Salted Caramel Linzer Cookies

To make the caramel, add the sugar to a saucepan over low-medium heat and continuously stir the sugar around the pan.
1 cup granulated sugar
It will clump up before it melts into a smooth amber/caramel color.
Once the sugar is completely melted, add the cubed butter to the pan. Be cautious as the mixture will bubble up. Whisk vigorously until the butter is melted and mixed with the liquid sugar. Let the mixture bubble for 30-60 seconds while stirring occasionally.
6 tablespoons salted butter
Slowly & carefully stream in the heavy cream while whisking constantly until the heavy cream is combined (the mixture will bubble up again). Allow the caramel to boil for 30-60 seconds while whisking occasionally.
½ cup heavy cream
Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract, natural salted caramel artisan flavor paste, and salt. Pour in a heat proof bowl and put in the fridge to cool & thicken while you make the cookies. Stir occasionally to ensure an even cooling.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ tablespoon Amoretti Natural Salted Caramel Artisan Flavor Paste, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
To make the cookies, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
1 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup granulated sugar
Add the egg, vanilla extract, and the natural salted caramel artisan flavor paste, and beat on medium speed until combined, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl if necessary.
1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ tablespoon Amoretti Natural Salted Caramel Artisan Flavor Paste
Whisk the flour and salt together then add it to the wet ingredients. Beat on low-medium speed until a dough forms. The dough will be thick. Form the dough into a smooth disc, wrap in cling wrap, and refrigerate the dough for at least one hour.
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Once the dough has chilled for an hour, line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Unwrap the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out until it is about ¼ inch thick.
Use a round fluted 2 ½ - 3 inch cookie cutter & a small 1 inch cookie cutter (shape of your choice!) to cut out as many cookies as possible. Ensure you are cutting out the same number of solid cookies and cookies with a center cutout. Place the solid cookies on one baking sheet and cookies with a center cutout on another. Space them about 1-2 inches apart. Re-roll the dough & repeat. If the dough seems too soft, you can re-chill it until firm again.
Place the baking sheets in the freezer while you preheat your oven to 350F.
Bake the solid cookies for 12-13 minutes & cookies with a cutout for 11-12 minutes until set & lightly golden on the edges.
Remove from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Once the cookies are cool, dust all of the top cookies with powdered sugar.
powdered sugar
Remove caramel from the fridge and transfer to a piping bag. Pipe some caramel on the underside of a bottom cookie. Sandwich with a top cookie. Store in the fridge until ready to serve so the caramel remains set. Enjoy!

Equipment

Ingredients

Salted Caramel

Shortrbread

For Dusting

Instructions