Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookies
These incredible cookies are soft in the middle, crisp around the edges, and studded with plenty of chocolate chips and chewy caramel. It’s impossible to eat just one.
There’s a double caramel explosion in every amazing bite! This cookie dough is brown sugar-based, which means it’s extra chewy and caramelized. Add more caramels on top, and you have double the amount of caramel fun!
What kind of caramels should you use? I used Big Picture Farm goat milk caramels. These buttery caramels are made on a small Vermont farm, and with fresh, creamy goat’s milk. These award-winning caramels are GMO-free and made with local, organic ingredients.
There’s a true difference; the flavor is unlike commercially-made, mass-produced caramels and these gems are creamier than those made with cow’s milk (or no milk).
Why are these caramels creamier? Because, thanks to the goat’s milk, they have smaller fat globules and less lactose. I highly recommend them!
Chocolate and caramel have a natural affinity! That’s what makes these cookies so amazing; they’re crammed with dark chocolate chips and sweet caramel.
You can make this cookie dough in advance! I love having cookie dough on hand – for last minute sweet cravings, and for whipping up a batch of fresh, warm cookies for family and friends. The dough will keep up to 5 days in the refrigerator and 3 months in the freezer. There’s no need to thaw the dough before baking the cookies, just add a few minutes to the cooking time.
Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 3/4 cups packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 14 to 16 caramels, cut into 8 pieces each, I used Big Picture Farm sea salt and vanilla goat milk caramels
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Beat in the brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla.
- Gradually add the flour mixture and mix until well blended. Add the chocolate chips and mix until just incorporated.
- Use a cookie scoop to transfer the cookies to the prepared pan(s). Alternatively, use your hands and shape the mixture into 2-inch balls and transfer the balls to the prepared pan(s).
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately press the caramel pieces gently into the top of the cookies, about 3 pieces per cookie. Return the pan to the oven and cook for 1 minute, until the cookies are just golden around the edges and the caramels melt slightly.
- Cool on wire racks before serving.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.