Salted Caramel Cookies
TIER 2
Salted Caramel Cookies
In Tier 2 we step things up by adding a brown sugar streusel and salted caramel to the basic cookie dough recipe. The roasted hazelnuts in the dough add an amazing flavour, and the texture combination of this with the streusel and salted caramel is next level! The salted caramel centre can be swapped out for other fillings too – ganache, lemon cremeux, hazelnut praline etc!
8
COOKIES
Ingredients
Makes 8 Cookies
Hazelnut Sablé
350g Plain/All-Purpose Flour
190g Unsalted Butter, Cold & Cubed
120g Icing/Powdered Sugar
45g Ground Hazelnuts (or Almonds)
1g Fine Sea Salt
65g Whole Eggs
Streusel
60g Cold Unsalted Butter, Cubed
60g Light Brown Sugar
75g Ground Almonds/Hazelnuts
60g Plain/All Purpose Flour
Pinch of Sea Salt
Zest ¼ Lemon
Salted Caramel
175g Double/Heavy Cream
45g Whole Milk
135g Liquid Glucose Syrup, Divided
80g Caster/White Sugar
2g Flakey Sea Salt
60g Unsalted Butter
Special equipment
78mm Tart Ting
50mm Cookie Cutter
Stand mixer
Rolling pin
Silcon mats (optional)
Piping bags (optional)
Method
Salted Caramel
1. In a medium saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat, combine the milk, heavy cream, and 45 grams of corn/glucose syrup. Bring to a gentle simmer, whisking the mixture to ensure the syrup has fully dissolved. Remove the saucepan from the heat but ensure the mixture stays warm.
2. In a medium saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat, combine the superfine/caster sugar and the remaining 45 grams of glucose sugar. Cook until the mixture turns a deep caramel colour, whisking slowly to help disperse the sugar.
3. Once golden, immediately pour in the hot cream mixture, being very careful as it will bubble up violently. Whisk the mixture and cook for 1 minute.
4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the mixture through a sieve and into a large bowl. Let the mixture cool for 2 minutes. Add the sea salt flakes and butter. Blend or whisk until smooth.
5. Pour the mixture into a container and leave at room temperature.
Streusel
1. Into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, add all of the ingredients.
2. Mix on a low speed until the butter has broken down and the mixture is sandy in texture. This will take a few
3. Transfer this to a baking tray and place it into the freezer while you make the sablé.
Hazelnut Sablé
1. Into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, add all of the ingredients except the egg.
2. Pour in the whole egg and mix on low speed for 30 seconds, then stop the mixer and use your hands to squeeze the dough together to form a dough.
3. Place the dough in between two silicon mats or pieces of parchment paper, and using a rolling pin, roll it to around 7mm/0.25” thick.
4. Place this in the freezer for 20 minutes.
5. Once chilled, work quickly and use the 78mm tart ring to cut out discs, then cut the middle of the dough out with a 50mm cookie cutter to leave you with donut shape. Place these onto a tray lined with parchment paper, ensuring you keep the tart rings around the outside of the dough. Place these back into the freezer for 15 minutes, meanwhile preheat your oven to 160C/320F Non-fan assisted.
6. Place the dough into the oven and bake for 12 minutes – it should turn a very light golden colour.
7. Once baked, let them cool for a few minutes before pressing the sables out of the tart ring and letting them cool completely.
8. Use the same tart ring and place it back onto the baking tray. Add a few tablespoons of the chilled streusel and press it down with the back of a spoon so you have an even layer.
9. Take the chilled hazelnut sablé and press this on top of the streusel, it should fit snugly into the tart ring. You need to make sure the sablé is touching the streusel. (If you find it won’t touch – when it is baking, it will soften, so after a few minutes you can press it down while it is in the oven).
10. Place the cookies into the oven and bake for around 20 minutes, or until they are a golden colour.
11. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before pressing them out of the tart rings.
12. Ensure the caramel is a soft, almost runny honey-like texture, and pipe this into the centre of the biscuits. The caramel will be soft and runny if served immediately but will thicken the longer they sit at room temperature.
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Chocolate Orange Swirl Cookies
TIER 1
Chocolate Orange Swirl Cookies
These stunning cookies use the same base dough, one flavoured with orange and the other flavoured with cocoa powder. The doughs are laid on top of each other and carefully rolled into a tight log to create the spiral effect. You can get creative and colour one of the doughs, or even make a quick ganache and sandwich the cookies together!
18-20
COOKIES
Ingredients
Makes 18-20 Cookies
Chocolate Dough
170g Plain/All-Purpose Flour
2g Fine Sea Salt
30g Cocoa Powder
80g Icing/Powdered Sugar
30g Ground Almonds
110g Unsalted Butter, Cold & Cubed
40g Whole Eggs
Orange Dough
200g Plain/All-Purpose Flour
2g Fine Sea Salt
80g Icing/Powdered Sugar
30g Ground Almonds
110g Unsalted Butter, Cold & Cubed
Zest 1 Medium Orange
40g Whole Eggs
Egg Wash
1 whole egg, whisked
Special equipment
Stand mixer
Silicon mats (optional)
Rolling pin
Method
Chocolate Cookie Dough
1. Add all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer, along with the cubed butter.
2. Mix on a medium low speed for 2-4 minutes, until the butter has broken down, and the mixture has a breadcrumb/sandy-like texture.
3. Pour in the egg mixture and mix for about 20 seconds, the dough will not pull together however, so remove the bowl from the mixer and squeeze the dough with your hands, until it forms a dough.
4. Place the dough in between two silicon mats or pieces of parchment paper and roll it to about 3-5mm thick – the thinner the better really. You want to roll it as best as possible into a neat rectangle shape as that will reduce the wastage later on.
5. Place the dough into the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours.
Orange Cookie Dough
1. Add all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer, along with the cubed butter.
2. Mix on a medium low speed for 2-4 minutes, until the butter has broken down, and the mixture has a breadcrumb/sandy-like texture.
3. Pour in the egg mixture and mix for about 20 seconds, the dough will not pull together however, so remove the bowl from the mixer and squeeze the dough with your hands, until it forms a dough.
4. Place the dough in between two silicon mats or pieces of parchment paper and roll it to about 3-5mm thick – the thinner the better really. You want to roll it as best as possible into a neat rectangle shape as that will reduce the wastage later on.
5. Place the dough into the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours.
Assembly
1. Once the doughs have chilled remove them from the fridge, and apply a light egg wash to the chocolate dough. Then, lift the orange dough on top, gluing it in place.
2. Leave them at room temperature to soften for just a few minutes – this will make them easier to roll.
3. Once softer, with the chocolate dough on the bottom, carefully roll the dough, lengthways (with the short side of the rectangle of dough facing you), into a tight log. Wrap this in clingfilm and then refrigerate for at least 1 hour
4. Before they are done chilling, preheat the oven to 150C/300F, non-fan assisted.
5. Once chilled, use a very sharp knife to cut the log into discs of equal thickness – about 5mm, then lift the biscuits onto a tray lined with a silicon baking mat.
6. Immediately place the tray into the oven and bake until lightly golden around the edges – about 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool then serve.
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Pistachio & Raspberry Cookies
TIER 3
Raspberry & Pistachio Cookies
6
COOKIES
Ingredients
Makes 6 cookies
Pistachio Cookie
250g Unsalted Butter, Soft
90g Light Brown Sugar
3g Vanilla Bean Paste
3g Salt
48g Whole Egg + 16g Egg Yolk
80g Pistachio Paste
300g Plain Flour
4.5g Baking Powder
Pistachio Paste
300g Unsalted, Raw Pistachios
4-6 Tbsp Groundnut Oil (or any flavourless oil)
Raspberry Cremeux
300g Raspberry Puree
7g Sugar
6g Pectin NH
40g Egg Yolks
70g Soft, Unsalted Butter
Slivered Pistachios, Raspberry Jam & Pistachio Paste To Decorate
Special equipment
Food Processor
Hand Blender
4” Ring Molds
Piping Bags
Round Tip Piping Nozzle
Method
Pistachio Paste
This will make slightly more than you need, but it can be hard to blend a smaller quantity as the blades of the food processor will not quite pick it up.
1. Take a medium saucepan and fill it with water. Bring the mixture to a boil then turn off the heat so it is no longer bubbling.
2. Add the raw pistachios into the water and place a lid on. Let them steep in there for 1-2 minutes.
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- 300g Raw, Unsalted Pistachios
3. Immediately drain the pistachios and place them onto a tea towel.
4. Rub the pistachios vigorously in the tea towel to try and remove all of the brown skins on the outside. If they do not come off by rubbing with the tea towel, then you can peel them off individually by hand – it takes a bit of time but is worth it for the colour at the end!
5. Once you have skinned all of the pistachios, place them onto a tray and roast them very briefly at 165C for around 8-10 minutes. That will help to dry them out every so slightly.
6. Once baked, take them out and let them cool completely. Then place the pistachios into a high powered food processor. Start blending on a low speed and slowly drizzle in about 1-2 Tbsp of neutral, groundnut oil. This will help to loosen the mixture slightly.
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- 4-6 Tbsp Groundnut Oil
7. As you are blending, it may initially look quite dry and crumbly, but as you keep blending, the natural oils from the pistachios should also release and leave you with a nice smooth paste.
8. Scrape down the bowl as needed and keep blending, drizzling in more oil as needed. You are looking for a paste that is smooth and almost has the consistency of natural peanut butter. Once it is finished, set it to one side in a jar.
Raspberry Cremeux
*Ignore the part in the video where I mention gelatin – I meant to say pectin!
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and pectin NH – pectin NH is essentially a thickener that we use. It is important to whisk it with the sugar.
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- 7g Sugar – 6g Pectin NH
2. Then into a medium saucepan, add the egg yolk and the sugar, pectin mix.
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- 40g Egg Yolks
3. Whisk it together until it is lighter in consistency – don’t worry if it looks slightly lumpy – as it gets heated the lumps will disappear.
4. Pour in the raspberry puree then place the pan onto a medium heat.
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- 300g Raspberry Puree
5. Keep whisking the mixture until it begins to bubble and boil. As it heats, the lumps should disappear.
6. Once it does reach a boil, pass the mixture through a sieve, on top of a large jug.
7. Then take the soft butter, and blend this in just a piece at a time.
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- 70g Soft, Unsalted Butter 8. Cover the surface of the mixture and refrigerate overnight.
Pistachio Shortbread
1. Preheat your oven to 175C / 350F non-fan assisted.
2. Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the soft unsalted butter, sugar, salt & vanilla.
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- 250g Unsalted Butter, Soft
- 90g Light Brown Sugar
- 3g Vanilla Bean Paste
- 3g Salt
3. Beat the mixture for 2-3 minutes until it is fluffier in consistency.
4. Next, pour in the egg and beat until combined.
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- 48g Whole Egg + 16g Egg Yolk
5. Add in your pistachio paste and beat the mixture again, Scrape down the bowl as needed to ensure the pistachio paste is fully incorporated.
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- 80g Pistachio Paste
6. Finally, whisk together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl, and then tip this mixture in. Mix on a low speed just until it is combined.
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- 300g Plain Flour
- 4.5g Baking Powder
7. Once the dough has pulled together, line your baking tray with a baking mat and your ring molds. Ensure to line the inside of the ring mold with parchment paper to ensure the cookie doesn’t stick.
8. Measure the cookie dough so that you have around 100-110g of dough per ring mold (note – if you are using smaller ring molds then you can scale down the weight of the dough ball per cookie)
9. Use your hands to press the cookie dough evenly into the ring mold, trying to make it as flat as possible. Wetting your hands slightly can make this a little easier.
10. Place the tray of cookies into the oven and bake for around 18 minutes or until lightly golden around the edge.
11. Remove them from the oven and carefully peel off the ring molds. Lift the cookies up and allow them to cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack.
Assembly
1. Remove the raspberry cremeux from the fridge and place it into a stand mixer. Whisk it on a medium speed until it is slightly lighter. It won’t necessarily thicken like a whipped cream so don’t worry as we are not looking for that. Simply whisk it for 2-3 minutes on a medium high speed until it appears slightly lighter in consistency.
2. Add the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip nozzle. Meanwhile, add some raspberry jam into a piping bag.
3. Take the cooled cookie, and pipe small dots of raspberry jam into the cookie. You don’t need too much as it is quite sweet.
4. Take any leftover pistachio paste, and pipe small dollops of this onto the cookie too.
5. Pipe the raspberry cremeux in small dots over the cookie.
6. Finally, add a few fresh raspberries and crushed pistachios.
7. The raspberry cremeux can soften at room temperature if it is particularly warm, so it is best to keep the cookie cool/chilled and then leave them at room temperature about 30 minutes before serving
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
TIER 2
Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cookies
5-6
COOKIES
Ingredients
Makes 5-6 cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie
75g Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
60g Caster Sugar
65g Light Brown Sugar
60g Natural Peanut Butter
35g Double/Heavy Cream
3g Vanilla Bean Paste
80g Plain Flour
30g Cocoa Powder
2g Baking Soda
Caramelised Peanuts
140g Unsalted, Raw Peanuts
100g Caster Sugar
40g Water
Sprinkle of Sea Salt Flakes
Chocolate Disc
250g Dark Chocolate
Special equipment
Stand Mixer
Cookie Cutters
4 x A4 Acetate Sheets
Hair Dryer/Heat Gun
Method
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie
1. Into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a beater attachment (or a large bowl if you are mixing it by hand), add in the unsalted butter, sugar & peanut butter.
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- 75g Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 60g Caster Sugar
- 65g Light Brown Sugar
- 60g Natural Peanut Butter
2. Beat the mixture on a medium speed (or with a spatula) for 2-3 minutes, until it appears lighter and fluffier.
3. Pour in the cream and vanilla, and beat until combined.
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- 35g Double/Heavy Cream
- 3g Vanilla Bean Paste
4. Finally, place a sieve on top of the bowl, and add in the dry ingredients. Mix on a low speed until they are fully incorporated.
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- 80g Plain Flour
- 30g Cocoa Powder
- 2g Baking Soda
5. Cover the surface of the dough with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 170C/340F non-fan assisted.
Caramelised Peanuts
*This will make more than you need
1. Into a medium saucepan or a shallow frying pan, add the water, then sugar and finally the peanuts.
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- 140g Unsalted, Raw Peanuts
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 40g Water
2. Place the pan on a medium heat and keep stirring until the peanuts become sandy and the sugar has crystalised around them. At this point – you haven’t gone wrong!
3. Keep stirring the mixture, taking the pan off the what every now and again to regulate the heat and ensure the nuts don’t burn.
4. Once the sugar has cooked, turned to a sandy caramel and the nuts are evenly coated, quickly tip them onto a silicon mat and break up any clumps of nuts. Let them cool completely.
Baking
1. After 30 minutes, scoop the dough into 65g pieces. Roll the pieces of dough in between your hands until they form smooth round balls.
2. Place the balls onto a baking tray lined with a sheet of parchment. Ensure there is enough space between them so they do not spread into each other as they bake. I like to bake 5 per tray.
3. Place the tray into the oven and bake for 18-22 minutes. They should spread out and crack slightly at the edges, but still have a very slight puff in the centre.
4. Once they have baked and while they are still warm, take a cookie cutter that is slightly larger than the cookie and rotate it in small circles around the outside. This will create a neat, round cookie.
5. While it is still warm, take some individual pieces of caramelised peanuts, and press them into the top of the cookie.
As an additional flavour you could also make the soft salted caramel recipe from Modern Pastry – Tier 2. You could pipe small dollops of this in between the caramelised peanuts.
6. Let the cookies cool completely. Be careful if you are moving them while they are warm as they are quite soft and they could fall out of shape.
Chocolate Disc & Assembly
1. To decorate the cookies we are going to melt a small disc of chocolate on top. You could temper the chocolate here but there is no real need as we are going to melt it immediately anyways.
2. Start by placing your chocolate into a bowl, and place this over a pan of gently simmering water.
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- 250g Dark Chocolate
3. Stir the chocolate until it is completely melted.
4. Remove the chocolate from the heat and pour it onto a sheet of acetate. If you are using A4 sheets of acetate, you will need to split the chocolate between two sheets, as 250g will be too much for one.
5. Place a second sheet of acetate on top and use a rolling pin to press the chocolate to the edges so you have a nice thin, even layer of chocolate. Don’t press the chocolate all the way to the edge as when we weigh it down it will spread slightly more. Repeat the process with the remaining chocolate, on a second sheet of acetate.
6. Lift the sheet of acetate onto a tray and then place a heavy object on top to keep the chocolate flat. Place the tray into the freezer for 10 minutes.
7. Once chilled, remove the tray from the freezer and carefully peel off the top sheet of acetate. Remember, the chocolate is not in temper so it will melt very quickly especially if it is hot, so work quickly, or place the chocolate back in the freezer as you go.
8. Take a cookie cutter, slightly smaller than the size of your baked cookie. Gently heat it with hot water or a blow torch.
9. Cut a disc of chocolate. Wipe the cookie cutter and repeat this, cutting as many discs as you need for your cookies.
10. Place the sheet of chocolate back in the freezer for 5 minutes.
11. After 5 minutes, work quickly and peel off the acetate from underneath the chocolate, to release the chocolate discs.
12. Take the disc of chocolate and carefully lift it on top of your cookie so that it is sitting on the caramelised peanuts.
13. Then, using a heat gun/hair dryer (or simply place the cookie in a warm oven), melt the chocolate disc so that it falls over the caramelised nuts.
14. Place the finished cookies on a tray then as an option, garnish with one final caramelised peanut and a touch of gold leaf.
15. You can place the tray in the fridge for 5 minutes just to set the chocolate disc or serve it warm/leave it at room temperature so the chocolate stays gooey.
Thick Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
TIER 1
Thick Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
6
COOKIES
Ingredients
Makes 6 cookies
56g Caster Sugar
90g Light Brown Sugar
127g Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
10g Honey
3g Vanilla Bean Paste
28g Whole Egg
212g Plain, All-Purpose Flour
4g Salt
3g Baking Powder
180g Milk Chocolate Chips
Extra Chocolate Chips To Garnish
Special equipment
Stand Mixer
6 x 4” Ring Mold
Method
1. Into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a beater attachment (or a large bowl if you are mixing it by hand), add in the unsalted butter, sugar, honey & vanilla.
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- 56g Caster Sugar
- 90g Light Brown Sugar
- 127g Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 10g Honey
- 3g Vanilla Bean Paste
2. Beat the mixture on a medium speed (or with a spatula) for 2-3 minutes, until it appears much lighter and fluffier.
3. Pour in the egg and beat the mixture until the egg has fully combined into the mixture.
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- 28g Whole Egg *Crack a whole egg, whisk it so that it is fully combined, then weigh 28g of it.
4. Into a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. It’s important to mix them together so that baking powder is properly dispersed.
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- 212g Plain, All-Purpose Flour
- 4g Salt
- 3g Baking Powder
5. With the mixer running on low, tip in the dry ingredients, then immediately tip in the chocolate.
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- 160g Milk Chocolate Chips
6. Mix very briefly until the flour has just absorbed into all of the butter. We don’t want to overbeat the mixture. It should only take 10-15 seconds to pull together.
7. Take a baking tray and line it with a sheet of parchment paper. Next, very lightly grease the inside of your ring mold, then place a piece of parchment paper along the inside of the ring mold. This will prevent the cookie from sticking to the mold.
8. Depending on the size of your ring mold, you may want adjust the weight of the cookie dough ball in the following steps.
9. Scoop out a piece of cookie dough and weigh about 110g of dough.
10. Take the dough and press it into your ring mold. Use your fingers tips to gently press the cookie dough right to the edges, ensuring it is as smooth as possible. If you are using a smaller ring mold, as a rough guide, you want the cookie dough to fill the ring mold about halfway up so you can remove as much dough as needed so that it fills up the ring mold to that point.
– Unlike a lot of other cookie recipes where you create a ball of dough that then melts into a disc, this cookie dough doesn’t spread much so don’t ball the cookie dough up and try to bake them like regular cookies.
– If you don’t have ring mold, you can simply shape them into thick, flat discs and bake them. Then once they come out of the oven, use something round like a cookie cutter, and rotate it around the outside of the cookie to create a neat round shape.
11. Repeat this with the remaining cookie dough, you should be able to get 6 cookies if you are using 110g per cookie.
12. Place the tray in the freezer for 10-15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 175C/350F. We are not freezing the dough, just keeping it chilled while the oven heats up.
13. Once the oven has heated up, remove the dough from the freezer and slide the tray into the oven.
14. Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes until they have puffed up and gone lightly golden around the edge. The cooking time will be slightly quicker if you are using a smaller ring mold so keep an eye on them. Every oven is different.
15. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, add some more chocolate on top of them while they are warm, along with a sprinkle of flakey salt.
16. Remove the ring mold and let them cool for 5 minutes before serving.
FAQ
How can I store the cookies?
Cookies are always best served and eaten the same day or within a day. Once they are baked you can store them in an airtight container. If you are not baking them that day, you can shape the cookie dough into discs the size of your ring mild, then place them in the freezer. You can freeze the dough for up to a month, however the logne the dough chills the more it will ‘dry’ out, resulting in a cookie that will lose moisture.
Can I refrigerate the dough before I bake it?
The dough can be refrigerated, but the longer you refrigerate the dough, the more the dough will dry out. As the dough dries out, the sugars become more concentrated which can result in a crispier cookie.
Chilling cookie dough is usually done to prevent the cookie dough from spreading too much, but the cookie recipe doesn’t spread much anyways.
Can I re-heat the baked cookies?
Yes! Pop them in the microwave very briefly for short, 5-7 second bursts of time until they are soft or put them in a hot oven for a few minutes to soften them.
If I don’t have enough ring molds, what should I do with the remaining cookie dough while the cookies bake?
Just leave it out, covered, at room temperature until you are ready to portion it up.