Shelly's Recipe

PEANUT BUTTER THUMBPRINTS WITH PEANUT CARAMEL

Category: Cookies

For the dough
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup creamy salted peanut butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the Peanut Caramel
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup finely chopped roasted salted peanuts
4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped and melted (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and position 2 oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed until smooth and blended, about 2 minutes (if using a hand mixer you may have to beat a little longer). Scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Add egg and vanilla and blend well. Scrape down the bowl again. Add peanut butter, beat until well blended, and scrape down the bowl once more.

Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture all at once. Turn the mixer to the lowest speed and blend slowly, just until there are no patches of flour. Scrape down the bowl. Stir gently a few times with the spatula to make sure there are no patches of unincorporated flour or butter near the bottom of the bowl.

Use a 1-inch cookie scoop to make tablespoon-size mounds (or use a tablespoon and roll the dough by hand) onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 11/2 inches apart, about 20 cookies per sheet. Use the end of a wooden spoon to make an indentation in the center of each cookie.

Bake the cookies, switching the sheets between the racks and rotating each front to back halfway through, 13 to 16 minutes, until they are light golden brown all over and a bit darker at the edges. Transfer to cooling rack. Reinforce the indentation in each cookie. Cool completely.

For the Peanut Caramel Filling
Microwave the cream just until hot (about 35 seconds) and set aside. Place water in a medium saucepan; add sugar, corn syrup and salt. Cook sugar mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a heatproof spatula, until the sugar dissolves. Set the hot cream on the counter next to the stovetop. Turn heat to high and cook sugar mixture, occasionally swirling the pan (not stirring) so that the sugar cooks evenly, until it turns a golden brown. Immediately turn off the heat and whisk in the cream, adding it in a slow, steady stream. Whisk to blend well. Pour into a bowl. Allow to cool until warm and pourable (if it becomes cold and thick, reheat in the microwave until it is fluid again). Stir in the peanuts.

Spoon filling into the indentations of each cookie. Allow the filling to cool and set for an hour before finishing with the chocolate if using.

Melt the chocolate. Place in a small re-sealable plastic bag. Snip a small hole in the corner of the bag and stripe the chocolate over the top of the cookies. Allow the chocolate to cool and harden completely before transferring to a storage container.

Makes about 50 cookies.