Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
These salted caramel chocolate chip cookies are made with caramel sauce for a fun twist on a classic chocolate chip cookie! You can make them big or small, either way you will love them!
These babies have salted caramel baked into the batter! Which means that there isn’t just caramel in the middle of the cookie, it’s IN EVERY BITE. Salted caramel transforms the taste of this cookie batter into a deeper, richer flavor. Combine that with the huge chocolate chunks, and it is a match made in heaven.
As a professional baker, I am always looking for fun takes on a classic chocolate chip cookie. Things like pistachio chocolate chip cookies, or oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, or even mini chocolate chip cookies!
For these though, I add my homemade caramel sauce straight in the cookie batter. You can for sure use store bought if you don’t feel like making your own. I know caramel can be annoying to make, and honestly when I was in pastry school I was not down to make it, but its not as scary as it looks!
Why you’ll love these cookies
These cookies are fun because you can either make them using a large cookie scoop to make 16 cookies, or you can make them smaller and double the batch to 32.
Like my chewy coffee chocolate chip cookies or my easy skillet chocolate chip cookies, these cookies are crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside!
Naturally these were a no brainer to add to my holiday cookie gift box this year! I knew that to balance out the other fun cookie flavors that I added, I needed a cookie that would be universally loved.
Salted caramel chocolate chip cookies were the perfect fit. No pun intended. Actually yes, yes it was.
Ingredients you need
These salted caramel cookies contain your typical chocolate chunk cookie ingredients, with the added bonus of salted caramel sauce. Just leave out the bourbon in the recipe- or leave it for extra flavor!
- unsalted room temperature butter
- granulated sugar
- brown sugar
- eggs
- caramel sauce- homemade or store bought is fine
- vanilla
- all purpose flour
- kosher salt
- baking powder
- baking soda
- Chocolate chunks
How to make salted caramel chocolate chip cookies
This recipe is easy to make in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and then add the vanilla and caramel sauce.
Make sure the batter is mixed well, then add in the dry ingredients and chocolate chunks. Shape, chill and bake!
How to freeze:
These salted caramel chocolate chip cookies are also the perfect make ahead cookie because you can make the dough, store them in the freezer, then bake them whenever you feel like it. They last up to 3 months in the freezer!
I like to make a batch of these, then scoop them into different size dough balls using my melon scooper for smaller cookies, and my regular ice cream scoop for regular size. I freeze them on a sheet tray for one hour, then transfer them to a ziplock.
Then whenever I need a fresh batch of cookies, my kids have something going on at school, or just have a boo boo, I can have fresh cookies in minutes.
Tips for making these cookies
- You can use either a mini scoop or a regular sized scoop to shape the cookie dough. If you use a mini scoop, check the cookies after 12 minutes.
- If you like a flatter cookie, you can use the pan banging method to create those rippled looking cookies. Simply bake the cookies for 8 minutes, then open the oven, take the cookie tray and slam it against the rack of the oven a few times. Then continue to bake for another 6-7 minutes.
- You can arrange a few extra pieces of chocolate on top of your dough balls before baking to create a more chocolatey top.
Need more cookie recipes?
To see the rest of the cookies that I added to my holiday cookie gift box this year and for a how-to on creating your own cookie box, be sure to check out these links below:
- How to Create the Ultimate Cookie Gift Box
- Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Chewy Lemon Coconut Cookies
- Raspberry Lemon Linzer Cookies
- Chewy White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies with Cream Cheese Glaze
- Chunky Cherry Pistachio Oatmeal Cookies
- Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookies
Happy holidays, friends!
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs, large
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp caramel sauce, homemade, or store bought
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 10 oz chocolate chips
Instructions
- Prepare 2 sheet trays with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the 1 cup butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar on low-medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Add the eggs one at a time, combining into the mix before adding the next. Add the 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tbsp caramel sauce and continue to mix. You may have to scrape down the sides of the bowl to mix everything together.
- Add the 2.5 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp kosher salt and continue to mix until dough forms. Stop the mixer and add the bag of chocolate chunks. Mix with a wooden spoon or spatula, so you don’t break up the chunks too much.
- Using a cookie scoop, (or about 2 tbsp dough) scoop the dough into even shaped balls and line then up on the sheet trays with about 1” of space in between.
- Freeze the cookies for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake the cookies for 15 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the chocolate is melty.
Notes
- You can use either a mini scoop or a regular sized scoop to shape the cookie dough. If you use a mini scoop, check the cookie after 12 minutes.
- If you like a flatter cookie, you can use the pan banging method to create those rippled looking cookies. Simply bake the cookies for 8 minutes, then open the oven, take the cookie tray and slam it against the rack of the oven a few times. Then continue to bake for another 6-7 minutes.
- You can arrange a few extra pieces of chocolate on top of your dough balls before baking to create a more chocolatey top.
