Salted Caramel Brownie Sandwich Cookies

My Mum sent me the link to this recipe with just the subject title ‘Oh My Word’. Which is slightly alarming in the few seconds before the link loads, but once I had seen exactly what she was talking about, I replied instantly: ‘OMG’. The conversation continued in a similarly monosyllabic style: ‘Blog?’ ‘Definitely.’ With a recipe title like this one, what more can you say?!Fast forward three days later and these cookies were cooling in my kitchen. I was nervous they would not live up to our high expectations but I needn’t have worried. You can’t really go wrong with this much chocolate and caramel! The cookies are exactly like the edge pieces of my favourite Nigella brownie recipe – chewy on top but still slightly fudgy in the centre. I think the trick with the filling is to be brave with the salt because a hefty pinch sprinkled on top of the caramel really brings out the flavours and stops it being too sickly. The cookie mixture is quite runny – 300g of chocolate to 50g of flour – which makes it tricky to get perfectly even circles, but somehow every biscuit still ended up with a suitable partner. I adapted the recipe a bit to suit the ingredients I had, but it seems versatile enough to continue playing about with – you could use dulce de leche instead of making the frosting or add white chocolate chips to the cookies, for example. Before I tucked in, I sent a photo to my Mum to show her the results waiting for her at home. The reply? ‘Ooohhhh.’ Which sums them up really – enjoy!

Salted Caramel Brownie Sandwich Cookies adapted from this recipe

Ingredients: 100g dark chocolate, chopped
250g milk chocolate, chopped
40g unsalted butter
2 eggs
150g soft light brown sugar sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
50g plain flour, sifted
¼ teaspoon baking powder, sifted

Caramel filling: 165g caster sugar
60ml water
125ml double cream
150g unsalted butter, chopped
sea salt flakes, for sprinkling

1. Start with the caramel filling. Place the sugar and water in a medium saucepan over low heat and stir occasionally with a wooden spoon handle until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Increase the heat to medium and bring to the boil. Use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush down any sugar crystals clinging to the edge of the pan. Boil – without stirring – for 5-8 minutes until deep golden.
3. Remove from the heat and carefully add the cream and butter. Return the saucepan to the heat and stir until the mixture is smooth. Refrigerate until completely cool and firmed up.
4. For the cookies, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Place 200g of the milk chocolate, all the dark chocolate and the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and stir frequently, until melted and smooth. Set aside.
5. Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla in an electric mixer and whisk for 10 minutes until paler and creamy. Gently stir through the flour, baking powder, chocolate mixture and remaining 50g of milk chocolate and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
4. Drop tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper, allowing them room to spread. Bake for 8–10 minutes or until puffed and cracked. Allow to cool completely on trays.
5. Whisk the firmed up caramel mixture.  Spread half the cookies with the icing, sprinkle generously with the salt and sandwich with the remaining cookies. Makes 12 sandwiches.