Black Sesame Caramel and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preparation

Make black sesame caramel

In a coffee grinder or food processor, blend black sesame seeds into a fine powder. If you don't have an appliance to grind the seeds, you can also use a Ziploc bag and rolling pin method shown here.

In a medium pot, add 1 cup of sugar with 3 tablespoons of water and lemon juice (this helps prevent crystallization).

Cook sugar mixture on medium heat for about 8 minutes until the mixture starts to brown. As brown spots start to appear around the edges, occasionally swirl the pot around to distribute evenly as it reaches caramelization.

Once the mixture is amber and smells nutty, remove from heat and add butter. Continue mixing it as it bubbles like a caramel jacuzzi. Slowly add room temperature milk and stir until incorporated. Add in kosher salt, and ground black sesame and mix until it becomes a smooth, black caramel.

Pour into an airtight container and store in fridge for an hour before baking to thicken the caramel.

Make cookie batter

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with tin foil. In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a second mixing bowl, beat room temperature butter with a stand mixer or hand mixer (or you can do this with a whisk and just get a good arm workout) until light and fluffy. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar to the butter and mix until smooth. Add vanilla, water, and egg into the butter mixture and again mix until smooth and incorporated throughout.

Finally, mix in the flour mixture a little bit at a time into the butter mixture to create the cookie dough batter. Add chopped dark chocolate into batter and mix in, then pour cooled down, thickened black sesame salted caramel into the cookie dough and roughly mix with a spatula.

Bake cookies

Scoop 1/3 cup of dough and form into a ball, place 4-6 balls onto the sheet pan evenly spaced apart. Place sheet pan into the freezer for 10 minutes before baking. When ready, bake for 16 minutes until it’s spread and the edges are crisp, with a slightly gooey center. As you’re baking the first batch, place the second sheet pan in the freezer.

When the cookies finish baking, transfer to a wire rack and sprinkle some Maldon salt to finish. Make sure they cool down completely before removing (otherwise they’ll be too soft and break if you try to eat them right away). Once cooled, remove from sheet pan and dig in :)