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Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies are your new favorite cookie! They’re loaded with chocolate chips and stuffed with gooey caramel pieces. These cookies are super thick and soft with crisp edges, and come together in no time, in just one bowl!
I mean, how can anyone resist that stack of warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies! Get me a glass of milk and watch me dive into that pile! These are the best cookies – you’ll instantly fall in love and forget all about regular chocolate chip cookies. They have the perfect balance of salty and sweet
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe:
- Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies – These cookies are super soft, thick, and chewy with crisp edges.
- Chocolate and Caramel– Chocolate and caramel are a match made in heaven! Melty chocolate chips and pools of gooey caramel mingle together in these cookies.
- Easy to Make – These cookies take almost no time to whip up, thanks to store-bought caramel candies – and are made in one bowl for ease.
Ingredient Overview:
As always, the full ingredient list can be found in the recipe card below.
- Salted Butter – I always use salted buter for the best flavor, but feel free to use unsalted butter if you prefer. Make sure to use room temperature butter, not cold butter.
- Brown Sugar – Brown sugar adds depth of flavor and keeps these cookies soft.
- Granulated Sugar – Granulated sugar helps balance the flavor of the brown sugar.
- Chocolate Chips – I used semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Caramel – Use Werther’s soft caramels for this recipe. They’ll stay soft in the oven and taste fabulous.
Recipe Variations:
- Chocolate Chips – Feel free to use dark or milk chocolate chips, or even chunks if you prefer.
- Caramel – For best results, I recommend the type of caramels mentioned above. Homemade caramel sauce will cause the cookie to melt everywhere, and other brands like kraft caramels bake up too firm to chew. However, I think caramel bits will work if you need an alternative.
- Caramel Skillet Cookie – If you’d like to mix the caramel pieces into the dough, you can do that and bake it as a skillet cookie. Add to a well-greased 10-inch oven safe skillet and bake at 350 degrees F for 14-18 minutes (the edges will appear set and a toothpick inserted into the center will pull out moist crumbs).
- Nuts – Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts if desired.
- Salted Caramel Cookies – Don’t want the chocolate chips? Swap in caramel chips or butterscotch chips!
How to Make this Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe:
Step 1: Make the Cookie Dough. Cream together your butter and sugars with an electric mixer (or stand mixer) in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla, and then the dry ingredients and chocolate chips.
Step 2: Roll Into Balls & Chill the Dough. Roll the cookie dough into balls that are about 100 grams each. Use a scale for precision, but this is about 3 slightly generous tablespoons worth.
Flatten each ball out, and press one caramel candy into the center.
Step 3: Stuff with Caramel. Wrap the dough back around the caramel so it’s encased. Chill the stuffed dough balls in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.
Step 4: Bake Cookies. Bake the cookies on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Let them cool about 10-15 mins on a wire rack, then dig in!
Serving + Storing:
Enjoy these cookies warm from the oven, with a glass of cold milk! Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-6 days, or in the fridge longer.
Can’t get your fill of chocolate chip cookies? Make my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies or my Double Chocolate Chip Cookies next!
Expert Success Tips:
- Beautiful Cookies – To make your cookies look bakery-worthy, press extra chocolate chips into the tops right when they come out of the oven. And, use a round cutter to scoot the cookie into a perfectly round shape.
- Caramels – Don’t be tempted to mix caramel pieces into the bowl of dough. It will create too many pockets of melty caramel in the cookies while they bake and you’ll end up with delicious puddles on your cookie sheet.
- Oven Thermometer – An oven thermometer will tell you if your oven is actually running at the temperature you set it to. Your oven may not be accurate. Accurate oven temperature is crucial for most bakes, so I leave an oven thermometer in at all times to keep an eye on my oven’s calibration.
- Kitchen Scale – A food scale is the best way to make sure your flour is at the proper weight, since amounts will vary SO widely based on how you measure it, as well as the measuring cup you use, as they are not standardized.
FAQs:
Yes! Freeze cookie dough balls, covered with a kitchen towel. Once solid, transfer to an airtight freezer-safe container. Cookies can be stored this way for about 2-3 months, and can be baked straight from frozen!
Yes, feel free to scale the recipe up or down.
Yes, make dough balls 60-70 grams in size for a smaller cookie and a larger yield. Place only 1 caramel piece on top of each cookie ball. Bake for 8-9 minutes.
I don’t recommend other caramel candies, as they get very hard once they’ve been baked. These stay nice and chewy. Another option would be to just bake these as chocolate chip cookies, then drizzle on my salted caramel sauce once they’re baked and slightly cooled.
Special Tools:
Affiliate links.
- Cookie Scoop – Use this cookie scoop to make your cookies the size I did. It’s technically an ice cream scoop, but it’s the perfect size for large bakery-style cookies.
- Round Cutters – Use this set of round cutters for rounding cookies, cutting donuts or biscuits, and much more.
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes to Love:
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- S’mores Skillet Cookie
- One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies
- S’mores Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie
- Cookie Dough Bites
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment & star rating!
Click the little stars in the header of the recipe card below to leave a comment & star rating, letting me know how you liked the recipe. I take all feedback seriously, & leaving a rating helps my small business immensely!
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 14.5 tbsp salted butter, melted & cooled slightly, 206 grams
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed, 163 grams
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 156 grams
- 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled or weighed, 390 grams
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 35 pieces werther's soft caramels, See note below
Instructions
- Prep: Unwrap your caramels, and leave 15 of them whole for stuffing inside the cookies. Slice the rest into 2-3 pieces each. Those will be used on top of the cookies.
- Make the Cookie Dough: Melt the butter in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the sugars well. Add the vanilla and eggs and whisk until well combined and smooth, about 30-60 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until a dough forms (it may be a bit crumbly at first, but keep mixing until it comes together). Stir in the chocolate chips last.14.5 tbsp salted butter, melted & cooled slightly, 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract , 2 large eggs, at room temperature , 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled or weighed, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Rest the Dough: This recipe used to reqiure a 2 hour chill, but now requires just a 20 minute rest in the fridge or freezer before scooping the balls and baking!
- Prep Cookie Dough Balls: Form the dough into balls 90 grams each. Flatten each dough ball, and place a caramel candy in the center, and then wrap the dough around it to encase it. Press 1-2 of the sliced caramel pieces on top of each cookie dough ball, along with a few extra chocolate chips35 pieces werther's soft caramels
- Bake the Cookies: Preheat your oven to 365° F. Line a few cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place about 5-6 cookie dough balls on a sheet, leaving room for them to spread. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The centers of the cookies will look a tad underdone, but the edges should be set when gently tapped, and will be lightly golden brown. Immediately place a round cutter around the outside of each cookie and swirl the cookie within it to "scoot" them into perfect circles. This also helps them appear thicker, and helps re-contain any that spread a bit more in the oven. They'll set up to the perfect soft-baked texture as they cool.
- Serve + Store: Let cookies cool on the pan until they're not too hot, then dig in while they're warm! Store cooled cookies in an airtight container for 4-5 days or longer in the fridge. Re-warm in the microwave or oven for warm, gooey perfection.
- Freezing Cookie Dough: Once you've got your dough scooped into balls, freeze them on a baking sheet, covered with a clean kitchen towel. Once solid, transfer to an airtight freezer-safe container or bag. Cookies can be stored this way for about 2-3 months, and can be baked straight from frozen! Follow the baking directions as listed above. Make-Ahead Tip: Cookie dough can be portioned, stuffed with caramel, and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days before baking.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This caramel chocolate chip cookie recipe is an absolute winner !!! The cookies bake up perfectly soft and chewy, with rich chocolate chips in every bite and just the right amount of gooey caramel to take them over the top!
So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, Sherronda!
These are delicious, I have made them a couple times now. Today I am making a double batch and realized that when you change the ingredients list to 2x, the gram amounts do not change. Just wanted to point that out!
Hi Suzanne! Glad you enjoyed this recipe. And thanks for alerting me! I’m working through my posts and updating them so that this is no longer an issue. I’ll be sure to fix this one right now. Happy baking!
Tastes delicious, But my cookies didn’t turn out like yours. It was thick, dry and kinda hard. And the caramels on top turned really hard, im not sure if its my fault for using a different brand of soft caramels or what but the caramel on the inside was still soft. I also put the dough in the fridge before rolling it into balls, I don’t know if that makes a difference. But I followed the recipe to a T and they weren’t like your photos. Im wondering if you have any feedback on maybe what went wrong.
Hi Olivia! Thanks for sharing your feedback. Honestly, I’m a little stumped because some people have had issues with this recipe and others have raved about it. It’s always turned out perfectly when I’ve tested it, so I’m not sure what’s going on. Could your oven be running hot? That would lead to them being dry and hard. How did you measure your flour? Too much flour could also cause them to be dry. Let me know!
This is the weirdest measurement for butter that I have ever seen in my life. It’s actually annoying. It’s actually discouraging me from making these cookies.
Hi Wendi! Welcome to U.S. measurements! If we simply did everything in metric, there would be no “weird” measurements, as everything is in grams and you could simply say 108 grams of butter or 164 grams of butter and a person would simply weigh that amount and that would be that. Sometimes when developing a recipe, the right amount of an ingredient lands me in “no man’s land” where I’m in between measurements (hence the 14 and 1/2 tbsp of butter, or sometimes it’s 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp of flour, for example). This is why I also give the metric/gram measurements to make things easier for folks who bake by weight or aren’t in the U.S. Thanks for understanding!
So, I forgot to add baking soda and baking powder so we removed it from chilling let the dough get to room temp. Then we mixed in the soda & powder with some extra flour. They turned out so perfect still! I went with less than 90g/cookie and am glad I did. They were BIG cookies. I made plain chocolate chip cookies with the leftover dough. I also, tripled the recipe and was making cookies for hours….I would not recommend that.
So glad you enjoyed these cookies, Sarah! Wow, a triple batch is a LOT of cookies haha!
Turned out great! Easy to follow recipe, and great cookies! My only mistake was when cutting up the caramels I put them in a bowl. They ended up melting together. Lesson learned, my error! Would recommend!
Glad you enjoyed these, Bronson!
Very tasty cookies, especially when you let the dough sit overnight 🫶🏼
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review, Victoria!
These cookies are a hit with my friends and family, thank you for a great holiday recipe that everyone enjoys ♥️
So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, Victoria!
This recipe resulted in extremely hard/dry dough. I had to chuck it all in the trash, very bummed.
Hi Stephanie – that’s very odd as the overall reviews of this recipe are positive and I’ve never had any issues with it in the dozen plus times I’ve made it. Did you let your dough sit out for a long time before baking and that’s why it got hard? Is it possible you forgot an ingredient? Happy to help troubleshoot.
I have a quick question. If I wanted to use browned butter, how would that impact the starting butter amount?
Hi Kayla! You’ll want to start with about 226 grams, or 1 cup of butter to begin. You should have the correct amount left after browning, but it can vary slightly because of different water content in different brands. If you come out a bit short of 206 grams, just add a little extra plain melted butter, or if you come out above 206 grams, just remove the excess and save it. Let the hot brown butter cool down to room temperature before adding any more butter to it – I’ve had the butter erupt out of the measuring cup because of the temperature difference!