chocolate wafers

The ultimate chocolate chip cookies made with brown butter, chunks of caramel, salted peanuts and lots of chocolate

Brown Butter Salted Peanut Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

caster sugar

unsalted butter

light brown sugar

eggs

vanilla bean paste

plain flour

tsp baking powder

tsp bicarbonate of soda

tsp fine sea salt

dark chocolate

roughly chopped salted peanuts

To make the caramel line a baking tray with either parchment paper or a silicon matt. Place the caster sugar into a saucepan set over medium heat and cook until the sugar has fully melted and the caramel is a deep brown colour, that of an old penny. Immediately pour it out onto the prepared baking tray, spreading out a little so thats it not too thick. Set aside for 30 minutes or until it hardens like glass.

To make the cookie dough place the butter into a saucepan and over low/medium heat cook until the butter has melted and then, stirring occasionally, cook until the butter has browned. At first the butter will bubble and splatter, this is the water cooking out from the fat, and then it will foam. When it foams stir the butter more frequently and look for signs the browning has happened. You should be able to smell the change, the aroma will become nutty and toasty. The milk solids will also turn a golden brown. Remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl and set aside for 10 minutes to cool. When browning the butter be careful as this process happens very quickly and if you don’t keep an eye on the pan the butter can go from perfectly browned to burnt in the matter of seconds.

Once the butter has cooled add the sugars and using an electric mixer with the beater attached beat together for a couple minutes to combine. Add the eggs and yolks and beat on medium speed for about 3-4 minutes or until the mixture is pale. Add the vanilla and mix in briefly to combine.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add this mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed just until a dough if formed. Add the peanuts and chocolate. Take a wooden spoon and bash the caramel into little pieces a cm or two wide. Tip this into the bowl with the chocolate and peanuts and mix briefly until everything is evenly distributed. Refrigerate the dough for two hours.

Just a quick note on refrigeration, these cookies contain hard caramel and excessive refrigeration or freezing will cause issues, the caramel will start to liquify and so whilst I would normally encourage you to freeze the dough for future use, with these its more of a case of make, bake and share.

Once the dough is chilled form into cookies about 70g in size. One word of caution when shaping these is that the caramel can be a little sharp. You can roll these into balls, just be careful not to stab yourself with caramel, or you can use a cookie scoop so you don’t have to touch the dough itself. Place the cookies onto parchment lined baking trays, leaving plenty of space for spread (6 cookies per tray is good for regular sized baking trays). Sprinkle with a little salt, leave off of course if you prefer, and bake for about 14-16 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and just a touch paler in the middle. You may find when baking these that they come out of the oven an unusual shape and this is down to the caramel. When the cookies bake the caramel liquifies and sets again on cooling but the melting can mean it makes the cookies spread a little randomly. To correct this I take the cookies out a few minutes before they’re done baking and use large round cookie cutter to scoot them back into shape, and then I repeat this once the cookies are baked.

Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Kept in a sealed container the cookies will keep for 4 days.

This elegant cheesecake is based on Amanda Hesser's mother's simple recipe. The crust is made of Nabisco chocolate wafers and butter. The bottom layer is a fluffy pool of cream cheese, eggs and sugar. The top is a thin layer of sour cream and sugar. Her recipe called for vanilla extract, but this one uses the seeds of one whole vanilla bean, which has a way of elevating all the other subtle flavors – cinnamon, chocolate and the tang of the sour cream and cream cheese – in a magical way.

Sour Cream Cheesecake With Vanilla Bean

Nabisco chocolate wafers, finely crushed

cinnamon

butter, melted

cream cheese, room temperature

sugar

vanilla

sour cream

In a bowl stir together crushed wafers and cinnamon with a fork. Pour in butter, and stir until mixture is moist. Press mixture into a 9-inch springform pan, forming a crust just over 1 inch high around the sides. You might think you need more wafers, but you don't. Press patiently until a tight, thin layer forms. Chill until needed.

Heat oven to 350 degrees with baking sheet on center rack. In an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until creamy and fluffy. Add eggs, 2/3 cup sugar and seeds from vanilla bean, and beat until very smooth. Scrape bowl with a spatula to break up lumps. Pour into crust, and place on baking sheet. Bake 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, blend sour cream with 3 tablespoons sugar. After 25 minutes, remove cake from oven, and let sit 5 minutes. Increase oven heat to 450 degrees. Gently spoon sour cream mixture on top, and spread evenly. Return cake to oven, and bake 7 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

A chocolate cookie crust makes this strawberries-and-cream pie taste a bit like Neapolitan ice cream, but other crumbly cookies or sweet crackers work too. The best strawberries have a heady scent — they should smell like candy — and likely won’t need sweetening. But strawberry sweetness varies greatly, so taste one and toss them all with a little sugar as needed.

Strawberry Cream Pie With Chocolate Cookie Crust

chocolate wafer cookies (about 35 cookies)

kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)

unsalted butter, melted and cooled

gelatin (from 1 packet)

heavy cream

granulated sugar, plus more if needed

Make the crust: Heat oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle position. Place cookies, sugar and salt in a food processor and process until finely ground. (You should have about 1 1/2 cups). Add butter and pulse until the mixture looks like wet sand.

Transfer mixture to a standard 9-inch pie plate. Using the bottom of a flat-bottomed measuring cup, press the mixture up the sides and into the bottom of the pie plate. Bake on the middle rack until dry and set, 20 to 25 minutes. (If the crust slumps or puffs while it bakes, gently press it back into place while still warm with the measuring cup and proceed.) Let cool completely.

Make the filling: Place 3 tablespoons cold water in a small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over top and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together sour cream and vanilla until smooth. Combine cream, sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Whisk in gelatin mixture until completely dissolved, then whisk cream mixture into sour cream. Pour filling into cooled crust and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. (If making ahead, wrap tightly once set).

Toss strawberries with sugar, if needed, and let sit for 10 minutes. Pile strawberries and any accumulated juices on top of pie just before serving.

A buttery chocolate crust and a rum-scented, banana-imbued butterscotch blondie form two distinct layers that harmonize with every bite. The contrast between crunchy bottom and chewy topping is the whole point of the exercise.



Chocolate-Crusted Banana Blondies

chocolate wafer cookies (to make about 3 cups crumbs)

light brown sugar (about 1/4 cup)

fine sea salt

bananas,

dark brown sugar (about 2 1/2 cups)

dark rum

all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)

toasted walnuts, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with parchment, and grease with butter. 

Melt 1 stick of butter in a saucepan over low heat or in microwave. Put the chocolate wafer cookies in the bowl of a food processor and process to make fine crumbs. Add the light brown sugar, melted butter and a pinch of salt. Process until the mixture is the consistency of damp sand. Dump the mixture into the pan and press it into an even layer. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the surface is firm. Remove the pan and set aside. 

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 12 tablespoons butter, then let it cook until the foam subsides and butter turns a deep nut brown, about 5 minutes. Cool. 

In a large bowl, whisk together bananas, eggs, dark brown sugar and rum. Whisk in brown butter. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and fine salt. Fold into batter along with the toasted walnuts. Pour the mixture over the prepared crust and spread evenly. Sprinkle top with flaky salt if using. 

Transfer pan to oven and bake until the top is firm and a toothpick inserted in the center emerges with a few crumbs attached (or clean) but not wet, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack; cut into 24 bars.

Banana pudding with a twist, this icebox cake embraces chocolate wafers instead of the classic vanilla. After a bit of time in the fridge, the cookies soften into thin layers of chocolate cake.  Add some mini chocolate chips to the vanilla custard, if you like, but be sure to cover the bananas completely to keep them from oxidizing. This pudding is best the day it’s made, or up to 24 hours later — but it’s so delicious that it may not last that long.

Chocolate Banana Icebox Cake

granulated sugar

cornstarch

salt

710 milliliters whole milk

vanilla extract

45 thin, round chocolate wafers (from 1 9-ounce 255-gram package)

bananas

confectioners’ sugar

Cocoa powder

Place a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl, and set it aside. 

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add the milk, little by little, while whisking to incorporate it fully. Whisk in the egg yolks. Heat the mixture over medium, stirring constantly, until it has thickened and just come to a low boil, about 4 to 5 minutes. Continue to cook the custard while whisking for another minute, then immediately pour it into the sieve, pushing it through with a small spatula. Stir in the vanilla.

Chill the custard until it reaches room temperature or colder, about 1 1/2 hours. (To speed the process, you can spread the custard into an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Stir often until the custard has cooled, about 10 minutes. Transfer the custard back to the medium bowl.)

Whip the 3/4 cup heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold the cream into the custard.

Add about 1/2 cup of custard to the bottom of a 2-quart serving dish, spreading it in an even layer. Top with a layer of cookies (about 15), breaking them as needed to fit the edges. Slice the bananas 1/4-inch thick, and top the cookies with a layer of bananas.

Dollop 1/3 of the remaining custard on top of the bananas and, using an offset spatula, gently spread it into an even layer until the bananas are completely covered. Repeat the layering of cookies, bananas and custard two more times, finishing with custard.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill until the custard is cold and the cookies have softened, at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

To serve, whip the 1 1/2 cups heavy cream and confectioners’ sugar to medium-stiff peaks. Top the pudding with the whipped cream, and sprinkle with cocoa powder, dusting it through a fine-mesh sieve. Serve cold.

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Brown Butter Salted Peanut Caramel ...

Brown Butter Salted Peanut Caramel ...

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Top 6 chocolate wafers recipes from across the web

The most viewed chocolate wafers recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Brown Butter Salted Peanut Caramel ...

Brown Butter Salted Peanut Caramel ...

Sour Cream Cheesecake With Vanilla ...

Strawberry Cream Pie With Chocolate...

Chocolate-Crusted Banana Blondies

Chocolate Banana Icebox Cake

The most viewed chocolate wafers recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine