Chili paste adds dash of heat to caramel cookies

Homemade

Homemade is a Free Press series celebrating home cooking in Manitoba. Visit wfp.to/homemade to submit a 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

In a small bowl, stir together 15 ml (1 tbsp) butter, the brown sugar and gochujang until smooth. Set aside.

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.

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.

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.

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!)

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 2 days.