With a social media following in the millions, Brooke Bellamy (née Saward) – aka Brooki Bakehouse – is a bona fide baker boss. Her Brisbane bakery draws queues around the block, and her cookies are the stuff of legend. So we were thrilled when she shared the recipe for one of her most-loved creations: the Double Choc Salted Caramel Cookie.
“Expect a rich chocolate cookie dough complete with dark and milk choc chips, and a silky caramel creme filling,” says Brooke.
The secret is the gooey centre: a spoonful of homemade salted caramel tucked inside each ball of dough before it’s chilled and baked. The result is a thick, bakery-style cookie with a crisp edge, a fudgy middle and a molten caramel surprise.
Ingredients
Makes: 8 large cookies
Chilling time: at least 3 hours
Baking time: 14 minutes
Salted caramel filling
- 200 g white sugar
- 85 g unsalted butter, cubed
- 120 ml thickened (heavy) cream, room temperature
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes
Short on time? You can use a good-quality store-bought caramel from the baking aisle instead.
Cookie dough
- 190 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 290 g caster sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 50 g Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 270 g plain flour
- 1 tsp cornflour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Pinch of salt
- 200 g dark chocolate chips
- 100 g milk chocolate chips
Method
1. Make the salted caramel
Make the caramel first, as it needs to cool and set before you fill the cookies.
- Heat the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. It will form clumps, but keep stirring and it will melt into an amber-coloured liquid. This takes around 5 minutes – watch it closely so it doesn’t burn.
- Once the sugar has melted, carefully stir in the butter. The caramel will bubble up and be extremely hot, so take care.
- When the butter has melted and combined, stir constantly while slowly pouring in the cream. The caramel will bubble again, so be careful during this step.
- Keep stirring for a few more minutes until smooth and fully combined. Remove from the heat and stir through the sea salt flakes.
- Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until cool and set to a thick, spoonable sauce.
2. Make the cookie dough
- Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat for 2–3 minutes.
- Add the caster sugar and beat for a further 3 minutes, until pale and creamy.
- Add the eggs and mix until just combined.
- Add the cocoa, flour, cornflour, bicarbonate of soda and salt, and mix until just combined.
- Fold through the dark and milk chocolate chips.
3. Fill, chill and bake
- Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Shape each into a “bird’s nest” with a hollow in the centre, spoon or pipe in about 15 g of salted caramel, then fold the dough over to enclose the filling completely.
- Refrigerate the filled dough balls for at least 3 hours before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced) and line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Place the cookies on the trays, leaving plenty of room for spreading, and bake for 14 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on the trays for 10 minutes before moving them – the centres will be very soft and the caramel very hot.
Tips for bakery-style results
- Don’t skip the chill. Cold dough holds its shape in the oven, giving you thick cookies and keeping the caramel sealed inside.
- Seal the seams well. Any gaps in the dough will let the caramel leak out as the cookies bake.
- Weigh your ingredients. Using scales rather than cups makes all the difference to the texture.
- Finish with flakes. A pinch of sea salt flakes on top as they come out of the oven balances the sweetness beautifully.
- Storage. Keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days, and warm for 10 seconds in the microwave to bring back the gooey centre.
Looking for more sweet inspiration? Browse our baking recipes.
