Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Gooey caramel, sweet chocolate chips and salt all come together in this sweet and salty twist on the classic chocolate chip cookie!
The chocolate chip cookie: one of the world’s favorite cookies, with countless recipes claiming to be the best. While I do not (yet) have a recipe that I can claim as my fame for the title of best chocolate chip cookie, this version of the cookie is simply amazing. You can choose to make them just caramel chocolate chip cookies if you want, but I think that you would be depriving yourself of the next level of flavor if you did that. Please don’t do that to yourself.
Seriously though, these cookies are pretty fantastic. When they are warm, the caramel is slightly gooey and the chocolate chips melt in your mouth. Cooled, the caramel is chewy and the chocolate chips still deliver on their flavor and ability to be ever so melty. The salt may not seem prominent at first, but with each bite it helps add to the flavor profile and dimension of the cookie.
I have made these for both friends and family, and everyone has loved them! Even my uncle (who claims not to be a fan of chocolate chip cookies) went back for another one. Give these cookies a try, and you will see why! These are the kind of cookie that will disappear if you bring them anywhere, and people will be asking for the recipe. Even unsalted these cookies are winners, and my friend’s mom was amazed at how easy the recipe actually is.
One of the (many) great things about this recipe is that you can make it once and enjoy cookies for months?
Wait, what?!
Yupp, you read that correctly! This dough can be frozen, so all you have to do is make the dough once, roll out balls of cookie dough, freeze them and then be able to enjoy them whenever you want! And, the best part is that they taste just as wonderful frozen. The cookies that my uncle and my friend’s mom tried were from frozen cookie dough. These are just that good. Feel free to bake the whole recipe though, because they will not last long once you do!
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ - ¾ cup chopped Kraft Caramel Baking Squares, chopped into small pieces (I used 15-20 squares that were chopped into pea-sized or smaller pieces)
Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling (about 3 tablespoons)
You can either let the dough chill for an hour (or more) or bake the cookies right away. (I personally recommend chilling the dough.) If you plan on baking right away, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
First, make sure to chop up the caramel squares into 6-9 pieces per square. This takes the longest time of everything!
In a large bowl, beat together the white sugar and the softened butter until fluffy and combined. Beat in the brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and beat until everything is combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cornstarch.
Slowly add the dry ingredients into the sugar-butter mixture, until there are only a few flour streaks left in the dough. At this point, add in the chocolate chips and chopped caramel squares and mix them in gently. You can choose to add more of either the chips or caramel if you think the dough needs more.
If you are baking right away, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and roll the dough into 2-3 teaspoons worth of dough for each cookie. Sprinkle with some of the sea salt. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the cookie tops are set and the edges just begin to brown. Take the cookies out of the oven and sprinkle them with the coarse sea salt right away. Let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
If you are waiting to bake the cookies, chill the dough for at least one hour or more, and then follow the instructions above for baking.
These cookies (if they are not yet all eaten) will last for about 5 days stored in an airtight container.
*You can freeze the dough by first rolling the dough into cookie balls and putting them on a plate and into the freezer. Once the balls are frozen, move them to a plastic bag. Bake as normal; 350 degrees F for 12-14 minutes.
**This recipe is a Rooks to Cooks original. The recipe and photographs are copyright and may not be used without permission.
Posted on 6/11/14 by Kiley
If you liked this recipe, check out these other great cookie recipes!