Gluten-free caramelised white chocolate cookies
Photography by Simeon Crofts
DIETARY – Gluten-free, Nut-free, Vegetarian
Who doesn’t love cookies? They’re versatile, buttery, the perfect kind of crumbly, and paired with chocolate, well, you really can’t go wrong! I have made more batches of cookies than I can remember in my lifetime, but I’m still discovering new ways to make them, which led me to this recipe. What started as an experiment became a moreish biscuit that my taste-testers couldn’t get enough of. The secret? Browned butter and caramelised white chocolate! The two come together to form one delicious combo of toasty notes and decadent caramel flavours.
How to brown butter
Browning butter is something I’ve shared before, but here’s a little refresher:
Cook cubes of unsalted butter in a saucepan until it melts and begins to foam and sizzle around the edges.
Once you see some of the milk solids turning brown at the bottom of the pan, your butter is ready. You should also be able to smell a nutty aroma coming from the pan.
Pour the browned butter into a bowl to stop it from cooking further. Let it cool for a few minutes then it’s ready to use.
Brown butter is more traditionally known as beurre noisette and is often used in savoury sauces and when cooking fish. What makes it great in baking, especially in cookies, is the depth of flavour it can add with its rich, nutty, toasty notes only achieved by cooking in this way.
How to caramelise white chocolate
While you can use any type of chocolate in this cookie recipe, I highly recommend taking the time to give caramelised white chocolate a go. Even though it takes an hour, it’s super simple to make – literally stirring is as tricky as it gets! Caramelising white chocolate brings down the intense sweetness a notch and gives it more of a butterscotch flavour with the same intense creaminess white chocolate is loved for. Baking the chocolate in the oven and stirring it at regular intervals will begin to give it a golden hue as the sugar inside caramelises and you’re left with mouth-watering chocolate that is delicious on its own, in cookies, melted in a sauce, swirled in a cheesecake or used as the base for truffles.
To make caramelised white chocolate:
Select a white chocolate with at least 30% cocoa solids (I personally use Lindt White Chocolate) and pre-heat your oven to 120°C (100°C Fan)/250°F/Gas Mark ½.
Chop up your white chocolate relatively evenly and spread over a clean, dry baking tray – it doesn’t need to be lined.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes then take the chocolate out and, using a spatula, scrape and stir it before spreading out evenly again.
Place back in the oven for another 15 minutes and repeat the same process. Do this twice more, making it four times in total over 1 hour.
Remove from the oven after the final 15 minutes, stir and scrape into a chocolate mould or leave to cool on the tray. Once hardened, you can break the chocolate into pieces and store in a jar.
Gluten-free Caramelised White Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients:
- 125g unsalted brown butter (see how to make brown butter above)
- 110g brown sugar
- 85g caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1½ tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp milk
- 300g gluten-free plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp xanthan gum
- ½ tsp salt
- 250g caramelised white chocolate chunks (see how to make caramelised white chocolate above)
- Sea salt flakes, to top (optional)
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (160°C Fan)/ 350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using an electric stand or hand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together for a minute or two.
- Add the egg, vanilla and milk and mix well.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, xanthan gum and salt together.
- Fold the flour mix into the biscuit batter until a dough is formed.
- Finally, stir in the chocolate chunks.
- Scoop out roughly 1 tbsp of dough and roll into a ball before placing on the baking sheet and flattening slightly with the palm of your hand. Make sure you space the cookies apart as they will spread a little in the oven.
- Put the trays of dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Bake the cookies in the oven for 10-12 minutes until just turning golden. You want to take them out of the oven when they’re still slightly underdone as they’ll continue to cook as they cool. This will result in a soft, chewy cookie.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with sea salt for another flavour dimension and enjoy! The cookies will keep for up to one week in an airtight container.