1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened (look at my comment)
2/3 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pecans, lightly toasted and very finely ground*
20 caramel candies
3 tablespoons cream or whole milk
2 to 3 tablespoons large crystal sea salt* (look at my comment)
1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate morsels (at least 60% cocoa) (look at my comment)
Combine flour and salt in bowl; set aside.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat to blend. Add dry ingredients in batches, mixing between each. Stir in ground pecans. Cover and chill dough until firm. (It will seem like you need to add more flour but you don't. Just put it in the fridge until in firms up.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or butter the sheets.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls with floured hands. Place on baking sheet at least one inch apart, and form a cavity in the center of each with ball of thumb. Bake for 13to 15 minutes or until bottoms are brown and set.
Remove cookies from oven; cool briefly on baking sheet. Transfer with a spatula to a wire cooling rack set over a piece of parchment paper.
Melt caramel candies and cream together in a saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Fill center of each cookie with approximately 1/2 teaspoons of caramel. Sprinkle warm centers evenly with sea salt, and let sit until firm.
Place chocolate in plastic bag in a bowl, cook on medium at 30 second intervals in microwave. Massage between each interval until melted. Cut a small hole in bottom corner of bag and drizzle chocolate across each cookie; add additional salt if desired and allow cookies to sit until chocolate is firm.
Makes about 4 dozen.
* To toast pecans, place nuts in a single layer in an ungreased shallow pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 5 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to cool.
I posted this recipe as it came but I have done a few changes to it to make it easier.
ReplyDelete1ST: Make sure that the unsalted butter has softened naturally. Don't put it in the microwave. Let it sit on the counter for about 15 to 20 minutes before making the cookies.
2ND: You don't necessarily need to add the sea salt. I have done it and I haven't and I haven't had any complaints. So if you don't have sea salt you don't need to go out and buy some, just make the cookies without it.
3RD: The last ingredient is the chocolate. I cheat and use regular chocolate chips with a teaspoon or two of cocoa. Then just follow the heating instructions.
4TH: When placing the dough on the cookie sheets it says to form a cavity in the center before it is cooked. The cavity always cooks out when I make them so I have started just rolling the balls and letting them cook, then when they are done and you take them from the oven while they are still hot take a teaspoon and push down lightly on the cookie until there is a small cavity. (Be careful when pushing down that you don't press to hard and make the cookie split.)
where's the pic? I know you have one....!
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