Happy National Cookie Day! I did not bake today nor yesterday. Neither did last week, actually. Since my ankle surgery last Monday, I put all effort into recovery and that means I spend the majority of my time sitting or lying down. I am ridiculously restless and develop a habit of talking myself out of cooking or baking anything. I am blessedly stocked up with a beautiful assortment of cookies at home though. My friends and I got together the day prior to my surgery for our annual cookie swap. The selection and quality set a high standard for future years to surpass.
My contribution was Bangkok Peanut Blossom. It was inspired by Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream’s Bangkok Peanut ice cream by way of David Lebovitz’s Peanut Butter Caramel Cookies. Crumbly peanut butter cookies were flavoured with the zing of ground ginger and cayenne. The salted caramel filling was packed with roasted peanuts, coconut, and more cayenne. I made the peanut butter cookies before as per Lebovitz’s recipe and loved the result. My original plan was an encore of this tried-and-true recipe especially since I adore the festive addition of dark chocolate drizzle. I procrastinated for a few days. Out of the blue, I recalled the exotic and unexpected flavour combination I experienced with the Bangkok Peanut ice cream. The rest was history.
I was not terribly aggressive with the spicing of the cookie dough. I added 1 teaspoon of ground ginger and 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the crumbly peanut butter dough. The dough seemed a bit dry and I had a hard time shaping them into smooth spheres. As a result, I overworked some of them and the resulting cookies were not as tender as I hoped. As for the caramel, it was a cinch to make. I added about 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and 1/2 cup of sweetened coconut shreds to the chunky filling. The top of each cookie was garnished with flakey sea salt and more coconut. Obviously the chocolate drizzle did not fit in so I skipped it this time.
The caramel filling more or less set after I left the cookies overnight. I was able to slide two cookies inside a cellophane bag and gingerly sealed the bags without flipping them upside down. I assure you this is not the type of cookie to mail across the continent! Alas I cannot buy Jeni’s Ice Cream right here in Canada. Otherwise wouldn’t it be fantastic to serve these Bangkok Peanut Blossoms with your dish of Bangkok Peanut Ice Cream?
