Description
These creme brûlée cookies combine chewy, buttery sugar cookies with rich, creamy vanilla pastry cream topped with caramelized sugar, creating a decadent dessert that mimics the classic creme brûlée flavor in cookie form.
Ingredients
Scale
Vanilla Pastry Cream
- 2 1/4 cups whole milk (540 ml)
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp granulated white sugar (225 g)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch (28 g)
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut in cubes (42 g)
Sugar Cookies
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (313 g)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cup granulated white sugar (250 g)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (224 g)
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar (for rolling the dough in) (100 g)
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar (for the brulee topping) (100 g)
Instructions
- Heat Milk: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium-low heat just until it’s steaming, then reduce the heat to low and keep warm until ready to use.
- Whisk Egg Mixture: In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, salt, vanilla bean paste, and cornstarch until combined and pale yellow in color.
- Temper Eggs: Slowly add 1/4 of the hot milk to the egg mixture while stirring vigorously, then add the remaining milk and stir to combine.
- Cook Pastry Cream: Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking continuously for 8-12 minutes until thickened and soft peaks form.
- Finish Pastry Cream: Remove from heat, stir in cubed butter until smooth, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface, and chill in the refrigerator until completely cold.
- Prepare Oven and Cookie Sheets: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: Using an electric mixer on high speed, cream softened butter and 1 1/4 cup sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add Egg and Vanilla: Mix in egg and vanilla bean paste on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Gradually mix in dry ingredients on low speed just until dough comes together.
- Form Cookie Dough Balls: Scoop dough into balls using a large cookie scoop, then roll each ball in 1/2 cup granulated sugar to coat.
- Shape and Bake Cookies: Place dough balls on parchment-lined sheets, slightly flatten each ball, bake for 9-10 minutes, let cool on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Pipe Pastry Cream: Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip with chilled pastry cream; pipe on top of cooled cookies just before serving.
- Caramelize Sugar: Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of sugar atop each piped cookie and use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar until golden brown and fragrant.
- Cool and Serve: Let the caramelized sugar cool and harden for 10 minutes, then enjoy immediately to prevent sogginess.
Notes
- Make sure the pastry cream is completely chilled before piping for best texture.
- Only add pastry cream to cookies right before serving as the cookies soften if left too long.
- If you don’t have vanilla bean paste, you can substitute with high-quality vanilla extract.
- Use a kitchen torch to brûlée the sugar; if unavailable, briefly broil in the oven watching carefully to avoid burning.
- For evenly sized cookies, use a large cookie scoop and roll in sugar to create a crispy exterior.
