Want to hear something crazy? I’ve transitioned back to cereal for breakfast now that it’s a little too chilly in the mornings for a smoothie… and I’ve started adding my leftover cereal milk to my coffee! Is that sacrilegious or just plain resourceful? Before you unfollow me on Instagram, hear me out here. My cereal of choice is Honey Nut Cheerios, so the milk takes on a nutty, sweet, and slightly caramelized flavor. These are all great flavor notes to add to coffee. It’s not like I’m adding Cap’n Crunch or Fruity Pebbles cereal milk. That would be crazy…

The other morning I enjoyed my cereal milk coffee with one of these Sesame and Caramelized White Chocolate Chip Cookies and it felt like a very 2020 breakfast of champions. I’m unashamed to say that I’m a fan of white chocolate and always have been. I love white chocolate peanut butter cups, cookies n’ cream bars, and any piece of fruit dipped in white chocolate. I get why a lot of people might not enjoy the overly sweetness of white chocolate. To that I say, white chocolate just needs a little balance. Nutty and slightly bitter sesame paste/tahini is the perfect foil for it. Caramelizing white chocolate also gives it some more dimension. A ton of flakey salt also doesn’t hurt either.

I love the caramel pools of chocolate with large chunks of salt, the crunchy sesame seeds, and the thin crispy edges of these cookies! Dare I say that these are my prefect dream cookies? I’ve always wanted a white chocolate chip cookie but they always come with pistachios or macadamia nuts in them. Again, I get. Balance. Nuts are great with white chocolate but I hate nuts in my cookies. To circumvent this issue, I added the nuttiness by way of tahini in the cookie dough and it is PERFECT. Tahini also behaves differently than peanut butter in cookie dough, PB tends to make cookies chalky and drier. These cookies are thin, with crispy edges and very chewy centers. They are very flavorful - sweet, salty, caramely, and nutty.

If these cookies aren’t enough to convince you to give white chocolate a chance, milk or dark chocolate chunks would also be incredible swapped in too!

how to caramelize white chocolate

Caramelizing white chocolate is a slow process that requires some patience. But it is so worth it! It' gives the chocolate subtle butterscotch flavor. This is the only labor intensive step in the cookie recipe because the dough doesn’t require any extensive mixing or chilling. All you have to do is set your oven to 270-degrees. Spread some white chocolate out over a lined baking sheet and gently melt and swirl the white chocolate in 6 to 8 minute intervals until it’s smooth and caramel colored. It takes 70 to 90 minutes depending on your oven. For the majority of the melting and swirling process the chocolate will look a lot like hummus. It’s a little lumpy and gritty at first, but will eventually smooth out. I promise!

Once it’s smooth and the color you want it be, let the chocolate cool on the tray until the tray is safe to touch. Stick the tray in the freezer or refrigerator until the chocolate is firm and then cut or break up into small and large chunks. Then get cookie making!

Oh, I recommend doing this while cleaning your kitchen or while catching up on This Is Us.

a little cookie science

I never had any desire to create another chocolate chip cookie recipe because there are so many floating around the internet. Why add to the CCC noise? But the science of cookies piqued my interest a few months ago when I had to reverse engineer my Goong Goong’s (Grandpa’s) almond cookies for my cookbook. I learned that even the slightest tweak in sugar or butter can drastically change the consistency of your cookie. I have a tendency to reduce the amount of sugar in my bakes because I’m not a fan of super sweet sweets. In a lot of cases, reducing sugar doesn’t have any adverse effects, but in cookies the sugar changes everything! The amount and kind of sugar changes how chewy and crispy your cookies will be. Enough white granulated sugar gives cookies a crispy bite and allows the dough to spread more in the oven.

The amount of butter and temperature of the butter also effects how much the cookie spreads in the oven. Melted butter and no chill time allows the cookies to bake into thin and crispy cookies. If you chill the dough, the butter will firm up, therefore causing the butter to melt a little slower, resulting in thicker cookies. The cookies will still be delicious, but if you’re particular about your cookies, you’ll care about this stuff.

When I set off to make my perfect chocolate chip cookie, these were my prerequisites:

• no standmixer required

• no chilling required

• no softened butter

• a lot of flakey salt

• thin, crispy, chewy texture

I wanted a semi-easy cookie that still felt special. That’s where the tahini and caramelized white chocolate come into the picture. Caramelizing the white chocolate is the only element that takes a little extra time (although milk or dark chocolate chunks would be excellent too). But once you have that out of the way, the dough comes together with just 2 bowls and mixing by hand. Scoop and bake and then your kitchen will start smelling like a toasty butterscotch factory! You don’t have to bake all the cookies at once! I also keep scoops of cookie dough in the freezer for whenever the cookie craving strikes… which has been a lot these days.

Sesame and Caramelized White Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes 20-22 cookies

materials:

170g (1 cup) white chocolate chips 
125g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
113g (1 stick) melted butter
120g (1/2 cup) tahini
90g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
45g (1/4 cup) white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
toasted sesame seeds, for topping
flaky salt, for topping

steps:

1. Caramelize the white chocolate: Preheat oven to 270-degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Scatter chocolate over the center of the tray. Bake in 6 to 8 minute intervals, spreading and swirling the chocolate with an offset spatula in between, until smooth and darkened in color. Overall process takes 70 to 90 minutes. The mixture will look lumpy for a while, but will eventually smooth out as it caramelizes. Allow the chocolate to cool on the tray, until the tray is cool enough to touch. Transfer the tray to the freezer or refrigerator and chill until chocolate is firm, 15 to 20 minutes. Cut or break the chocolate into small and large chunks.

2. Preheat oven to 350-degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Make the dough: In a medium bowl, whisk to combine flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, mix to combine melted butter, tahini, brown sugar, white sugar, egg, and vanilla with a flexible spatula. Add the flour mixture and mix until mostly incorporated but still a little floury. Add white chocolate chunks, reserving a few large chunks for topping the cookies, and mix to incorporate the chocolate.

4. Using a 1 1/2 tbsp cookie scoop, portion out the cookies and arrange on the prepared baking sheet, spaced at least 3 inches apart. Top the cookies with a few larger chunks of chocolate, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and flaky sea salt. Bake until golden brown around the edges, 12 to 14 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Freezing cookies for later: Using a 1 1/2 tbsp cookie scoop, portion out the cookies and arrange the cookie dough scoops on a small tray or plate. Top the cookies with a few larger chunks of chocolate, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and flaky sea salt. Freeze uncovered until solid and store in an airtight container. Bake from frozen.