Salted Caramel Filled Brownie Cookies
The brownie cookies alone are a must! But add in a salted caramel buttercream filling and some flake salt to the top and you have this decadent, mouth watering cookie sandwhich!
Ingredients
For the brownie cookies
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter
- 9 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 large eggs room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour gently spooned and leveled
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- flake salt to top cookies
For the salted caramel buttercream
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup unssalted butter cubed
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2-2 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tbsp whole milk for consistency
- 1 pinch kosher salt
Instructions
For the brownie cookies
- Using a double broiler on medium heat, start to melt the butter and semi-sweet chocolate together, stirring often. Once the mixture is melted and smooth, remove from heat and place in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and let cool.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a whisk. Set aside.
- Add in your eggs, brown sugar and granulated sugar to your melted chocolate mixture once it has cooled slightly. Mix on medium speed until combined.
- Add in your vanilla and mix to combine.
- Add in your flour mixture little by little until just incorporated. Careful not overmix the dough.
- Cover your dough and let it chill in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a small cookie scoop, create small cookie dough balls to place on your cookie sheet. I weighed mine to make sure they were consistent. Each cookie dough ball should weigh around 18 grams. If you do not have a scale, make 1-1.5 inch sized cookie dough balls. They will spread quite a bit.
- Place on your first cookie sheet 2-3 inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes. The edges should be set and the center should be puffing up. They may look a little bit raw in the center still, but that's okay. They will continue to cook on the sheet when you pull them out of the oven.
- Leave the baked cookies on the cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes after taking them out of the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to finish setting.
- While your first batch of cookies are baking, create the rest of your cookie dough balls and store in the refrigerator while the other cookies bake. It's important to keep the dough cool, or you will have cookies that spread too much and crack more than we want.
For the salted caramel buttercream
- In a heavy saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and milk. Start to melt on low heat, stirring often, until the brown sugar is dissolved.
- Increase the heat to medium and let the mixture come to a very gentle simmer, without stirring.
- Let the mixture simmer on low heat for 1-2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool completely to room temperature in the bowl of your stand mixer.
- Once the caramel mixture has cooled completely, start to add the powdered sugar slowly while mixing on medium speed with the paddle attachment.
- Add the rest of the powdered sugar until your buttercream has reached the correct consistency and is smooth and creamy.
- I added another 2-3 tablespoons of milk to achieve the consistency I wanted.
- Add a pinch of kosher salt and mix to combine.
To assemble the cookie sandwiches
- Add your salted caramel buttercream to a piping bag and pipe your buttercream to the flat side of one cookie.
- Add a second cookie to the top of the buttercream and press down gently to help them stick.
- Sprinkle with a little bit of flake salt if desired.