Chili paste adds dash of heat to caramel cookies

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This article was published 13/12/2024 (267 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Chewy and balanced with a dash of lingering heat thanks to the inclusion of gochujang (fermented red chili paste), these treats would make a memorable addition to any cookie tray.

Today’s Homemade Holidays recipe comes from Free Press Arts and Life editor Jill Wilson and is adapted from Eric Kim’s New York Times Cooking recipe.

Gochujang Caramel Cookies

Free Press Favourite submitted by Jill Wilson.

Ingredients

• 125 ml (8 tbsp) very soft butter
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) dark brown sugar, packed
• 20 ml (1 heaping tbsp) gochujang
• 250 ml (1 cup) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) coarse kosher salt
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) ground cinnamon
• 5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract
• 2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) baking soda
• 375 ml (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour

Note: Taste-test your gochujang before using. Some cheaper varieties have a strong barbecue-sauce flavour that might be overpowering.

Directions

1. In a small bowl, stir together 15 ml (1 tbsp) butter, the brown sugar and gochujang until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, by hand, whisk together the remaining 110 ml (7 tbsp) butter, the granulated sugar, egg, salt, cinnamon and vanilla until smooth, about 1 minute. Use a flexible spatula to stir in the baking soda. Add the flour and gently stir to combine.
3. Place the bowl in the fridge until the dough is less sticky but still workable, 15 to 20 minutes. While the dough chills, heat the oven to 175 C (350 F) and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
4. Take the dough out of the fridge. Microwave gochujang mixture briefly to thin it out. Press the dough down in the bowl a bit and drizzle about half a tablespoon of mixture back and forth over the dough. Fold the dough in half and drizzle again. Repeat three or four times so the gochujang is marbled in strips throughout the dough — don’t overmix; you want distinct stripes.
5. Use an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup to place rounds spaced at least 7 cm (3 inches) apart on the sheet pans. (You should get 4 to 5 cookies per pan — they really spread out a lot!)
6. Bake until lightly golden at the edges and dry and set in the centre, 11 to 13 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Let cool completely on the sheet pan; the cookies will expand and continue to cook as they cool. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Eva Wasney
Reporter

Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva.

Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.