Soft Bakery Style Salted Caramel Cookies

These bakery style salted caramel cookies are the perfect balance of sweet and salty flavor with sea salt caramel chips and chocolate chunks mixed in! This chewy caramel cookie is next level and perfect for the holiday season!

This salted caramel bakery cookie recipe makes a whopping 36 cookies and they were all gone the day that I made them! Clearly this is a new favorite cookie! My friends and family were so obsessed! And rightfully so, these sea salt caramel cookies are the perfect texture and flavor. They are a chewy cookie but with a gooey center! They are covered in melty salted caramel and puddles of chocolate.

This recipe gives regular chocolate chip cookies an extra oomph of caramel flavor! And who doesn't love caramel?! This is definitely in the running to be my new favorite cookie recipe.

These cookies would be perfect for a holiday cookie exchange since they have a little something extra. I don't think anyone else will have a cookie like this! You can even drizzle caramel sauce on top for extra caramel topping and because there's never too much caramel! Caramel it up!

ingredients

Butter: You will need 1 cup of softened high quality butter. My favorite is Kerrygold. Do not use melted butter for these cookies!

Sugars: Both white granulated sugar and light brown sugar is used in these bakery style salted caramel cookies.

Eggs: This recipe calls for 2 eggs at room temperature. This helps the eggs cream and incorporate more easily.

Vanilla: Both vanilla extract and fresh vanilla bean is needed for these chocolate chip cookies. The fresh vanilla bean adds so much flavor and is so fragrant in the cookie dough!

Flour: You will need all purpose flour for this recipe, 2 ½ cups. For most precise measuring, measure the flour in grams, 313 grams.

Cornstarch: Just a bit of cornstarch in this cookie recipe helps it spread less. You only need 1 teaspoon.

Baking soda: 1 teaspoon of baking soda is the leavening agent in this cookies, making them a soft and fluffy.

Caramel: These bakery style salted caramel cookies obviously need caramel! 1 cup of soft caramel bits are added into these cookies to jewel them with salted caramel flavor! I use Kraft soft caramels but you can use whatever soft caramels are your favorite.

Chocolate chips: Ok lets talk chocolate chips. This recipe calls for Lily's salted caramel chocolate chips. I found these chocolate chips at Whole Foods but they are also sold at Walmart and Target. If you can only find the whole bar, that also works, just using a sharp knife to cut the bar into chocolate bits. If you are unable to find the Lily's salted caramel chocolate at all, you can use whatever chocolate chip is your favorite. They will be so delicious whatever chocolate you use!

variations & substitutions

If you cant find Lily's salted caramel chocolate chips, you can use whatever chocolate is your favorite! Semisweet chocolate, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate would also be delicious on these bakery style cookies. You could also try white chocolate chips for a completely different flavor profile.

Use whatever soft caramels you love! This cookie recipe calls for kraft soft caramels, but if there is a soft caramel that you really love from your local grocery store or that you know always hits the spot, use that! If I can't find Kraft I typically use werther’s soft caramels.

tips & tricks

Size these cookies how you like em'! Personally, I like smaller cookies. Cookies that are 1-2 bites are my favorite. I make my cookies small by using a 1 inch ice cream scoop and having the cookie dough balls be just one scoop worth. For larger chocolate cookies, do 2 scoops or use a larger cookie scoop.

For best results, let the dough chill. This makes sure that when the cookies bake they don't spread too much, leaving for sparse crispy treats. Letting the dough chill for at least 3 hours, gives you chewy delicious cookies!

Make a double batch and freeze the rest for when you're ready! I love to do this when making any cookie recipe because then next time I want fresh cookies, the only thing I have to do is throw them in the oven. They come out perfect every time!

step by step instructions

1. Cream the butter. In a large mixing bowl using a hand-held electric mixer or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter. This should take about 1-2 minutes on medium speed to achieve that light yellow hue. Be careful not to over cream the butter during this step.

2. Add the sugars. Add in the white sugar and brown sugar, and beat for another minute. The creamed sugars and butter should be light in color and super fluffy.

3. Add remaining wet ingredients. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and vanilla bean seeds on high speed. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed to have the dough be fully incorporated.

4. Mix dry ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix until all the shades of white look evenly distributed.

5. Add wet to dry. With the mixer on low speed, in the large bowl with the wet ingredients, slowly add the dry ingredients. The base of the cookie dough should be quite thick when all ingredients are combined.

6. Incorporate caramel and chocolate. Add the chopped caramel bits and chocolate chips. Using a hand mixer or a wooden spoon combine until they are evenly dispersed within the cookie dough.

7. Chill. I know I know, no one likes to chill cookie dough, but for the best cookies you have to chill this dough. If the dough is not chilled, it does not give a chance to let the butter sturdy back up, therefore when baked the butter melts right away. You will be left with the world's thinnest cookie, no good! We want a chewy bakery style cookie! So place dough in the fridge covered, to chill for at least 2 hours.

8. Prep. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Get out a wire rack for the warm cookies to cool on.

9. Scoop & bake. Using a one inch cookie scoop, scoop out the cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet. For small cookies, do just one scoop per cookie dough ball and for large cookies do two scoops. Place extra caramel pieces and chocolate chips on the top of the cookie dough. Bake cookies for 10 minutes until golden brown.

10. Cool & serve. Once the cookies are done baking, bang the sheet pan on the counter a couple times to deflate the cookie, giving it that crinkle chewy texture. The center of the cookie should still be a little wet looking. Let cool for a couple minutes on a wire rack. Then take the cooled cookies and place on a serving platter. Enjoy!

serving suggestions

Serve these salted caramel chocolate chip cookies while still warm on a platter sprinkled with coarse salt. You can have caramel sauce or ice cream on the side for extra goodness!

If you love this cookie recipe, you should also try my chewy almond oatmeal cookies, chai molasses cookies, and red velvet cookies.

storage & reheating

Make sure cookies cool completely before storing. Then store baked cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

To freeze cookie dough, scoop and prepare into cookie dough balls. Then place them in a single layer in a freezer bag and tightly seal. The frozen cookie dough can stay in the freezer for up to 2 months.

To reheat frozen cookie dough, bake for a couple more minutes than listed on the instructions to ensure the cookie is fully cooked through.

faq's

What can I use if I don't have caramel?

• If you don't have caramel you can make this recipe with a variety of different things. For similar saltiness, try chopped pretzels. Or for creamy yet sweet bits like the caramel, try butterscotch chips!

How do I make my cookies look professional?

• After they are baking, get a large circle cookie cutter and place it around the exterior of the cookie and move around to form the cookie in a perfect circle. This makes every cookie look perfectly round and so professional!

Why are my cookies spreading?

• If your cookies are spreading, the cookie dough has not been chilled for long enough. The butter needs to be completely chilled after the creaming and cookie dough process, or else the fat in the butter will melt fast, resulting in the cookie to greatly spread. Be sure to chill the cookie dough for at least 3 hours.

how to video

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