Decadent caramel and gooey chocolate come together to make amazing Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. This treat is heavenly and melts in your mouth.
What’s not to like about caramel and chocolate? The combination is out of this world and so delicious in this cookie recipe. Each bite is so gooey and amazing. The melted caramel and chocolate make these cookies so delicious.
The salted caramel just adds so much to the chocolate chips and we love this recipe. Plus, the entire cookie recipe is actually very simple to make. You might also like Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies or Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookies.
The cookies look so fancy and taste amazing, but they are not hard to make at all. You are going to be pleasantly surprised with how simple this recipe is!
Table of contents
Why We Love This Recipe
- Chewy – These cookies are thick and chewy and the perfect combination caramel and chocolate.
- Rich and Decadent – This cookie is rich, buttery and full of rich flavor.
- Easy to Make – This soft cookie is easy to make and can be mixed with a hand held mixer or stand mixer.
- Sweet and Salty – If you love sweet and salty flavor then this is the cookie to make. The gooey caramel gives this chocolate chip cookies so much flavor.
- Holiday Cookie – This cookie is a must for the holidays. I like to prepare the cookie dough in advance, so it makes it easy to have these for all our holiday dinners.
Ingredients
- Brown Sugar. You can use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar. Another option is Homemade Brown Sugar Recipe.
- Vanilla Extract. Pure vanilla extract will give the cookies the best flavor.
- Eggs. Sit the eggs out so they are room temperature.
- Butter. Let the butter soften at room temperature.
- Flour. Always spoon the all purpose flour into the measuring cup instead of scooping it.
- Baking Soda. Try one of the Best Baking Soda Substitutes.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. Use good quality chocolate. You will taste the difference. You can also use chocolate chunks.
- Soft Caramels. I like to use Werther’s Original.
- Sea Salt. The sweet and salty combination is delicious.
Find the complete list of ingredients at the bottom of the page.
Step By Step Instructions
- Step 1 – First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Step 2 – Next, in a large mixing bowl, combine the cornstarch, flour and baking soda.
- Step 3 – Then combine the unsalted butter with both of the sugars and teaspoons vanilla extract with an electric mixer.
- Step 4 – Once mixed together good, add in the large eggs one at a time.
Step 5 – Then stir in the flour mixture into the wet ingredients using a large bowl. I prefer to mix by hand. Do not over mix these ingredients. Then fold in the semisweet chocolate chips by hand.
Step 6. Chill the dough in the fridge for 1-2 hours. This will help them not flatten out when baking. Then scoop the dough into balls and place on baking sheet. I like to use a cookie scoop.
Step 7. – Then place the unwrapped soft caramel candies on half of the dough balls.
Step 8. Top the dough with the caramels with the remaining dough balls. Then roll to make sure that the caramel is completely covered with the dough. Then place the balls on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the flaky sea salt on top and bake for 8-10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.
Pro Tips
- Flour – Make sure to measure flour correctly. If you add to much flour you could end up with a dry cookie.
- Chill Dough – After combining the ingredients for the chocolate chip cookie dough, make sure to allow the dough to chill. This helps to create a flatter cookie. If you do cook dough without chilling it then they will bake up large.
- Chocolate Chips – We used semi-sweet chocolate chips but you can mix in some dark chocolate chips or even peanut chocolate chips to add in flavor. We love extra chocolate chips so we even add a few on top before placing in the oven.
- Cooling Cookies – Allow cookies to finish baking on the cookie sheet after removing from the oven. Leave on there for about 5 minutes and then move to a cooling rack.
- Do Not Overbaking – We like to remove the cookies when the edges are a golden brown and a bit crispy. If you cook the cookies to long then you will not get the gooey insides from the chocolate and caramel.
- Line Baking Sheets – We recommend lining the baking sheets with parchment paper. You can also use silicone baking mats for the best way to prevent your cookies from sticking and easy cleanup.
- Fresh Ingredients – Before mixing the ingredients together, make sure you are using fresh, not expired ingredients. This ensure your cookies are soft, tender and delicious.
Frequently Asked Questions
The main cause for your cookies being flat is because the butter is to soft. You want your butter to be soft to the touch and not melted. Always make sure to set you butter ahead of time, so that it naturally comes to room temperature.
If your cookies turn out to puffy, then you it is because you have overmixed the ingredients. Overmixing the ingredients such as the butter and sugar causes air bubbles.
You want to make sure to only mix the ingredients until they are combined.
The best caramels to use are Werther’s soft caramels. We like to keep a stash in our pantry when we are ready to make this delicious cookie. There are many different types of caramels, but you want to make sure they are soft.
If you try to mix in hard caramels, they may not melt very well when baking the cookies.
The key in getting soft and chewy cookies is not skipping on adding in cornstarch. It helps produce soft and thick cookies.
Brown sugar also helps to keep the cookie soft and chewy. Adding more brown sugar than white sugar helps to create the best soft cookie.
Storage
Our cookies never seem to last long because everyone eats them so fast. You can store cookies in an airtight container. Anything with a good lid that is airtight will work.
These cookies will stay good for up to 1 week.
How to Freeze
There is nothing better than fresh baked cookies. We like to double this batch of cookie dough so we can freeze the dough. This allows us to prepare fresh baked cookies at any time.
These tips will allow you to freeze the leftover cookies or cookie dough.
Freezing Cookie Dough Balls
- Flash freeze the unbaked cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet in the freezer. This normally takes 2 to 3 hours.
- Then place the cookies in a freezer container or freezer bag. Freeze up to 2 months.
- Bake as normal when ready to enjoy. You may need to add 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time if frozen.
Freezing Cooked Cookies
- Allow the cookies to cool completely and store inside a freezer container.
- Separate the cookies with parchment paper so they do not stick to each other. Freeze up to a month and thaw overnight on the counter when ready to enjoy.
More Salted Caramel Desserts
- Easy Salted Caramel Brownie Recipe
- Salted Caramel Pumpkin Pie Recipe
- Salted Caramel Apple Pie Recipe
More Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
- Easter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
- Best M&M Cookie Recipe
Make this delicious Salted Caramel Cookies Recipe with a luscious caramel center. Please leave a comment and star rating.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/4 cups of Flour
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 24 Soft Caramels Werther’s Original has a good option
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch and baking soda.
- Blend the butter with both of the sugars and vanilla extract with a hand held mixer or stand up mixer. Blend until throughly combined.
- Add in the eggs one at a time blending between each one to make sure that they are thoroughly incorporated.
- Then stir in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. I prefer to mix by hand. Do not over mix.
- Then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Refrigerate the dough for 1-2 hours to help them not flatten out when baking.
- Then create approximately 1 tsp size balls out of the dough.
- Then place an unwrapped soft caramel on half of the dough balls.
- Top the dough with the caramels with the remaining dough balls and roll to make sure that the caramel is completely covered with the dough.
- Then place the balls on a baking sheet approximately 2 in. apart. Sprinkle the sea salt on top of the dough balls.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove them from the oven, allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for approximately 5 minutes and then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!
