These Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies are your new favorite cookies! They’re loaded with tons of chocolate chips and stuffed with gooey pieces of caramel. 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
Why you’ll love this 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 is 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.
Ingredient Substitutions:
- 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.
How to Make this Cookie Recipe Step-by-Step:
Step 1: Make the Cookie Dough. Start with your wet ingredients. Cream together your butter and sugars with an electric mixer in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla, and then add the dry ingredients last. Mix in the chocolate chips.
Step 2: Roll Into Balls & Chill the Dough. Roll the cookie dough into balls that are about x size. Flatten each ball out, and press one caramel candy into the center.
Step 3: Wrap the dough back around the caramel so it’s encased. Chill the stuffed dough balls in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.
Step 4: Bake the Cookies. Bake the cookies on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Let them cool a few minutes on a wire rack, then dig in!
Enjoy these cookies while they’re warm and gooey from the oven, with a pinch of sea salt on top and a glass of cold milk. This delicious recipe is sheer perfection!
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.
FAQs:
- Can I Freeze the Dough? – 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!
- Can I Cut the Recipe in Half? – Yes, feel free to scale the recipe up or down.
- Can I Add Nuts? – These would be delicious with chopped pecans, in my opinion. Feel free to try cashews or walnuts as well.
- Can I Make Smaller Cookies? – Yes, make dough balls 60-70 grams in size for a smaller cookie and a better yield. Bake for 8-9 minutes.
Recipe Variations
- 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).
- Chocolate – Use whatever type of chocolate you like best – chunks, dark, milk, etc. You can even add caramel chips.
Serving + Storing this Recipe:
Enjoy these cookies warm from the oven! Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-6 days, or in the fridge longer.
Special Tools:
- Cookie Sheet – These are my favorite cookie sheets, I’ve used them almost every day for 6 years and they’re still in great shape.
- 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.
- Silicone Baking Mat – I love silicone baking mats because they’re reusable and dishwasher safe.
- 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
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Best Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter, softened at room temperature 2 sticks, 226 grams, or 16 tbsp
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 35 pieces werther's soft caramels
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: Cream the softened butter in a large bowl, with a hand mixer on high speed. Add the sugars and mix until well creamed together with the butter, at least 1 minute. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix until just combined, on medium speed. Add the dry ingredients and mix until a dough forms (it may be a bit crumbly at first, but keep mixing until it comes together). Add the chocolate chips and mix on low speed to distribute evenly. Form the dough into balls that are 100 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.
- Chill: Chill the dough balls in an airtight container for at least 2 hours and up to 48 hours.
- Bake the Cookies: Preheat your oven to 350° F. Line a few cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Place about 5-6 cookie dough balls on a sheet, leaving room for them to spread. Bake for 10 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. 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.
sally says
delicious cookie
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks, Sally!