'Deck the Halls' Cinnamon Cookies With Caramel
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Baking spices, mini marshmallows, pecans and caramel — it’s a combination that Shant Nazarian came up with after several attempts to make a cookie that included some of his family’s favorite flavors, without falling back on chocolate chips. He and his wife, Brittany Nazarian, had plenty of middle-of-the-night time on their hands when their son was born, which Shant took advantage of to perfect his “Deck the Halls” cinnamon cookie.
Besides the pairing of sticky-chewy-melty marshmallows and toasty-crunchy-nutty pecans, it’s the pool of caramel sauce underneath each ball of dough, which turns into a crackly-buttery-sugary edge of lace once baked, that distinguishes Shant’s cookie. “It took some trial and error,” he says, “but the end result is delicious.”
Shant recommends making a caramel sauce lighter in color because it will continue to cook with the cookies in the oven. And even though you’re using just a dollop underneath each cookie, it does spread out, “so people shouldn’t be alarmed when that happens,” he says. It’s important to keep the cookies well-spaced from one another — six per baking sheet.
Note: When transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool, carefully lift them with the parchment paper that lines your baking sheet.
The winning cookies from the L.A. Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off include sweet potato whoopie pies, mini versions of the Christmas bread stollen, orange-flecked frosted ones, cookie bark, cream wafers, spiced molasses cookies and more.
Make the caramel sauce: Add the sugar and water to a high-walled saucepan over medium heat; stir a little to combine and heat until the sugar dissolves. After 3 to 4 minutes, the mixture should turn clear and start to bubble; avoid further stirring. Swirl the pan occasionally and brush down the edges with a pastry brush to prevent crystallization; continue until the mixture thickens and starts to darken, about 8 minutes.
Add the butter and whisk to combine; the mixture will bubble vigorously, so be careful but continue whisking. Remove from the heat and add cream. Whisk to combine and then whisk in salt and vanilla. Set aside to cool (at least 10 minutes) before transferring into a glass container. This will keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to several weeks.
Make the cookies: In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time until combined with butter-sugar mixture, then stir in the vanilla. Set aside.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, baking soda and salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients. Fold in the chopped pecans and then the mini marshmallows. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Form and shape the cookie dough into balls — about a tablespoon-size each — and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. They should be well-spaced apart, about six cookies per baking sheet. Underneath each cookie, add a teaspoon-size dollop of caramel sauce. It will spread out, forming a crunchy layer on the bottom of the cookie.
Bake until golden brown around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Carefully transfer the cookies along with the paper (they’re delicate before the caramel fully cools) to a cooling rack. When the cookies are completely cool, dust with powdered sugar. These will keep in a covered container for a few days. The caramel will soften a bit but still taste delicious.
