Salted Chocolate Espresso Caramel Cookies

salted-caramel-espresso-cookies

There is a coffee shop, Park City Coffee Roaster, not far from my house that serves the most decadent (and delicious) latte I have ever had. It’s a salted caramel latte. Shots of espresso and warmed milk topped with whipped cream, drizzled caramel, and specks of sea salt. Uh, yeah, I’ll give you a second to wipe the drool off your chin.

These cookies are loosely (o.k, largely) inspired from my love of this latte. These are officially the first holiday cookies baked this year. Talk about coming out of the gate strong.These little gems are going to be a tough act to follow.

salted-caramel-cookies-platter

From the mocha cookie dough to the gooey caramel center to the crunchy salt on top, they are quite possibly the perfect bite. My mom and I get together every December and have a bake-your-arse-off-cookie-athon. We were supposed to get started yesterday but she blew me off to go see the new Harry Potter movie. Lame, I know. So I started without her. And actually, it turned out to be a blessing because these cookies are so ridiculously good that I don’t have to share with her now. Because what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her? Right?

And it’s not like I have to worry about her reading my blog anyhow because she’s probably doing something way more fun like going to the movies.

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Chocolate Espresso Caramel Cookies with Fleur de Sel


Description

These salted, caramel filled, mocha cookies are absolutely perfect just the way there are. Don’t mess with the recipe. Make, bake and enjoy!


Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 50 chocolate caramel kiss candies, unwrapped
  • Coarse sea salt for garnish

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 375F degrees.
  2. Lightly grease two (2)-mini muffin pans; set aside.
  3. Combine milk and espresso powder in a small bowl; set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda; set aside.
  5. Combine butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add dissolved espresso powder mixture, eggs and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed. Add flour mixture and beat on low just until combined.
  6. With lightly floured hands, shape dough into 50 1-inch balls. Place dough balls into prepared muffin pan cups. Bake for 7 minutes or until puffed and set, taking care not to over bake.
  7. Immediately press 1 caramel kiss candy, top side down, into each cookie. Wait about 2 minutes and push candy around just enough so chocolate is melted on top. Immediately sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.
  8. Cool on in pan, on rack for 10 minutes. Carefully, run a small sharp knife around the edge of cups to remove cookies. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.
  9. Sit back, with a cold glass of milk in hand and devour.

Notes

This cookie recipe was developed for high altitude baking. If you don’t need to adjust, increase both sugars to 1 cup each and increase baking soda to 1 teaspoon.