Salted caramel chocolate chip cookies with beurre noisette

I can keep this recipe fairly short. Chocolate chip cookies with brown butter in the dough and a soft salted caramel centre. It really doesn’t get much better than this.

Method

1. Mix the flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Make the beurre noisette by heating the butter in a pan over medium-low heat until melted. Leave the butter on the heat for a little longer and occasionally swirl the pan over the heat so the butter moves and doesn’t burn too quickly. The butter will now start to colour slightly; remove it from the heat when it is beautifully golden brown and smells wonderfully nutty.

2. Mix the beurre noisette in a large bowl with the sugars and salt. Once you have a smooth mixture, add the egg and egg yolk and whisk until everything is incorporated. Add the flour mixture and fold it in until a smooth dough forms.

3. Chop the chocolate into pieces (about the size shown in the photo below) and stir into the dough. Cover the dough and let it rest in the fridge for approx. 1 hour.

4. To make the caramel, melt the butter and sugar in a pan. Once the butter has melted, add the golden syrup and condensed milk. Bring the mixture to a boil, then let it simmer gently while stirring constantly. Make sure to stir well over the bottom as well, so it doesn’t burn. The mixture will now start to colour slightly; it is ready when it is beautifully golden brown (approx. 5–10 minutes). Season with some salt and pour into a baking tin lined with aluminium foil. Sprinkle with a little more salt and leave to set for approx. 1 hour.

5. Remove the dough from the fridge half an hour before you are going to bake. Preheat the oven to 190 ºC.

6. Make the cookies by taking a large tablespoon of dough and kneading it slightly. Make a flat disc by pressing it between your palms. Place a teaspoon of caramel in the centre of the cookie. Taste the caramel to check whether it is salty enough. If not, add a little extra salt.

7. Fold the dough around the caramel and use your hands to shape it into a ball. The dough may split slightly as you do this, but that’s absolutely fine. If you simply roll it well with your hands, it will become a nice smooth ball.

8. Place the balls on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Make sure there is enough space between the balls. The cookies will become considerably larger. You may need to bake the cookies in two batches. Bake the cookies for 9–11 minutes, until the edges become firm but the centre is still slightly soft.

9. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool for a moment (5 min). Place them on a rack or plate to cool further and bake the second half of your cookies. Let these cool slightly as well before digging in.