Little Brownie Baker Inspired Cookies

Active time: 45 minutes | Bake time: 12 minutes | Yield: 30 cookies

Who doesn’t love Girl Scout Cookie season!? Several of my coworker’s kids were selling cookies, so you can imagine that by the time the cookies came, all around my ER, people were devouring Girl Scout Cookies. My coworkers know that I am obsessed with baking and developing recipes (I bring them most of what I make), so when they tasted these new Little Brownie Bakers several different people came to me asking me to make them. I’m always looking for inspiration, so I love suggestions!

I tasted one of the Little Brownie Bakers and (no hate toward the Girl Scouts, I love their other cookies), but I was a little disappointed. I expected the cookie itself to be soft, but it was hard and the caramel lacked in flavor. Since I was going to be making my own version of these cookies, I decided to go with a brownie cookie base because I wanted it to be softer. I made sure to add flake salt to the top of the caramel to really give it that extra punch and I am so in love with how these turned out!

Ingredients:

For the Brownie Cookies:

• 226g (1 ¼ cup) semisweet chocolate chips (or baking chocolate chopped, finely)

• 5 tbsp (72g) butter

• 200g (1 cup) granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs, + 1 yolk room temperature

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 90g (¾ cup) all purpose flour

• 20g (¼ cup) cocoa powder

• 1 tbsp (12g) powdered sugar

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp salt

• 120g (¾ cup) chocolate chips

For the Caramel:

• 100g (½ cup) granulated sugar

• 88g (¼ cup) light corn syrup

• 84g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature

• ½ cup heavy cream, room temperature

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

• Flake salt for topping, optional

Directions:

1. Melt the butter and chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl (you can melt in the microwave or a double boiler). Once completely melted, set aside to cool slightly (around 10 minutes).

2. Once the butter and chocolate is slightly cooled the granulated sugar, mix until well combined.

3. Whisk in eggs, yolk, and vanilla extract.

4. Add flour, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, baking powder, and salt. Fold in with a spatula until just incorporated, do not overmix.

5. Fold in chocolate chips until just evenly distributed.

6. Divide the dough into 25g portions (about a heaping 1 tbsp cookie scoop). Place the cookie dough portions on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the refrigerator to chill for 20 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Once chilled, place your cookie dough portions on a separate baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spreading the cookies out about 2 inches apart.

8. Press each cookie dough ball down with your hand to flatten it slightly, as they don’t spread much in the oven.

9. Bake for 10-13 minutes. It’s hard to tell when they’re done, but they will be slightly shiny in the middle.

10. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

11. While your cookies are cooling, begin your caramel - but make sure your cookies are cooled completely before adding the caramel.

12. For the Caramel: Add the sugar, corn syrup, butter, and cream to a medium heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently until the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted.

13. Increase the heat to medium-low and allow the caramel to boil. Once it reaches a boil, adjust the heat to maintain a simmer. Stir frequently and closely monitor the temperature with a candy thermometer for 15-20 minutes, until the thermometer reads 240°F.

14. Once it reaches 240°F, remove from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the salt and vanilla.

15. The caramel is now ready to use. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of caramel into the center of each cooled cookie. If desired, top with some flake salt