Description
These creme brûlée cookies are the perfect blend of chewy, buttery sugar cookies topped with rich, creamy vanilla pastry cream and finished with caramelized sugar for a delightful brûlée effect. A sophisticated twist on classic sugar cookies that combines textures and flavors beautifully.
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 brûlée topping) (100 g)
Instructions
- Heat the Milk: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium-low heat just until steaming. Then lower the heat to keep warm while preparing the next steps.
- Mix Egg Yolks and Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, granulated sugar, salt, vanilla bean paste, and cornstarch until the mixture is pale yellow and smooth.
- Temper the Eggs: Slowly add a quarter of the hot milk to the egg mixture while whisking vigorously, then add the remaining milk and combine thoroughly.
- Cook Pastry Cream: Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly for 8 to 12 minutes until thickened and soft peaks form.
- Add Butter and Chill: Remove from heat, stir in the cubed unsalted butter until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate until completely cold.
- Prepare Oven and Baking Sheets: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix Dry Ingredients for Cookies: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar until fluffy, about two minutes.
- Add Egg and Vanilla: Beat in the egg and vanilla bean paste on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the flour mixture on low speed just until the dough comes together.
- Shape Cookies: Scoop dough balls using a large cookie scoop. Roll each ball in granulated sugar and place on parchment-lined sheets, slightly flattening each.
- Bake Cookies: Bake 6 cookies at a time for 9 to 10 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Pipe Pastry Cream: Fill a piping bag with the chilled pastry cream. Once the cookies are cooled, pipe cream on top of each cookie.
- Caramelize Sugar Topping: Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of sugar over the cream on each cookie. Use a kitchen torch to brûlée the sugar until golden brown and caramelized.
- Final Cooling and Serving: Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes after torching to allow sugar to harden. Serve immediately to avoid sogginess.
Notes
- Ensure the pastry cream is completely chilled before piping to prevent melting.
- The cookies should only be topped with pastry cream right before serving to avoid sogginess.
- If you don’t have vanilla bean paste, you can substitute with 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract.
- A kitchen torch is essential for the brûlée topping, but if unavailable, briefly broil under the oven’s broiler watching closely to avoid burning.
- Use room temperature butter for easier creaming with sugar in cookie dough.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 180 kcal
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 70 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 0.5 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 70 mg
