Caramel Biscuits

I saw these cookies on Pinterest, pinned by someone I follow and they looked so interesting. They come from an Australian blog, but I have an Australian cookie book that I really like. I love that cookies from British and Australian cookbooks are so simple. They usually have just a couple of ingredients but those ingredients are perfect together.

In the picture on the original blog, the caramels had a cream stripe down the center and the candies were square. I knew I could make them with the regular square caramels. (You know, the ones you buy to have in the cupboard “just in case” that you end up eating when you’re craving something sweet.) But I recall seeing round caramels with a cream filling so I wanted to find those. They were harder than expected to find, but I did find them finally. Who knew they would be so hard to find. Or just use the plain caramels.

I had planned to mix these up by hand, but there’s a lot of flour to mix in so I ended up using my mixer. Otherwise the dough would have been too crumbly. I think I would cut back the flour a tiny bit, too. I was worried the caramels would melt all over, but they didn’t at all. They don’t look all that different after baking than before, so it’s a bit tough to tell when they are done. I liked these, the cookie wasn’t very sweet, but the caramel on top was so that provided nice balance. I do think I would add more salt (as the only salt was in the self-rising flour) because salt is so good with caramel.

4 ounces butter

8 ounces golden syrup (or honey)

4 ounces brown sugar

16 ounces self-rising flour*

About 18 soft caramels with cream filling, halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Place butter, golden syrup and brown sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Set aside to cool.  Transfer the mixture to a large mixer bowl. Add the flour and mix until a smooth dough forms.  

Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.  Press to flatten and top each with half a caramel.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden.  Cool on the baking sheets for several minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Recipe from The Boutique Markets Blog

*I make my own self-rising flour by combining 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon salt. You will need two batches of this to make the quantity needed for this recipe.