Creme Brûlée Cookies
These are the best creme brûlée cookies! They are chewy, buttery, soft sugar cookies with rich and creamy vanilla pastry cream topped with caramelized sugar.
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Pastry Cream
- 2 ¼ cups (540 ml) whole milk
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoon (225 g) granulated white sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- 3 ½ tablespoon (28 g) cornstarch
- 3 tablespoon (42 g) unsalted butter, cut in cubes
For the Sugar Cookies
- 2 ½ cups (313 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cup (250 g) granulated white sugar
- 1 cup (224 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated white sugar (for rolling the dough in)
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated white sugar (for the brulee topping)
Instructions
For the Vanilla Pastry Cream
- In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium-low heat just until it’s steaming. Then, turn heat down to low until ready to use.2 ¼ cups (540 ml) whole milk
- To a large bowl add the egg yolks, sugar, salt, vanilla and cornstarch and whisk until combined and a pale-yellow color. (It will be thick at first but will get smooth as you whisk.)6 egg yolks, 1 cup + 2 tablespoon (225 g) granulated white sugar, ⅛ teaspoon salt, 1 ½ tablespoon vanilla bean paste, 3 ½ tablespoon (28 g) cornstarch
- Add in ¼ of the heated milk while stirring vigorously. Then, add the rest in and stir to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to the saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat and cook for 8-12 minutes, whisking continuously, until the mixture is thick and soft peaks form.
- Remove the pastry cream from the heat and transfer it to a bowl. Add in the butter and mix to combine. Place plastic wrap right on top of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill it in the fridge until completely cold.3 tablespoon (42 g) unsalted butter, cut in cubes
For the Sugar Cookies
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Then set aside.2 ½ cups (313 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl cream together the butter and granulated sugar together with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy, about two minutes.(You can also use a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment.)1 ¼ cup (250 g) granulated white sugar, 1 cup (224 g) unsalted butter, softened
- Add in the egg and vanilla and mix on medium speed until pale in color and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.1 egg, 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together.
- Scoop the dough into balls with a large cookie scoop. Roll into balls.
- Add sugar to a small bowl, then roll each cookie dough ball in sugar.½ cup (100 g) granulated white sugar (for rolling the dough in)
- Place the dough on to parchment-lined cookie sheets and slightly flatten each ball. (Bake 6 cookies at a time.)
- Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes, then let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer the baked cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Assembling the Cookies
- Transfer the pastry cream to a piping bag fit with a small circular tip. Once the cookies are cooled, pipe pastry cream on top of each cookie.
- Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of sugar over each and use a kitchen torch to brûlée the sugar until it is golden brown and smells like roasted marshmallows. Yum!½ cup (100 g) granulated white sugar (for the brulee topping)
- Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes after torching, then enjoy! (Add the pastry cream on top only when you're ready to serve the cookies. The cookies do get soggy after a few hour so you'll want to enjoy them right away.)
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!