Salted Caramel Espresso Cookies

Baking and cooking blogs simply fascinate me. How do people feasibly come up with so many recipes from scratch? I mean, are they wizards!? I never really understood how it was done, but creating my own cookie recipes is something I've wanted to try for a while. So, hopefully, this is the first of many original cookie recipes that will appear on Whale & Wishbone.

The thought of adding espresso to a cookie occurred to me a long time ago and so I knew that's where I wanted to start with this recipe. Adding caramel wasn't a difficult jump to make given how delicious I find any caramel coffee drink. And so, the idea of the Salted Caramel Espresso Cookie was born. Of course, I wasn't about to just throw things into a bowl and hope for the best. I did a little research and found this blog post to be particularly helpful when crafting my recipe. While I did create this cookie recipe on my own, I wasn't yet feeling confident enough to whip up my own caramel recipe, so instead I relied on the kitchen goddess that is Ina Garten for a little help. I've linked to her caramel sauce recipe below.

Fun side-note: a few friends (two of whom are also my roommates) were so incredibly enthusiastic about this endeavor of mine. The whole process took the better part of the day, and together, we made it a production. The word "production" might even be an understatement for how seriously we took this. They got involved in taking pictures, "hand modeling," taste testing and everything in between. They kept me laughing the entire time and are just amazing. 

Okay, back on track:

Above is my friend Christina's perfectly staged hand. 

When I asked my friends to add the egg, of course, this is what they jokingly did. 

This adorable "waiting for the cookies" picture was their idea.

When all was said and done, these cookies really did turn out well. The dark brown sugar and espresso kept the flavor rich, while the salted caramel added the perfect amount of sweetness. I think they would make a lovely companion for an early morning coffee or a late night study session.

If you're in need of further proof, I can tell you that we baked them on Sunday, and there are no more to be found.

Salted Caramel Espresso Cookies

(makes 24)

[Ingredients] 

1/2 cup butter  (1 stick)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar packed

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp ground espresso 

2 cups all-purpose flour

caramel sauce for drizzling (I made mine using Ina Garten's recipe)

sea salt for sprinkling

[Directions] 

Preheat the Oven to 350 F

Cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add egg and vanilla, and beat until combined.

In a separate bowl, mix together baking soda, salt, espresso, and flour. Add to butter mixture and combine to form dough.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto cookie trays lined with parchment paper. Using the back of a spoon, slightly flatten each cookie.

Bake for 7-9 minutes until edges are slightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes, before transferring to cooling rack.

Once cool, drizzle cookies with prepared caramel and top each with a dash of sea salt.

P.S. If you made your caramel from scratch, you should definitely save the rest for a rainy day (preferably in an adorable mason jar).