Crunchy gooey goodness

Every once in a while, I get the urge to combine as many delicious things as possible and see if they are even more delicious together. Most of the time, it's a very successful experiment.

This time around, I focused on cookies, caramel and chocolate. I've recently been hankering for graham crackers, and wondered if it would be possible to recreate these childhood favorites from scratch. The recipe I found doesn't make perfect replicas of HoneyMaid, but I might venture that these are even better! They're a little bit denser and crunchier, and have an even more distinctive brown sugar taste. Plain out of the oven, these would be an amazing accompaniment to breakfast coffee and would probably be very nice when dunked :)

As for the second layer, I zeroed in on salted butter caramel. Ever since my time in France, I have been awakened to the beauty of salted butter caramel. Sweet, a little salty, and overall the most creamy and buttery thing you will ever consume. I get a little nervous working with sugar over high heat, but this recipe was surprisingly simple and only has a few ingredients. Whether or not you use the caramel to make the final cookies, it's a ridiculously delicious dipping sauce for pretzels, nuts, chocolate, and pretty much anything else you can find in your house.

Chocolate is chocolate, but there is a way to temper it that prevents that matte finish on your coating that melts in your hands. You need a candy thermometer, but it's a worthwhile $6 investment.
So, here goes. It's a multi-step process that will take a couple of days, but I can tell you that the finished product is well worth the wait. Indulge, my friends!

Caramel Chocolate Grahams

For the graham crackers

From Smitten Kitchen

1 C whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 C dark brown sugar, packed

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

7 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen

1/3 C mild honey (like clover honey)

5 Tbsp milk

2 Tbsp vanilla extract

For the caramel
From Drizzle and Dip
400 g sugar
165 g butter
250 mL cream
salt to taste

8 oz dark chocolate

Directions:
For the graham crackers
Combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until the mixture is a coarse meal. If you don't have a food processor, use a pastry cutter by hand. Whisk together honey, milk and vanilla in a separate bowl, then add to the dry ingredients and pulse until the dough barely comes together. Turn dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and dust lightly with flour or powdered sugar to keep from sticking. Shape into a rectangle and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Roll refrigerated dough out onto a floured surface to 1/8" thick (I rolled it between two floured sheets of parchment). Cut into the desired shape, then place onto a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet. Chill for another 20 minutes in the freezer while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Decorate crackers with any perforations or dots. Bake crackers for 15-25 minutes or until lightly browned and slightly firm to the touch.  Cool completely on a wire rack.


For the caramel
Heat sugar without stirring in a large heavy-bottom saucepan over medium-high heat. Once sugar has dissolved completely, remove the pot from the heat and whisk in butter in small pieces while continuously whisking. Return pot to heat and add cream while still whisking vigorously. When the sauce becomes smooth and combined, remove from heat and add a sprinkle of salt. Allow it to cool completely and stir in another good sprinkle of salt.


For the chocolate coating
Melt chocolate (minus about 1 oz) in a double boiler over medium-high heat. Make sure the mixture reaches at least 105 F, then add in "seed" chocolate of 1 oz remaining room temperature chocolate. Remove from heat and stir to reduce the temperature. Maintain the temperature between 88-90F before using it.

To assemble cookies
Place cookies on a wire rack over wax paper. Spread a thin layer of room temperature caramel over the top of each cookie, then pour a layer of chocolate over the cookie, coating the top completely. Let cool completely - enjoy!