caramel-stuffed chocolate cookies

Your weekend plans just got a whole lot tastier. Let me introduce you to Caramel-Stuffed Chocolate Cookies! Fudgy, chocolate cookies with crisp edges, filled with a simple homemade caramel sauce, and topped off with a little flaky sea salt. These cookies are THE BEST!

this recipe

The idea for these cookies came after I made my Strawberry Caramel Crumble bars for the 17th time (ok, maybe it was only 3 times). I had leftover caramel and I needed to find a good use for it! Enter these beauties.

Luscious Caramel Situation

Let me explain this caramel situation. The recipe for my strawberry bars (linked above) makes twice as much caramel as you need to make the bars. That leaves us with a few delicious options:

• Make a double batch of the Strawberry Bars and use the full amount of caramel
• Make a double batch of these Caramel-Stuffed Chocolate Cookies and use the full amount of caramel
• Make a regular batch of the Strawberry Bars and use the remaining half of the caramel in these cookies
• Make the full batch of caramel and use half in these cookies and use the rest as a coffee creamer!
• Make a regular batch of the Strawberry Bars or these Cookies, and cut the caramel recipe in half. Use the remaining sweetened condensed milk for coffee creamer!

It’s a choose-your-own-caramel adventure and ALL the scenarios end in a win.

Making cookies that are stuffed with something is fairly easy. Roll your cookie dough into balls, as normal, then flatten them out and scoop your filling into the middle! Fold up the edges around the caramel and you’ve got yourself one giant, caramel-stuffed cookie that’s ready for the oven.

And if a little caramel leaks out in the oven – that is OK. It’s the artsy look, ok? Ok. And it’ll still taste fabulous. I think my favorite thing about these cookies is the combination of salty + sweet that you can get by sprinkling a little flaked sea salt on top. I think my other favorite thing about these cookies is the combination of crunch + soft that you get with the crisp edges and the soft, fudgy, caramely center. So basically my favorite part of these cookies is everything.

These absolutely must be eaten with a tall, cold glass of milk! These are also best eaten the day they’re made. The cookies will lose some of their crisp-ness after that. But to be fair, our apartment is wicked hot and the cookies might hold up better in a more temperature-controlled situation. I didn’t try refrigerating them (they were eaten too fast for that!), but that could work if you don’t want to eat them all same-day.

Another case for immediate-cookie consumption – the caramel is nice and melty but will stiffen up after a while. Thank goodness this is a small-batch recipe, right??

The caramel and cookie dough can both be made a day ahead and then assembled and baked the day of, as well!

Funny story – I originally intended this to be a paleo cookie recipe. But then I had caramel sauce to use up, and that idea went down the drain. The cookies are paleo-ish, the caramel is not. Oops ?

Happy weekend and happy baking!

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Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies

Fudgy, chocolate cookies with crisp edges, filled with a simple homemade caramel sauce, and topped off with a little flaky sea salt. These cookies are THE BEST!

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Cookies

Cuisine: Dessert

Keyword: Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 11 minutes

Dough Chilling: 15 minutes

Total Time: 31 minutes

Calories: 283kcal

Author: Stephanie Simmons

Ingredients

FOR THE CARAMEL

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 stick butter

FOR THE COOKIES

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

• Make the caramel: You may want to make this a few hours or up to a day ahead so it has adequate time to harden up. See recipe note below.  

  Add the butter and brown sugar to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir, until the butter is melted and mixture is puffy and bubbling (3-5 minutes). Whisk in the condensed milk and turn the heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is thick and coats the back of your stirring spoon (5 more min). Turn off heat and pour the caramel into a glass container. Set in the fridge to cool and harden. 
• Make the cookie dough: While the caramel cools, make the cookie dough. 

  Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring between each until melted and smooth. Set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut sugar, almond flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. The chocolate mixture should be cool now - add the eggs and vanilla and stir with a spatula until well combined. Add the chocolate/egg mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients, and use an electric mixer or a whisk to combine all ingredients. 

  Pop the cookie dough (no need to cover it) in to the freezer for 15 minutes to chill. This is important so the cookies are firm enough to contain the caramel!
• Assemble and Bake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

   Roll a generous heap of cookie dough (about 2 tbsp) into a ball. Flatten it out, and add a tablespoon scoop worth of the hard caramel into the middle. Fold up the edges of the cookie dough around the caramel center, pinching to seal the edges. Bake for 10-11 minutes. Let cool on the pan for a few minutes before eating. 
  
• Serve + Store: Enjoy right away! Store leftovers in an airtight container. These cookies are best enjoyed the day of, so that the edges stay crisp and while the caramel is still nice and gooey from the oven. 

Notes

NOTE: The caramel portion of this recipe makes enough for either a double batch of these cookies (with a little left over that you can dip fruit in/use for coffee creamer) or a single batch of these cookies and a single batch of my Strawberry Caramel Crumble Bars. You can also make a half batch of the caramel and just use the remaining half can of sweetened condensed milk as coffee creamer!

NOTE: The caramel needs to be hard before you make the cookies, or it will just leak out everywhere. I recommend making the caramel a few hours or up to 1 day in advance. If your'e crunched for time, pop the caramel in the freezer (covered) while you make and chill the cookie dough. You can also make the cookie dough one day in advance - just keep it covered, in the fridge. 

NOTE: Nutrition info is for a single batch of these cookies, with half the caramel sauce used. 

Nutrition

Calories: 283kcal

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