Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
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These caramel chocolate chip cookies are soft, chewy and oozing with caramel. They have the perfect hint of sea salt and tons of chocolate chips.
Imagine biting into a warm chocolate chip cookie and having gooey salted caramel ooze out. The slight saltiness of the caramel pairing perfectly with the richness of the chocolate chips. The cookie being slightly crispy around the edges, but perfectly chewy in the middle.
Well my friend – that is exactly what you’ll get to enjoy after making these caramel chocolate chip cookies.
The Perfect Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
It took a lot of recipe testing to ensure that the caramel would stay inside of the cookies as they bake to give a pool of salted caramel in the middle. There were many recipe attempts where the caramel would melt into the cookie dough or ooze out and burn as the cookies baked.
The key to success is ensuring that the dough is thick enough to “hold” the caramel, and that the caramel is soft enough to slightly melt into a pool (instead of holding its shape), but not so soft that it melts into the cookie dough.
Ensuring Thick Cookie Dough
The key to getting thick cookie dough is having the right ratio of butter to flour. For the best results, I do recommend using a kitchen scale when measuring the flour to ensure accuracy. If you don’t have a scale – then whisk the flour first, spoon into dry measuring cups and level off the top.
The dough will be thick and it should be slightly difficult to incorporate all of the dry into the butter mixture. After making the dough, give it a squeeze in your hands. If it sticks to your fingers and leaves a residue, then mix in 1 to 2 extra tablespoons of butter until it no longer sticks.
Choosing the Right Caramels
For this recipe, you need to use a soft caramel that you can pull apart and mould with your hands when it’s at room temperature. I found Kraft caramel squares way too hard – they will keep their shape as the cookies bake and they stick to your teeth when you bite into a baked and cooled cookie.
Instead, opt for homemade soft caramel or even Werther’s chewy caramels. I bought salted caramels from a local chocolatier. You can see in the photos how they easily pull apart.
**Do not use salted caramel sauce, as it will melt into the dough.
Assembling & Baking the Cookies
Making the cookie dough is very simple – creaming together the butter and sugars, then mixing in the egg and vanilla extract, followed by the dry ingredients, and last but not least, stirring in the chocolate chips.
The dough will need to chill for about 30 minutes in the fridge before forming the dough balls. This is so that it isn’t too sticky to work with.
To assemble the cookies you’ll first scoop about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of cookie dough and flatten it slightly. Then place a caramel on top. Add a second scoop of cookie dough on top of the caramel. Then pinch the dough around the caramel and roll into a ball. It’s imperative that the caramel is entirely covered with cookie dough.
The cookie dough balls then go into the freezer to harden. Freeze for at least 30 minutes on a covered plate before baking. Again – this is to ensure that the caramel stays stuffed inside the cookies as they bake.
When you’re ready to bake, you’ll preheat the oven to 375F and line your cookie sheets. Lining the cookie sheets ensures that you won’t have a sticky caramel mess on the cookie sheets that’s difficult to clean up. The frozen cookie dough balls will bake for about 12-14 minutes, or until the tops look set. When the cookies are warm from the oven, I like to place a few extra chocolate chips and a sprinkle of sea salt on top.
Chewy chocolate chip cookies with a gooey salted caramel in the middle – this recipe produces incredible cookies that will rival any bakery or café. Be sure to follow all of the recipe tips to ensure success and you’ll be rewarded with an incredibly decadent, delicious cookie.
And if you love these caramel chocolate chip cookies, then be sure to try these other stuffed cookies:
Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie Sheets
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (209 grams)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch, AKA cornflour in the UK
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, I recommend sea salt or ground coarse salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (112 grams)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (105 grams), light or dark – I used light in the photos
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar (67 grams)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips (about 120 grams), divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup
- 14-16 soft caramels
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamed.
- Mix the vanilla and egg into the butter mixture until you no longer see pieces of egg.
- Carefully mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. I typically do about 1/2 at a time, starting with the mixer on a low speed and gradually increasing to a medium speed. Once all the dry ingredients are incorporated, turn off the mixer and squeeze the dough in your hand. If the dough sticks to your fingers, mix in 1 to 2 more tablespoons of flour.
- Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips (reserve the other 1/4 cup for later).
- Cover the bowl with plastic and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the fridge. Scoop out about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and flatten slightly. Place one soft caramel in the middle of the dough. Then scoop out a second 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and place on top of the caramel. Pinch the dough around the edges of the caramel so that it is entirely wrapped in cookie dough. Then roll into a ball.
- Cover the cookie dough balls and freeze for at least 30 minutes. Alternatively, cookie dough balls can be placed in a freezer bag and frozen for up to 2 months.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375F (190C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Place cookie dough balls about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the lined cookie sheets.
- Bake 1 cookie sheet at a time in the middle of the preheated oven. The cookies will bake for about 12-14 minutes, or until the tops look just set.
- Remove the cookie tray from the oven. Optionally, place a few extra chocolate chips on the top of each cookie and sprinkle with a little extra sea salt.
Notes
- Caramels: Be sure to choose a soft caramel which you can easily pull apart with your fingers. I do not recommend using Kraft caramels as I find that they are too hard and difficult to bite into once the cookies have baked and cooled. I like using Werthers Chewy Caramels or soft homemade or artisinal caramels.
- Freezing: Freezing the dough balls for at least 30 minutes is necessary so that the caramel doesn’t ooze out of the cookies as they bake. Cookie dough balls can be frozen in a freezer bag for up to 2 months. Bake from frozen. Do not thaw before baking.
- Storage: Store baked and cooled cookies in an airtight container and room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Nutrition: Details provided are an estimate only and based on 1 cookie, assuming the recipe yields 14 uniform cookies.
