These cookies are shockingly good. When I thought of this recipe everyone I talked to about it, and even myself, were dubious. I personally strongly dislike white chocolate, so that was the primary worry I had. But I also wasn’t sure if rosemary would work in a cookie. But it DOES.
And I am not making this stuff up. Soooo many people were sure that these would be weird and wouldn’t work, and were pleasantly surprised. They are weird, I will give you that. But it’s a good kind of weird. They’re different, there really is no other cookie like them out there.
Describe these Cookies to Me
Taste: Let’s start with the cookie itself. You’ve got a distinct rosemary flavor. It isn’t subtle, but it also isn’t smacking you in the face. There’s also a little bit of lemon for acidity, and these are the butteriest cookies EVER. They are pretty much shortbread cookies, so they melt in you mouth. Also, the cookies themselves are a little salty, almost cracker like. This provides a great contrast to the sweet filling. Speaking of the filling, what does it taste like? Caramelized white chocolate has some of the same sugary and creamy flavor as your typical white chocolate, but (shocker here) there is a caramel-like flavor. This pairs AMAZINGLY well with the rest of the cookie.
Texture: The most notable thing texture wise in these cookies, is the cookies exterior. Right before baking, we brush the tops of each cookie with egg white and sprinkle with some sugar. The sugar caramelizes and you are left with a delightfully crunchy exterior. The filling is smooth and creamy, a great pair with the rest of the cookie.
Ease: These are medium difficulty. The cookie itself, couldn’t be more simple. You mix together a handful of ingredients, roll and cut it out, chill for 20 minutes, and bake. You could have the cookies done in about 45 minutes. The filling is a little different. We have to caramelize the chocolate, which doesn’t require a whole lot of skill, but it does take time. It will take roughly an hour to caramelize the chocolate. Once you have finished doing so, making the ganache only takes about five minutes. The hardest part from here is not eating it all while you let it cool and thicken. Now, I know what your thinking. An HOUR? For CHOCOLATE? But you have to trust me on this one. Its worth it.
The Cookie
Ok let’s take a deep dive into these cookies. They are very similar to shortbread and made of only a handful of ingredients. To start, we mix sugar, rosemary, and lemon zest together. This is where we get all of our flavors. We will use that mixture like we would in a regular cookie, except we save a little of it for later. From here on out it’s pretty familiar: butter, vanilla, flour, and salt. And that’s it. Then all you’ve got to do is roll and cut them out, and freeze them for just 10 minutes! Right before baking, we brush the tops with an egg white and sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture. Throw em’ in the oven and that’s it. Your cookies are done.
What Even is Caramelized White Chocolate?
Caramelized white chocolate, also reffered to as “blonde” chocolate is exactly what it sounds like. It’s cooked white chocolate, that has a caramel taste. We do this by slowly cooking and melting white chocolate on a baking sheet in the oven. We stir it every 10 minutes to make sure that the chocolate doesn’t burn or seperate. In the end, it takes around an hour to make caramelized white chocolate. I know that sounds like a long time but I assure you it is well worth the wait. Before I continue let me make one thing clear: I HATE white chocolate. Well I don’t hate it exactly its more like I really, really, REALLY dislike it. I think it’s too sweet. However, I do enjoy caramelized white chocolate. It is less sweet, and has more flavors other than just, SUGAR. So it is definitly an improvement. Anyway, to make this filling even better, we make it into a ganache by adding the caramelized white chocolate to warm heavy cream. Then you are left with a creamy, caramely, delicious filling. You can see in the photos below that the chocolate gets darker and thicker when added to the cream, so don’t be alarmed if it does this!
Tips and Advice on these Cookies
- Mush up your rosemary: I strongly recommend mashing up the rosemary in a mortar and pestle. This releases some of the flavors and makes for a perfect cookie.
- Add the lemon zest: Though lemon is not a core flavor in these cookies, it adds an acidity, which is a great partner to the rest of the flavors.
- Chill the cookie dough: freezing the cut out cookies is super important for them to maintain the right texture, flavor, and shape. 10 minutes in the freezer is all!
- Add jam! While this is completely optional, adding a layer of jam in between the white chocolate and the cookie adds a new level of flavor. I suggest lingonberry or raspberry.
- Caramelized white chocolate’s texture is off: Caramelizing white chocolate can be a tricky process. While it melts the chocolate can get lumpy, this is OK. Just make sure to keep stirring the chocolate every 10 minutes. This will make sure it evenly caramelizes and stays as smooth as possible. Once you add it to the warm heavy cream, it may take a minute for the ganache to come together. The chocolate may feel like it’s seizing up, but if you just keep stirring it will smooth out.
- Let the ganache cool: Before spreading it on the cookies, let the ganache cool. It will thicken to a spreadable consistency after about 30-40 minutes. Then you can spread it on the cooled cookies. Finally, chill the finished cookies with the filling on them for about 10 minutes to prevent them from sliding around.
Rosemary Cookies with Caramelized White Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
Rosemary Cookies
- 4 teaspoons dried rosemary
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 cup (two sticks) salted butter at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2½ cups all purpose flour plus more for rolling
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg white
Caramelized White Chocolate Ganache
- 12 ounces baking white chocolate*
- ½ cup heavy cream
- a pinch of salt
Instructions
Make the rosemary cookies
- In mortar and pestle, mash up the dried rosemary. Doing this is optional, but highly recomended as it releases more rosemary flavor.
- In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, lemon zest, and 3 ½ teaspoons of the mashed up dried rosemary. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter, vanilla, and ⅔ cup of the sugar mixture (save the rest for later!) on medium speed. Beat for at least 2 minutes, or until completely smooth. Add the flour, salt, and remaining dried rosemary. Beat on low speed until the dough begins to form a crumbly ball. It may look as though it will not come together, but just keep mixing and it will. Pour the crumbly dough onto a floured work surface.
- Using floured hands, press the dough into a ball and then roll it out to roughly ¼ inch thickness. The shape doesn't matter. Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as you can, re-rolling the scraps until you are out of dough. I cut smaller holes out of the centers of half of the cookies, linzer style, but this is completely optional. Place the cut out cookies on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. Place in the freezer and freeze for 10 minutes, or until set up.
- While the cookies chill, preheat the oven to 325°F. Remove the chilled cookies from the freezer and brush the tops with the egg white using a pastry brush. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining sugar mixture. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the tops are browned. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the caramelized white chocolate ganache
- Turn the oven to 240°F. Spread the white chocolate on a baking sheet (don't line or grease it with anything) in an even layer. Place the sheet in the oven and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir/re-spread it in an even layer using a rubber spatula.There may be lumps, that's ok! Place in the oven and cook for another 10 minutes. Repeat this cooking and stirring every 10 minutes process for a total of 6-7 times. The chocolate will turn a light brown color, this will take about an hour. Make sure you keep stirring/re-spreading or it will burn. Once finished pour into a bowl and set aside.
- Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan until simmering. Pour the caramelized white chocolate in and quickly stir to combine. Immediately remove from the heat. It may look as though it is separating, but if you keep stirring it will come together. The same goes for if it is lumpy. Just keep quickly stirring and it should smooth out. Stir in the salt. Allow the ganache to cool and thicken at room temperature. You want it to be a thick, spreadable consistency, similar to peanut butter. This takes about 40 minutes at room temperature.*
- Spread the cooled ganache on the bottom side of one cookie, and sandwich with another. Repeat with the rest of the cookies. The cookies might slide around with the filling on them, so to prevent this transfer the finished cookies to the fridge for just 10 minutes to set up.
- Finished cookies stay fresh at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.