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Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies are 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!
These cookies have a short chill time (but taste better the longer you chill them!) and are guaranteed to become your new favorite.
One reader says “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!”
Table of Contents
- Why you’ll love Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Ingredient Overview:
- Recipe Variations:
- How to Make Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Serving + Storing:
- Expert Baking Tips:
- FAQs:
- Special Tools:
- More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes to Love:
- More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:
- Make these Cookies with Me:
- Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Why you’ll love Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies – These cookies are super soft, thick, and chewy with crisp edges.
- Chocolate and Caramel– Melty chocolate chips and pools of gooey caramel mingle together in every bite.
- Easy to Make – These cookies take almost no time to whip up, thanks to store-bought caramel candies – and are made in one bowl, with pantry staples!
Ingredient Overview:
As always, the full ingredient list can be found in the recipe card below.
- Salted Butter – I always use salted butter 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 14-22 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 Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies:
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.
Step 3: Stuff with Caramel. Flatten each ball, and press a caramel candy into the center. 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 10-12 minutes. Let them cool for about 10-15 mins on a wire rack (or for as long as you can resist their pull, hehe) then dig in!
Serving + Storing:
You must 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.
Can’t get your fill of chocolate chip cookies? Make my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies or my Double Chocolate Chip Cookies next!
Expert Baking 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! Let the cookies cool after baking, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap or foil, in pairs of two, with their bottoms back-to-back. Seal tightly in a freezer bag or container and freeze for 1-2 months. Thaw at room temperature for a few hours before enjoying.
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. You can also 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
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:
Brownies, Blondies, & Bars
brown butter chocolate chip cookie bars
Cookies
chocolate chip cookie cups
Desserts & Baking
Quick Edible Cookie Dough Bites
Desserts & Baking
jumbo bakery-style chocolate chip cookies
Make these Cookies with Me:
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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, 380 grams
- 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! (See more make-ahead tips below.)
- 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.
Do you ever add flake maldon salt to the top? If so, before or after baking? Thanks!
Hi Jenn! Yes, I almost always sprinkle a little maldon flaky sea salt on the cookies after they’re baked. Let me know how you like this recipe!
I was excited to make these cookies. I followed the recipe exactly. Mine turned out flat!
That’s odd – did you weigh your flour and chill your dough? Have you checked your oven temp lately? An oven running too hot or too cold is a very common culprit for flat cookies. Sounds like they tasted good anyways though!
Ooey gooey goodness! These turned out perfectly, will absolutely make them again. Followed the recipe to a T.
Thanks so much, Chantell!
I converted some of the ingredients to metric. For the flour it was 332 grams. The cookies mixed up very wet, no way to put the balls in a container. I weighed each ball to 100 grams, a 1/4 cup cookie scoop worked just about perfect. I got only 13 cookies. Baking for 10 minutes on 325 degrees convection was not enough. Please post metric measurements. Tasted great.
Hi Katherine! I weigh my flour at 130 grams per cup, but that would bring the total for this recipe to 347 grams, which isn’t far off from what you got, so I don’t think that would make the dough that much wetter. I usually chill the dough for 20-30 minutes before scooping into balls to help stiffen it up so it’s easier to work with. I will add that not to the recipe – apologies that it wasn’t in there already, I thought I had added it to all my cookie recipes. As for the bake time, I don’t bake on a convection setting so I can only base my bake times off of 350 degrees F in a standard oven. Glad they tasted great even with a few hiccups!
Can you use caramel spread instead of soft caramel candies?
I don’t recommend that for this recipe, unless you want to leave out the caramel candies and drizzle the caramel spread over the baked cookies.
Followed the recipe to a T but sadly they spread out in the oven to make one giant cookie. I ended up having to make the cookies much much smaller. The dough itself is delicious! But I think the ratio of butter or something maybe is off.
Hi Natalie! How long did you chill the dough? I re-tested these and had no issues.
These were THE BEST cookies ever!! I made them for a class, and even weeks later I’m still getting asked about them. I’ve been asked how much the cookies would cost if I sold them, everyone wants to get their hands on them!!
Thanks so much for the rave review, Madison! 🙂
These are my new “be my friend” cookies. They are amazing! We really like how they stay soft and they’re not TOO sweet. They’re also very simple to make. Definitely a hit in our house and with our friends.
So glad to hear you liked these, Melanie! ☺️
This is a great recipe but make sure you follow it exactly and not cut corners!
Thanks, Angel! 🙂
delicious cookie
Thanks, Sally!