Vegan Salted Caramel Cookies

Ingredients

For the Cookies:
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 10 tbsp vegan butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
Easy Vegan Caramel Sauce:
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 cup coconut cream
• 1/4 tsp salt
Vegan Caramel Frosting:
• 1/2 cup vegan butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/4 cup vegan caramel sauce
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1-3 tsp soy milk, as necessary

Instructions

For the Cookies:
1. Sift powdered sugar and cocoa powder together. Set aside.
2. Cream the butter with an electric mixer for about 1 minute, until creamy and smooth.
3. Add sifted powdered sugar and cocoa powder to the butter and cream for another minute to combine.
4. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt.
5. Mix until you form a dough.
6. Wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for about 1 hour. This will help the gluten structures set in the dough, and it will give time for the flour to get fully hydrated. Plus, it’s great for making ahead. The dough will last in the fridge for 1-2 days.
7. Remove the dough from the fridge.
8. You may have to let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to let it soften up a bit before rolling it out.
9. Divide the dough into 4 parts to make it easier to roll.
10. Sprinkle some flour on the work surface. Roll out the first piece of dough until about 1/4 inch thick.
11. I used a 2.5” cookie cutter. Cut circles of dough and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silicon mat.
12. Use a smaller cookie cutter, or a round piping tip, to cut smaller holes in the middle of half of the circles, so they can serve as the top cookie. I used a round piping tip, as I didn’t have a cookie cutter small enough.
13. Do this until you are done with all the cookies.
14. Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF.
15. I like to put my cookies in the fridge or freezer before baking them so the butter in the cookies becomes nice and cold before entering the oven, which provides the cookies with a much better structure and texture.
16. Bake cookies for about 10 minutes. They shouldn’t look completely baked in the oven. They should still look and feel soft, but firm enough. That’s because they will keep cooking as they sit after being removed from the oven.
17. Let cookies cool down completely before filling.
Easy Vegan Caramel Sauce:
18. Place sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat and stir constantly until it melts.

19. When you see the very last beat of sugar melting, quickly remove pan from the heat and immediately pour coconut oil and coconut cream in the pan.

20. Be very careful because the mixture will splash all over the place.

21. Return mixture to the heat, keep stirring and cooking mixture for 1-2 minutes.

22. Never stop stirring. Stir and cook over medium-low heat until all the sugar has re-melted and the caramel is thick and smooth.

23. Add the 1/4 teaspoon of salt at this point. Stir to combine.
24. Remove to a heat-proof bowl.

25. Let it cool completely before using.

Vegan Caramel Frosting:
26. Place vegan butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and cream at medium-high speed for 1 minute.
27. Add sifted powdered sugar. Cream to combine for another minute.
28. Add room temperature caramel sauce. Cream at medium speed to combine. The caramel sauce needs to be at exactly room temperature for this.
29. If mixture seems too stiff, add a bit of non-dairy milk or water, 1 teaspoon at a time. Asd more if necessary.
30. Add vanilla.
31. If buttercream seems too runny, add more sifted powdered sugar.
To assemble:
32. Pipe a ring of Caramel frosting around the edges of each bottom cookie. Spoon or pipe a bit of caramel in the center of cookies. Place a cookie with the hole in the middle on top.
33. Repeat until you are done with all the cookies.
Storage:
34. These cookies will store nicely in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Notes