These Santa Hat Caramel Cookie Cups are one of those Christmas bakes that stop people in their tracks. A soft chocolate chip cookie cup, filled with silky caramel, topped with a fresh strawberry “Santa hat”, and finished with fluffy white chocolate ganache made using the Nestlé Baker’s Choice range.

They’re festive without being fussy, easy enough to make with kids, and perfect for Christmas platters, school parties, or a centrepiece dessert table. Best of all, they’re built from simple components you can prep ahead and assemble just before serving.

Ingredients

Cookie Cups

120 g unsalted butter, softened
100 g brown sugar
50 g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
180 g plain flour
½ tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
200 g Nestlé Baker’s Choice Choc Bits (milk or dark)

Filling and Topping

Nestlé Baker’s Choice Top ’n Fill Caramel
12–15 small strawberries, hulled
200 g Nestlé Baker’s Choice White Melts
50 ml thickened cream
Nestlé Baker’s Choice Mini Smarties, for decorating

Method

1. Make the cookie cups

Preheat the oven to 170°C fan. Grease a mini muffin tin well.

Beat the butter, brown sugar, and caster sugar together until light and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth.

Fold in the flour, baking soda, salt, and Nestlé Baker’s Choice Choc Bits until just combined.

Roll the dough into small balls and place one into each muffin cavity.

Bake for 10–12 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden.

While still hot, use the back of a teaspoon to press the centre of each cookie down, forming a cup. Leave to cool completely in the tin before removing.

2. Fill with caramel

Spoon a small amount of Nestlé Baker’s Choice Top ’n Fill Caramel into each cooled cookie cup. Fill just to the top — too much and it will overflow when topped.

Set aside.

3. Make the white chocolate ganache

Place the Nestlé Baker’s Choice White Melts into a heatproof bowl.

Gently heat the cream until steaming, then pour over the chocolate. Stir until smooth and glossy.

Allow the ganache to cool slightly, then whisk until fluffy and light. The texture should be soft, pipeable, and able to hold the strawberry in place.

4. Assemble the Santa hats

Dip the cut base of each strawberry into the whipped white chocolate ganache, coating the edge.

Place the strawberry onto a caramel-filled cookie cup.

Pipe or spoon a small dot of ganache onto the tip of each strawberry and press on a Mini Smartie to create the pom-pom.

Arrange on a platter and prepare for immediate excitement.

Elliot’s Tips

Press the cookie cups while they’re hot, once they cool, they’ll crack.
Choose small, evenly shaped strawberries so the “Santa hats” sit neatly.
The ganache can be made a day ahead and re-whipped lightly before assembling.
These are best assembled on the day, but the cookie cups alone freeze beautifully.

Santa Hat Caramel Cookie Cups