in a baker and cook, so when she e-mailed me this recipe with "Mary make this!" in the subject line I knew I had to make them.

And I did. The very next day. She told me in her e-mail that I would "never be able to go back to the old boring Rice Krispy Treats." And I was like "how can someone replace the original?" But, SHE WAS RIGHT. So right. I want to always have marshmallows and heavy whipping cream on hand to make these every day. You'll want to have five in one sitting, and you will probably give into that craving. I did. Shhhh.

If you're a big fan of salty and sweet look no further and make these. Now. Right now. Seriously.

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Salted Caramel Crispy Treats
by March-19-2014
Ingredients
  • 6 cups cups crispy rice cereal
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tbsp. light corn syrup
  • 1 tsp. flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, plus more for sprinkling
  • One 10-oz bag mini marshmallows
Instructions
1. Spray an 8 inch square cake pan with nonstick spray. You can pretty much use whatever size pan you want for this. It'll just depend how thick you want the treats. I used a 7x11 in pan, but a 9x13in or an 8in will work just fine as well. Add the rice cereal to a large heatproof bowl and set aside. 2. Add the butter to a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once melted, stir in the brown sugar, heavy whipping cream and corn syrup. Cook until thick and syrupy while stirring frequently, about 7 minutes. Stir in the salt (I used kosher salt and they turned out just fine). Turn off the heat and stir in the marshmallows. Keep stirring until the marshmallows are smooth and melted.3. Quickly pour the caramel marshmallow sauce over the cereal and stir all together. Pour into the prepared pan and press down with a piece of parchment paper sprayed with nonstick spray. Sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt. Let them cool completely, and then cut into squares.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 12 Servings
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Written by Mary Ryherd On In Tagged , , ,