Every Christmas I like to bake cookies for Santa. Instead of the classic Christmas cookies decorated with icing, I decided to get a little creative this year.
With a basic cookie recipe you can do anything you want! I chose to add some chocolate on top and a homemade caramel to create a soft and delicious center. These cookies are so versatile that you could use jam in the center or skip the filling and just put chocolate on top.
Using a very fine sugar helps it to combine well with the butter, and the cream cheese gives it a nice smooth flavor. I promise you these will be a guaranteed hit, so get creative and enjoy them!
Chocolate drizzle.
Homemade caramel.
Butter cookies
Buttery cookies with chocolate drizzle and caramel filling
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 1/4 Cup unbleached all purpose four
- 6 Tablespoon fine sugar *
- 1/8 Teaspoon salt
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablesppon cream cheese room temperature
- 8 Tablespoon unsalted butter softened but still cool, cut in 8 pieces
chocolate drizzle
- 2 Oz semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1 Teaspoon ghee or butter
caramel filling; homemade or storebought.
Instructions
Cookies
- In an electric mixer bowl combine the flour, sugar and salt on low speed until combined.
- With the mixer on low, add one piece of butter at a time until combined. Add in vanilla and cream cheese. Mix on low until the dough begins to form large clumps.
- Knead the dough by hand in the bowl for 3 minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto the countertop and divide into 2 disks and wrap it with cling wrap. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove from fridge and cling wrap. Roll the dough out in between 2 pieces of parchment paper until it is around 1/8-1/4 inch thick.
- Let it rest in the fridge for another 10 minutes.
- After it has chilled, cut out your cookie shapes. For half of the cookies cut out a small hole in the center with a cookie cutter. Put them on baking sheet at least 1 1/2 inch apart. Put them back in the fridge for 10 minutes to rest.
- Preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit and adjust your rack to the top position.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, rotating the tray halfway until they are golden brown.
- Cool the cookies on a cooling rack.
Chocolate Drizzle
- In a bowl au bain-marie (double boiler) melt the butter and chocolate.
- Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies using a spoon.
Cookie Assembly
- Add approximately one teaspoon of caramel to the bottom part of the cookies (without hole). Gently place the top part (with hole) on top of the caramel. Place cookies on a tray and put in the fridge to firm.
Notes
*if you don’t have really fine sugar you can put cane sugar in a foodprocessor to create fine sugar
*inspired by: America’s test kitchen