Lavender Caramel Stuffed Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

19 Sept 2017

My cooking and baking interests these days generally follow two paths - a challenge or educational endeavor where I am consulting textbooks and working with formulas, science, etc. to create a recipe or my weekly ambition of devising plans and recipes that are extremely productive and create as many meals with the least amount of work possible. This recipe is of the former and ended up being quite the labor of "love." The funny part is that I have never really been a snickerdoodle person; they were kind of boring to me and this was my attempt to bring some life to them.

The most challenging part of this recipe was creating a cookie dough that was structurally sound enough to contain the caramel, but not hard as a rock or dry as dust. After about my 10th attempt and many fine adjustments I finally got it! No caramel explosions and the texture and richer taste that I was after. Cookies are where science in baking is very visible and the slightest change in ingredient or technique can produce very different results. This does make it easier to correct mishaps, but can take time. This recipe was tested with the homemade lavender caramels given and also plain store bought caramels because hubs does not like lavender, although he did say he did not mind it in this recipe lol.

Lavender Caramel Stuffed Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

Recipe for Lavender Caramel Stuffed Brown Butter Snickerdoodle
By

Lavender Caramel Stuffed Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

Prep time: - Cook time: - Total time:
Yield: About 24 cookiesS

Ingredients

Lavender Caramels*
- 1.5 cup sugar
- 3 T dried lavender
- 1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 t vanilla
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1.5 T unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1/2 t salt
*Note: Can substitute store bought, plain caramels - they were tested as well.

Brown Butter Snickerdoodle
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1.5 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 2 egg
- 1 t vanilla
- 3 cups (468g) bread flour
- 1.5 t baking powder
- 1/2 t salt

Sugar Coating
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 T cinnamon
Optional
- salt flakes for garnish
Directions

Lavender Caramels

Line a 8x8 baking pan with parchment.

In a medium pot, heat heavy cream and lavender until bubbles form around the edge and then let steep for 15 minutes. Strain out lavender with fine mesh sieve and set cream aside.

Heat sugar and honey in a separate pot until it comes to boil and sugar dissolves. Let the mixture boil until it reaches 302F.

Turn off heat and add butter, salt and warm cream with caution.

Turn heat back on and heat mixture until the temperature reaches 248 F;

Remove from heat and pour into prepared pan and let cool completely for about 5 hours.

Cut caramels into about 3/4" squares and set aside in fridge or if not using the same day, wrap in wax paper.

Brown Butter Snickerdoodle

Melt butter and heat on low until it turns brown, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Beat sugar, salt and butter until slightly fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla.

Next mix in dry ingredients until just combined and chill dough for about 30 minutes.

Then preheat oven to 350F and prepare baking sheets with slipmat or oiled parchment liner and combine cinnamon and sugar coating.

Take 1 tablespoon of cookie dough and slightly flatten into a disk, then place a caramel in the center, then another tablespoon flattened into a disk on top of that and then close the two disks together around the caramel at the seems (see photos below).

Then roll into a ball, dredge through the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on cookie sheet keeping a space of 2-3 inches between each.

If desired sprinkle tops of cookie dough balls with salt flakes.

Place completed baking sheets back in the fridge for about 15 minutes and then stick them into the oven.

Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes or until done.







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