Salted Caramel Cookies
intro
Soft, chewy brown sugar cookies stuffed with gooey salted caramel, topped with flaky sea salt for the ideal sweet-savory buttery treat.
Ingredients
Steps
Mix the cookie dough
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together 270g all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp fine table salt until evenly combined. In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to cream 226g softened unsalted butter, 150g packed light brown sugar, and 100g granulated sugar for 3 full minutes until pale, light, and fluffy. Add 2 room-temperature eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla extract. Gradually fold the dry flour mixture into the wet butter mixture on low mixer speed until no dry flour streaks remain, taking care not to overmix to keep cookies tender.
Chill the dough
Tightly cover the dough bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (up to 24 hours for deeper, caramelized flavor) at 4°C (39°F). Chilling solidifies the butter in the dough, preventing cookies from spreading too thin during baking and creating a chewier, more evenly textured final result.
Stuff dough with caramel
Once chilled, remove dough from the fridge and scoop uniform 2-tablespoon (30g) portions, rolling each into a smooth ball. Press one unwrapped soft salted caramel candy into the center of each dough ball, then pinch the dough fully around the caramel to seal it completely with no exposed caramel (this prevents messy oozing while baking). Roll sealed dough balls back into smooth rounds and arrange them 3 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
Bake the cookie batches
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) with the oven rack positioned in the middle position. Bake one tray of cookies at a time for 11 to 12 minutes, until the edges are deep golden brown but the centers look slightly puffy and underbaked. Do not overbake, as this will produce hard, crunchy cookies instead of the desired chewy texture; centers will set fully as cookies cool.
Top and cool cookies
Immediately after removing the baking sheet from the oven, sprinkle each warm cookie with a 1/4 tsp pinch of flaky sea salt. Let cookies rest on the hot baking sheet for 5 minutes to set, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool for an additional 10 minutes before serving, allowing the caramel center to settle into a gooey, stretchy consistency.
Tips
2.Do not skip the dough chilling step—warm, soft dough will spread flat in the oven and cause caramel to leak out and burn on the baking sheet.
3.If caramel oozes out of a cookie while baking, gently nudge the leaked caramel back toward the cookie edge with a thin spatula immediately after taking the tray out of the oven, before the caramel hardens.
OMG these chewy salted caramel cookies are a GAME CHANGER! I brought them to my neighborhood potluck last weekend and every single person asked for the recipe. The balance of sweet caramel and flaky sea salt is perfect, and they stay chewy for days! I was worried the medium difficulty would be too much for my casual baking skills but the steps were so easy to follow. My kids begged me to make a second batch before we even finished the first one. 10/10 will be making these for every holiday gathering from now on!
SO good! I made these as part of my Sunday meal prep for my work snacks this week and they held up perfectly. The only tweak I made was adding a tiny extra sprinkle of flaky salt on top right when they came out of the oven because I’m a salt fiend. Total cook time was right around the 1 hour 20 minutes listed, no surprises there. Will absolutely be adding this to my regular baking rotation!
Okay full transparency I burned the first batch because I got distracted walking my dog, oops! But the second batch came out absolutely perfect. The caramel centers are so gooey and chewy, not runny at all like other caramel cookie recipes I’ve tried before. I was intimidated by the medium difficulty rating but it was totally manageable even for someone who only bakes a couple times a year. Brought half the batch to my office and my coworkers ate them in 10 minutes flat!
These taste amazing but I had a little trouble swapping in gluten free all purpose flour! The flavor was spot on, that salted caramel chew is unreal, but my cookies spread a little more than the photos looked. I used a store bought GF flour blend without xanthan gum, so that’s probably on me! My whole family still devoured them after dinner last night, I just want to get the texture right next time.
Made these for my friend’s fall potluck and they were the first dessert gone! I stuffed each cookie with an extra square of dark chocolate along with the caramel because I can never have too much going on in a cookie, and it was chef’s kiss. The chill time felt like forever but it was so worth it when I pulled those golden, chewy cookies out of the oven. 100% recommend for anyone who needs a crowd-pleasing dessert!
Made these in my tiny dorm oven last night and they actually turned out! I was worried my oven runs hot so I baked them 2 minutes less than the recipe said and they were perfectly chewy, no crispy edges at all. My roommate ate three in a row and said they’re better than the bakery cookies we buy downtown. The only thing I messed up was I used regular table salt instead of flaky sea salt on top, so they were a little saltier than intended, but still so good. Will make again once I stock up on flaky salt!