Spicy Peanut Butter & Dulce de Leche Cookies (Gluten-Free)
Aromatic Indian spices, crunchy peanut butter, and creamy dulce de leche combine to make this adventurous cookie not for the faint of heart.
This recipe is such a delightful mish-mash of ingredients and cultures. My spouse and I love spicy food, so we’re constantly making Indian curries, putting Korean pepper flake on our popcorn, etc. I thought ‘why not bring some of those flavors to a dessert?’ Peanuts are frequently used in spicy dishes, so I decided to flip the script and spice up my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe!
Servings: 12 | Prep Time: 25 minutes active + 24 hours inactive | Cook Time: 2 hours 15 minutes to 2 hours 45 minutes
9” diameter pie pan
Aluminum foil
Large roasting dish
Nonstick baking sheets
Parchment paper
Squeeze bottle
Large cookie scoop
Chili Flake Sugar:
⅓ cup sugar
½ tsp gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flake), finely ground
Dulce de Leche:
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
Spicy Peanut Butter Cookies:
1 cup extra crunchy peanut butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp garam masala
¼ tsp salt
Chili Flake Sugar (5 minutes prep + 24 hours inactive)
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and gochugaru until well combined.
Transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature for at least 24 hours to infuse.
Dulce de Leche (5 minutes prep + 2 hours to 2 hours 30 minutes baking)
Preheat oven to 425° F.
Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a 9” diameter pie pan and cover tightly with foil.
Place the pie pan into a large roasting dish, and carefully fill roasting dish with hot water until it reaches halfway up the side of the pie pan.
Bake in the oven for 2 to 2 ½ hours, or until the sweetened condensed milk has thickened and darkened in color.
Remove roasting dish from the oven and let cool until the pie pan can be safely removed from the water.
Discard the foil and whisk the dulce de leche until smooth. If there are any lumps, don’t worry! Just pop it in a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds or so until smooth.
Transfer the dulce de leche to a squeeze bottle (or another container with a pourable spout) and set aside.
Spicy Peanut Butter Cookies (15 minutes prep + 15 minutes baking)
Reduce oven temperature to 350° F.
In a medium bowl, combine the peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, curry powder, garam masala, and salt, and mix until well combined.
Using a large cookie scoop (one that holds about 3 tbsp), scoop 12 evenly sized dough balls and place onto an ungreased nonstick baking sheet, spacing the cookies a couple inches apart.
Using a small spatula or butter knife, cut into the sides of the cookie dough balls, about halfway down, leaving one side still attached to the rest of the cookie dough ball like a hinge.
Carefully pull back the tops and make a small well with your thumb in the center of the bottom half of each cookie.
Using the squeeze bottle, fill each well with ½ tsp of dulce de leche.
Replace the tops and pinch the sides back together, making sure the caramel is completely encased in the cookie dough.
Gently flatten each cookie a little bit with your palm. The cookies won’t spread much in the oven, so make sure they’re the shape and size you want.
Sprinkle a big pinch of chili sugar onto each cookie.
Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, or until the edges have begun to brown.
Let cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Using the squeeze bottle, drizzle dulce de leche in a zig-zag pattern on top of the cookies to finish.
Avoid stacking the cookies until the dulce de leche has firmed up enough so as not to transfer. Store covered at room temperature for up to a week.
Enjoy!
Be sure to check out my Best Practices page for tips on how to make this recipe yourself. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions and feel free to tag me on Instagram @made.by.shade if you make it!
-Shade
Hi, is there supposed to be flour in the recipe?