Posted Nov 28, 2022, Updated Oct 05, 2024 As soon as I mastered the art of making homemade caramels, I knew I had to create a recipe for the best caramel cookies. These chocolate chip caramel cookies are literal cookie perfection. Loaded with caramel and chocolate chips, they have crispy edges, chewy centers, and are sprinkled with flaky sea salt. They’re easy to make with simple ingredients, and the dough doesn’t need to be chilled. Also try caramel brownies, carmelitas, butterscotch cookies and toffee cookies.
Caramel Cookies: Ingredients & Substitutions
All-purpose flour. For a gluten-free version substitute a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour. Fine sea salt. Use fine (not coarse) sea salt. If using iodized table salt, decrease the amount by half. Salted Butter. Unsalted butter can be used in place of salted butter. Or, use browned butter for an even richer caramelized flavor. Granulated sugar. I recommend using organic cane sugar or regular white sugar. Light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar works great in place of light. Caramel: I suggest using homemade caramels. You can also use store-bought, you will just need to chop them into smaller pieces. Or, use caramel baking chips. Chocolate chips: choose your favorite variety. We prefer semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips. You can use chopped chocolate bars, milk chocolate, white chocolate, etc.
How to Make Caramel Cookies
This recipe is very simple and straightforward. We’ll walk through the steps together and don’t forget to watch the video.
Begin by combining the dry ingredients, then set them aside.
Then, in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy – about 1 minute.
Next, add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
Then, add the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed to combine.
Next, add the chocolate chips and caramel pieces and stir until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. The dough should be firm but not dry (as pictured below).
Use a 1.5 to 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop to measure out portions of dough, roll them into balls and place them evenly spaced on a baking sheet. Be sure to cover the caramel with dough. Repeat until all the dough is used.
Bake in preheated oven for 8-9 minutes, or until the top is just set and just barely beginning to turn light golden brown.
Do not overbake. The cookies won’t look fully done and that is exactly how they should look (just like this chocolate chip cookie recipe).
Remove the caramel cookies from the oven and immediately sprinkle to tops with flaky sea salt.
Then, let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store
Once cooled, store chocolate chip caramel cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days.
Freeze
Freeze the dough before baking. Portion out the dough and roll it into balls. Then place them in an single layer in an airtight container to free. To bake: remove the dough from the freezer and let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for 2 hours before baking according to the recipe instructions. Freeze baked cookies. To freeze baked cookies, let them cool to room temperature. Then store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months. To thaw: let the white chocolate and cranberry cookies sit out at room temperature until thawed.
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