By Week 338. Fall 2022. I am 39 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like cinnamon and falling leaves and this is my life. This is the life I built.
I went for a run this morning — the Saturday routine, the greenbelt, the river, the particular meditation of feet on a path and lungs filling and the body doing what it was told it couldn't do. The running group meets rain or shine.
Mason is 11 and reading everything he can find and examining the world under a microscope with the intensity of a tenured researcher.
Lily is 9 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.
I made caramel apples this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.
After the caramel apples, I had caramel on my hands and caramel on my mind, and something in me wasn’t done yet — done with the sweetness, done with the warmth, done with the particular alchemy of sugar meeting heat. These Jamaican Chocolate Cookies with Caramel Creme came next, the kind of recipe that feels like a natural extension of an afternoon that was already about making something good out of something ordinary. The spice, the chocolate, the soft pull of caramel in the center — it felt like fall in every layer, which is exactly what week 338 needed to be.
Jamaican Chocolate Cookies with Caramel Creme
Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 37 min | Servings: 24 sandwich cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon dark rum extract
- Caramel Creme Filling:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 3 tablespoons caramel sauce (store-bought or homemade)
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat softened butter with granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add eggs and extracts. Beat in eggs one at a time, then mix in vanilla extract and rum extract until fully combined.
- Combine. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, stirring just until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.
- Scoop and bake. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake 10—12 minutes, until the edges are just set. The centers will look slightly underdone — that’s perfect.
- Cool completely. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before filling.
- Make the caramel creme. Beat softened butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar gradually, then mix in caramel sauce, heavy cream, and a pinch of salt. Beat until fluffy and spreadable, about 2 minutes.
- Assemble. Spread or pipe a generous amount of caramel creme onto the flat side of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing gently to seal.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 210 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 95mg