Bonus Bake: gochujang caramel Cookies
In addition to r/52weeksofcooking, there’s also a similar sub for baked goods, r/52weeksofbaking. In a perfect world, I’d participate in both. However, I’m not sure I’ll always have the time to whip up two new creations each week and setting a realistic expectation about what I’ll be able to accomplish in a week is important. Also, as great as it sounds now, I really cannot eat a new baked good every week. So I think I’ll hop in and out of this challenge when it makes the most sense!
Week 1’s theme for r/52weeksofbaking is “New Year, New Bake!” Eric Kim’s Gochujang Caramel Cookies were all the rage for the last few weeks of 2022. As popular as they were, I must admit I didn’t think they would land very high on my to-bake list. I couldn’t get past the idea of adding something that’s spicy and usually found on savory foods to a cookie. My fiancee Mike, however, is a big fan of gochujang in general, and we had some downtime in the week between Christmas and New Year’s. And recipe is quite simple, so why not give it a try? “New Year, New Bake!” it is.
The cookies came together very quickly, and I loved that there was no special equipment required. Who wants to clean a hand mixer if you don’t have to? After the dough base comes together, you’re supposed to let it chill for 15-20 minutes while the oven preheats. Once chilled, you add the gochujang mixture in dollops and swirl it into the dough without over-mixing so that the swirls remained visible in the final cookies. I found this part really hard— my dough was only in the fridge for 15 minutes but it came out very firm, and so I felt like I had to over-mix to get it to even mix in at all. After reading the comments on this recipe in NYT Cooking, I see that some people recommend swirling in the gochujang paste before the trip to the fridge. I’d definitely follow this advice in future bakes.
One thing I plan on learning more about as a result of making this recipe is what ingredient or technique produces a really thin, bakery style cookie. In the YouTube video for this recipe, the cookies puffed up in the oven but came out extremely thin. Mine puffed up… and stayed that way even after cooling (lol), and I’m not sure why.
Overall, these cookies exceeded my expectations. The sweet and spicy really do compliment each other in a delightfully unexpected way. While I don’t think I’ll be making them again for a while, I don’t regret making them. They had good flavor and great texture fresh out of the oven. But as time has gone on, they seem to have lost some of the initial sparkle. I do wish the recipe produced more cookies— it predicts you’ll end up with “about 8 large cookies” and I got 11. If I’m going to go through the effort of baking, I want between 18-24 cookies guaranteed!