Caramel stained glass cookies.
These little cookies are something else. They are so unique in flavor and texture; insanely chewy cookie dough paired with crunchy caramel bits and hearty rye. The pure beauty of this cookie is that the uglier they are, the better they taste. And who couldn’t love a recipe like that? The burnt sugar bits will melt during baking, leaving craters of caramel. If you’re lucky, the burnt sugar will melt out onto the side of the cookie and then turn into crispy accents against the soft cookie. Perhaps not the best cookie for denture wearers, my friends. But, hey, YOLO.
Bowl #1
255 grams butter, room temperature
255 grams dark brown sugar
Bowl #2
2 whole eggs
145 grams maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons maple extract
Bowl #3
200 grams all-purpose flour
380 grams dark rye flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dry milk powder
Bowl #4
200 grams burnt sugar, broken into bits
On the sidelines:
Maple sugar, for sprinkling
Burnt sugar bits, for topping
1
In the first bowl, cream together butter and dark brown sugar for about five minutes.
2
In the second bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Add to the butter and sugar mixture and continue to cream for an additional five minutes.
3
In the third bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add into the first bowl and mix until just combined but all ingredients are evenly distributed.
4
Fold in the fourth bowl of burnt sugar bits. Chill the cookie dough in the fridge for thirty minutes.
5
Portion the cookie dough with a small cookie scoop or spoon. Freeze the portioned dough for one hour.
6
Preheat the oven to 350. Line a few cookie sheets with parchment paper.
7
Place the frozen cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, leaving a few inches between each cookie. Sprinkle with a little bit of maple sugar and a few more burnt sugar bits.
8
Bake until the cookies are set and lightly browned, roughly 25 minutes. Let cool.
Burnt Sugar
Bowl #1
2 cups granulated sugar
1
Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2
Place sugar in a medium saucepan. Over medium heat, cook the sugar until completely dissolved and browned, stirring often. The sugar tends to clump up a bit during the cooking process- just use a wooden spoon to smash up the bits while melting.
3
Pour the browned sugar onto the prepared cookie sheet and if need be, spread out to an even, thin layer. Let cool thoroughly, about one hour.
4
Use your preferred smashing method to break the hardened sugar into little bits. I like to gently tap with a meat tenderizer but really, anything will do. Ideally, the bits should be smaller than the size of a pea.
5
Store in an airtight container. I like to stash a tupperware of burnt sugar in my freezer at all times.