Cookwithus #7 Cookie Jar: Salted Caramel, Chocolate and Peanut Shor...

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I don't think I can adequately express my excitement for this one. Cookies are my favourite thing to make. FAVOURITE. THING.

I look for any occasion to bake cookies, mostly because my cake baking skills are iffy (I have a hard time sticking to exact ratios and following recipes) so I've baked far too many in preparation for this challenge.

(Cue Rocky Montage, but with more flour)

I tried several recipes and none of them photographed quite as well as these, and none of them disappeared quite as quickly.

The real reason I picked these, however, is because the shortbread is the first cookie I mastered, because it's easy.
It's also one of my fondest memories in the kitchen with my gran. She's a chef and the reason I love cooking. I was only about 8 when I learned how to make these. She'd bake HUNDREDS for the holidays every year, even though there were only 6 of us. I was recruited to cream the butter and sugar (I was also the one who got sick because I ate half the butter and sugar, but I digress).

The recipe stuck with me, mostly because it really is as easy as 1,2,3:

1 part Sugar
2 Parts Butter
3 Parts Flour

You can really make these to any quantities you like, but for the sake of the recipe I used

Ingredients:

100 Grams Castor Sugar
200 Grams Salted Butter (You can use unsalted, but I love me some salt)
300 Grams All Purpose Flour
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract (Optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C or 365 F.
Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. (Add Vanilla if using at this point)
Sift in flour and fold in with a metal spoon until juuust combined (you want little bits of butter mixture to stay untouched)
Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least an hour, but preferably overnight.
Dust your counter with a little flour and roll out to 3/4 cm or 1/4 Inch thickness and cut into desired shapes- as long as it's cold it will hold its shape pretty much exactly.
Bake for 6-10 minutes, checking regularly after the 6 minute mark. Remove as soon as they're just starting to turn golden around the edges.
Leave to cool while you make your toppings.
(They're delicious and buttery as is. It's difficult to have any left for the topping part. I understand.)

Now for the good stuff. I am a firm believer in Salt. Especially where caramel and chocolate are concerned.
Get them to envelop a crisp, short little cookie and I'm sold.

Gooey Salted Caramel:

(60 ml) water
1 cup natural brown sugar
1/2 cup (160 ml) heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons salted butter, (If using unsalted, adjust salt to taste)
1/2 Tsp Salt (I used Pink Himalayan)
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract.

###Method:

Add water, sugar, butter and salt to heavy based saucepan, slightly bigger than you think you need (it just helps prevent the sugar from catching and a bigger pot helps prevent boiling over.)
Gently bring to a boil until sugar turns a warm amber.
Remove from heat and gently stir in cream and vanilla
If too runny, return to the heat for a few more minutes until a little dropped into a bowl of cold water turns into a soft little ball you can squash with your fingers. (We encourage a taste test at this point, it's already on your finger.)
Remove from heat and leave to cool.

Chocolate Crack Topping:

200 grams good dark chocolate
1 Tbsp coconut oil

Bonus extra:

Crushed Peanuts

Method:

The easiest method for me is to microwave chocolate and oil in a glass bowl on medium heat in 30 second bursts until the chocolate is semi-melted. The glass will be sufficiently warm to continue melting as you stir and ensures a glossy finish.

To Assemble:

You can add the toppings any way you like, half caramel, half chocolate and nuts, or any combination of the two.
My favourite, however, is spooning a little caramel on the cookie so it makes a tiny mound and then dipping the entire cookie face down into the chocolate.
This creates the happiest pocket of caramel I can't wait to break open and squeeze.