Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Published on December 21, 2022
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Quick Summary
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies- chewy chocolate chip cookies with soft caramel inside and a sprinkling of flaky sea salt. You will love this chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Chocolate chip cookies are a classic. I love this classic recipe, but I also love brown butter chocolate chip cookies, salted malted chocolate chip cookies, pudding chocolate chip cookies, and these Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies. You can never have too many cookie recipes:)
I love this recipe because the cookies are chewy, have the perfect amount of chocolate, a sweet caramel center, and a sprinkling of flaky sea salt.
The soft and gooey caramel candy hidden inside takes the cookies to a whole new level. When you get to the middle and bite into the sweet caramel, it is the BEST surprise.
You HAVE to try these cookies!
Table of Contents
Cookie Ingredients
- Flour– use all-purpose flour. When you measure, fluff, spoon, and level. Never pack your flour!
- Cornstarch– the cornstarch keeps the cookies super soft.
- Baking Soda– make sure it’s fresh!
- Sea salt
- Butter– I use unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt in the cookies.
- Sugar– you need brown sugar and granulated sugar.
- Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Chocolate Chips– I use semi-sweet chocolate chips, Guittard is my favorite brand. You can use milk or dark chocolate chips.
- Caramels– I use Trader Joe’s fleur de sel caramels or Werther’s soft caramels. They soft inside of the cookies. Cut them in half!
How to Make Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk flour, cornstarch, baking soda and sea salt together. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Measure about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Flatten the ball slightly with the palm of your hand and place a caramel piece in the center of the dough. Wrap the cookie dough around the caramel, making sure the caramel is completely covered with dough.
- Place on prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until slightly golden brown around the edges.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle the cookies with flaky sea salt. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
How to Store
- Store the baked cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days. You can also freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months.
- You can chill the cookie dough for up to 72 hours.
- You can also freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months. To freeze, To freeze, roll the cookie dough into balls and place on a baking sheet or tray. Place in the freezer and freeze until the cookie dough balls are frozen, about 30 minutes. Remove from the freezer and place in a freezer bag or freezer container.
- When ready to bake, remove the cookie dough balls from the freezer and place on a baking sheet. You don’t need to defrost the cookie dough, just add a few minutes to the baking time.
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Salted Malted Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Lover’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies with Turbinado Sugar & Sea Salt
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies with a gooey caramel center and a touch of sea salt.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 9 soft caramels, cut in half*
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling on cookies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk flour, cornstarch, baking soda and sea salt together. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients.
- Stir in the chocolate chips. Measure about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Flatten the ball slightly with the palm of your hand and place a caramel piece in the center of the dough. Wrap the cookie dough around the caramel, making sure the caramel is completely covered with dough. Place on prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until slightly golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the cookies with flaky sea salt. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
Notes
For the caramels, I like to use Trader Joe’s fleur de sel caramels. You can also use Werther’s soft caramels. I cut the caramels in half. If you can find the Kraft caramel bits, you can use ½ cup. The caramel isn’t as soft and melty.
Nutrition
Calories: 258kcal, Carbohydrates: 35g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 30mg, Sodium: 147mg, Potassium: 105mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 22g, Vitamin A: 257IU, Vitamin C: 0.02mg, Calcium: 29mg, Iron: 1mg
Have you tried this recipe?
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Great cookies¨I bet they are quite addictive.
Cheers,
Rosa
Ahhh, you made the cornstarch cookies! They changed my life recently and I’m in love with them! Yours look great – love the salted caramel addition. Those Bits are handy for things like this. And welcome home!
These sound delicious! I know what you mean about the baking itch; I haven’t really been able to bake anything for 5 months now and it’s driving me crazy!
I just ran across the cornstarch idea on pinterest the other day and can’t wait to try it. I love soft chewy cookies 🙂
Huh, Cornstarch in cookies! I made strawberry shortcake with just cornstarch and it came out great! I’m going to have to try this in cookies! Love salted caramel together in a cookie it is so perfect!!
Yum! I’ve been dying to find a chocolate chip cookie with caramel, and if it’s your recipe Maria I know it’s going to be amazing :). I’m so excited to try these, eat the entire batch and spend days in a love/hate relationship with myself for making that decision. I live in a crazy messed-up world. But if it’s full of caramel, then it’s worth it!
You have been a busy busy girl!!!!! Love the cookies Maria!
You have been crazy busy! Glad you squeezed in some time for some amazing cookies!
These are SO my kind of cookie. I love the salty sweet combo and with the caramel these look amazing!
oh man, i can already tell if I make these, they will be SO addicting. I love salted caramel anything, salty & sweet is the best combo ever 🙂 you’re so busy! i wish i could be as busy as you! haha
These look super yummy! Can’t wait to try!
Omg, these look and sound amazing! I use the secret ingredient, cornstarch, in my shortbread cookies, and it makes a huge difference in texture. Can’t wait to taste these! Glad you finally got some down time btw. xo
yum! salted caramel in cookies- amazing!
I love couch days 🙂 when the whole family relaxes like that- it is really the best. These cookies look SOOOOOO good Maria!!
Oh my gosh- these look amazing!
Ok, total food nerd alert!
I know that adding cornstarch to cookies lends to a softer cookie. But what is the acid in your ingredient list that allows you to use only baking soda?
The original linked recipe says, “If you want crispy cookies, omit the cornstarch and replace the baking soda with baking powder.” Why baking powder? I thought baking powder tended to make cookies puffier, while soda is a browning agent.
Since you’re the Cookie Queen 🙂
Oh girl, these could get me in serious trouble!
These look aaaawwweeesome. Salt + caramel = heaven.
Looks like they would just melt in your mouth!
I love the look of the texture of these cookies, they looks just like how I like them! Loving the sound of these, will definitely have to try them out! 🙂
GO Josh! Whoop whoop! The cookies look absolutely perfect girl! You’ve taken so many incredible trips lately- jealous 😉
Looks like a fabulous cookie Maria! I wouldn’t pass those babies up 🙂
Another delicious cookie from you. I love the addition of corn starch, I’ve yet to bake with it but I’m tempted!
These are the perfect cookie. For sure.
brilliant as ever!
Ummmm…delicious. This definitely looks like a decadent treat I’m going to have to try for Valentine’s Day. Bravo!
Oh, Maria, you know I love your cookies. This is no exception LOVE!!
Definitely my kind of cookie and I know I couldn’t stop at just one!
These have all of my favorite things in them!!
Yummy!!! I know I couldn’t eat just one 🙂
Great recipe idea but Kraft caramel bits are a yucky, waxy imitation of caramel. I recommend finding some good quality caramels and cutting them into small pieces.
These cookies sound Scrumptious! I will have to make these soon. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Making this for sure this weekend! Yum!
Oh how I love caramel in my cookies!!! DELISH.
Caramel bits? I have never heard of them. will try to locate today. These cookies look fabulous! 🙂 …Susan
Wow, you have been busy! So nice to get back in the kitchen after being away for so long. Great idea with the cookies, I am a fan of anything with caramel!
Just finished a batch of these (trial run, as I plan to make them again for my grandmother’s birthday this weekend, lol). So. Yum. Thanks, Maria!
What a neat spin on a classic 🙂 I love chewy cookies and I’m sure the caramel puts this over the edge in chewiness! You’ve got my mouth watering over here!
So glad you’re back from vacation so that you can bring us yummy cookies like these!
I don’t blame you for eating those cookies. They look delicious! I’m definitely going to try these caramel-filled cookies for a nice change-up from my traditional chocolate chip cookies.
I love salted caramel ANYTHING, and chocolate chip cookies are my favorite…so, yeah, basically these looking amazing!
These look divine! You have one lucky husband!
You have had a seriously crazy past few weeks! But there’s nothing quite like curling up with family and an awesome cookie!
I’m going to have to search for those caramel bits in stores up here, because these cookies look incredible…
That sounds like my kind of week! With a nice tasty finish!
Yum! I’ll have to bring these to my knitting group sometime, so I don’t eat them all.
Love the idea of caramel bits and sea salt in a chocolate chip cookie! They look and sound amazing! Can’t wait to bake a batch soon!
Is there anything better than salted caramel?!
these are the most perfect cookies that i have ever seen!
oh those look good, yummy!
Do you know if the dough could be made a couple of days ahead of time and baked right before serving? I’m having a fairly large super bowl crowd and wanted to serve these.
Yes, you can chill the dough for a couple of days in the fridge. Enjoy!
hi maria! i love being home, too. nothing like your own bed. anyway, theses cookies look great! what were they like when they cooled? i baked something (i can’t remember now if it was brownies or cookies) with those caramel bits once, and it didn’t turn out. the bits were so dense and overly chewy, like they are straight from the bag. how did you avoid that?
Hi Jamie, if you don’t like the caramel bits you can chop up pieces of your favorite caramels.
Looking forward to girl scout cookie season finishing so we can start baking again. This will be at the top of the list!
Maria, did you use light or dark brown sugar? Can’t wait to make these!
I used light brown sugar, but dark would be good too!
These look incredible. I love salted sweet things. Thanks for the recipe!
I didnt know adding corn starch would make cookies softer! Awesome tip 😀 HUGE fan of salted caramel too, so I know these are amazing
These look fantastic! There’s not much better than baking in your own kitchen after being away 🙂
look great Maria! I want one
Those cookies look so good! The caramel and salt combo in a good one!
Wow, the recipes seems so easy too! I always shy away from baking but I think I can do these.
hi maria! it’s me again. thank you for responding to my question – you’re so nice! i’m worried that i came off sounding like a caramel snob. i’m not – the kraft ones are fine 🙂 i just wanted a cookie with squishy-soft caramel pieces and wondered if maybe your cookie had achieved that. i’m definitely trying this recipe, as there’s a good chance my caramel bits cookie failure was my own fault. thanks again and keep up the great recipes! love your blog!
I made these last night and love them. I think the base of the cookie is probably one of my favorites I have ever had and plan to use it with different addins. YUM!
I want them. I want them bad! They look like the perfect mix between caramel and chocolate….
You have been one busy mama! I’m glad you’re finally getting a chance to take a deep breath and relax. These cookies sound like the perfect thing to eat while curled up on the couch!
I just made these and they are the best cookies I’ve made and I’ve made alot.
Yummy!
I made these tonight and they are crazy good! I cut up my caramel to small pieces because I wanted to make these tonight. Thank you!
These were delicious! So yummy and soft and chewy!
These look amazing! Making them this weekend I think!
Thanks for this recipe! Made them today and thought they were great! Sticking a few in the freezer to see how they fare there.
Took these to a Super Bowl party yesterday and they were gone before halftime! And don’t even ask how many I ate warm, right out of the oven – on my! I’ll be sharing on my blog and linking back to you for the recipe – thanks so much for sharing! This one is a keeper!
Made these for a Super Bowl party yesterday and they were a HUGE hit!! Thank you for a great recipe!
Glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Made a batch of these for a Super Bowl party last night; they were a hit! Just the right amount of sweet, and the hint of sea salt really rounds out the flavor nicely. Needless to say, I only walked away with 4! Thanks for the great recipe!
You are welcome! Glad the cookies were a hit at your party!
Whenever I go on vacation for a week or 2 I always get the baking itch too 🙂 These cookies look so good and I love the addition of caramel!
these sound yummy!
I just made these and they are delicious! Kudos!
Hi Maria- I loved the texture of these cookies so much, I have been wondering if you can add cornstarch to any cookie recipe? How do you decide the ratio or do you decrease your amount of flour or baking soda?
Wow, these look absolutely delicious! Chocolate, Salt and Caramel in the same sentence=Y U M M Y! I would definitely like to try this recipe soon 🙂 Thank you so much for the recipe!
I made these cookies today and they turned out great! Thank you for the recipe!! Only thing is, whenever I make cookies, they turn out with a very smooth surface. How do you get your cookies to have that textured look?
caramel in cookies…what an awesome idea! Can’t wait to try out this recipe!
These sound awesome. Has anyone tried adding walnuts or another kind of nut to them?
I made these this past week and they are so unbelievably good. Everyone I shared them with loved them. They are definitely on my list of cookies to make again.
I’m looking for new cookie recipes and this is one of the most unique chocolate chip cookies EVER.
made these this weekend…. oh my… so good… making more. 🙂 used milk chocolate chips. thanks for all your work!
Glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Thanks for the delicious recipe!!! We were snowed in today & I made these, they were SO good!!
Glad you liked the cookies!
These cookies are fantastic. Making them now for the second time in a week. Thank you from Portland, Oregon! 🙂
I am so glad you like them! Thanks for letting us know!
I made these and they were sooo yummy! The only thing was mine came out kind flat. They weren’t as thick as I thought they would be but that didn’t matter because they were so tasty!
Made these for my girlfriend yesterday and she couldn’t believe how good they are. She always considers herself the better cook so it was nice to give her a run for her money with these cookies. Thanks guys. Greetings all the way from the Caribbean btw!
Hi! my cookies did not look as good as yours but they are delicious, I will use less sugar next time. Thank you!
Oh my…. just finished baking last batch and I’ve snuck a few in btween and these r fantastic….. u have to try them…. Mmmmmmmm good. Thank u…
literally the best cookies. I added molasses to regular sugar to make brown sugar and they tasted fantastic. I ended up having to add in a bit more flour to compensate for the extra moisture, but they were so amazing! I brought them to work and they were devoured in an instant!
incredible cookie!! we all agree, best cookie ever!
These cookies are DELICIOUS! I just made them and I was so happy with how they came out. They’re the perfect consistency! I cut the granulated sugar in half and I used bittersweet chocolate chips, because I like things a little less sweet. I baked them for 9 minutes and they were a soft golden brown. Thanks so much for this recipe, I’ll definitely be using this often in the future.
These look amazing!!! I am a huge fan of sweet and salty desserts! yum!
Is there anything special you do to make them look so pretty!? I made a batch and mind you they are divine, but they don’t look near as pretty as yours. 🙂 Thank you for the amazing recipe!
I wonder if we can find a gluten free way to do these……
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made these cookies. They are seriously perfection!! I made them for a friend’s birthday and she asks me to bring them back anytime, not just for celebrations – ha! I’ve used dark/semi/milk choc chips & tonight I was out of those so I used white choc & toffee bits with the caramel. I’m sure they will be awesome!
Can I substitute for all purpose whole wheat flour? Not the ground whole wheat. Thank you
The texture will be a little different, but yes!
I found the first time around that I didn’t taste enough of the caramel throughout the cookie. The second time I tried this recipe I changed the chocolate chip and caramel quantities both to 3/4 cups. This kept the cookie consistency the same and spread the chocolate and caramel evenly throughout each cookie. So good!!
Every time I’ve made these, they disappear in mere minutes (no exaggeration)! They’ve become requested by “those awesome cookies you made that time…”. I’m a huge “How I Met Your Mother” fan, and I don’t know if you watch the show, but in a recent episode they mentioned a cookie with peanut butter, chocolate, and caramel called “sumbitches.” I was thinking these would be a great jumping point to be adapted into those, but since it’s your recipe, I was wondering if you had any input into how such an adaptation should be made. Thoughts?
I’ve been buying caramel chocolate chip cookies and I wanted to find a recipe that would be the same.. I made these for my Dear Husband this evening and his response, “honey these are much better than the store bought ones”, we love them!
Can anyone explain to me why my cookies will not flatten out ? I have researched it online and I tried so many things … I am perplexed !!! Thanks so so much
Sorry you are having issues. A few possibilities…too much flour, too much leavening??? Have you tried decreasing these?
love these.. my only comment/concern with my batch was the caramel seemed to harden a bit with the cookies i ate later in the day.. what to do? wondering if the caramel bits i used weren’t “fresh” if that possible. thx for any help
Hi, thanks for this recipe I have made them several times are amazing! I’m wondering how the dough would freeze or keep refrigerated for a few days? I need to make them for the weekend but wouldn’t have enough time to get everything ready. Any ideas?
You can keep the dough refrigerated for a few days.
These look delicious! Quick question – do you use fine or course sea salt? Thanks!
Just made these cookies and they are amazing! Very moist–love the caramel! Love the texture. Will definitely make them again–a keeper!
Hi Maria, I just stumbled upon your website (thru Real Housemoms on fb) and printed out a couple of your cookie recipes that sound amazing – can’t wait to try them! May I make a suggestion though? I love a picture to go along with the recipe and that’s not happening with your recipes. Could you please include a picture along with the recipe for those of us printing it out? PLEASE??
I did a few slight changes and they were great too. instead of chocolate chips, i used cocoa powder to make chocolate cookies with caramel bits. (BY THE WAY, nuts.com is a great source!) the sea salt really sparkles against the dark cookie!
Have you ever made them in a 9 x 13 pan, and cut in bars?
I have a friend who HATES chocolate (so weird!) anyway I used cinnamon chips instead of chocolate for her and holy cow- she couldn’t stop raving about ‘THOSE COOKIES…’
Can i use Corn Flour instead of Corn starch?
I’m all ready to make these when I realized.. There are no kraft caramel bits or any other kind of baking caramels available – anywhere in Canada. Not kraft nor any other brand!! what do you think about substituting skor toffee bits?? Otherwise, how much work are we talkin’ here, to cut up the caramel squares?? I’m not looking to slave away too much!
You can cut caramel squares in pieces. It doesn’t take that long. The cookies are worth it:)
I just made these for a homeschool meetup and they were gobbled up so fast, with many woebegone faces because I didn’t bring more. Thanks for the great recipe
I so very rarely leave comments on recipes, but I had to for this one. These are the best cookies I’ve ever made! I’ve made three batches now and every time they come out perfectly. They have just a slight crunch to the outside, but the inside is so soft and chewy. And the best part is that they stay soft indefinitely – or at least until they’re gone, which around here hasn’t been more than four days! Mine do spread quite a bit, and as thin as they were, I thought for sure they would be rock hard by morning. So you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I have been to bite into such a soft cookie one, two, four days after baking. I am going to try chilling the dough longer next time, maybe even freezing it to see if they’ll come out thicker. But even if that doesn’t work and they remain very thin, this will still be my go-to for this type of cookie – this version, chocolate chip, M&M, or anything else I might want to stir into the base batter. Rave reviews all around from family, co-workers, and the guests at the baby shower to whom I served them. Thank You! Now to check out your other recipes!
Thank you for your comment. I am so happy you like these cookies. They are a favorite at our house too!
MAde these cookies tonight but mine are not fluffy like your picture. They are very flat and the only height is from the chocolate chips and caramel balls. Any idea ?
These are my favorite cookies! Been making for years now bc after I made them once, it’s all anyone ever requests!
Thanks for the recipe!!
Hi am going to try these but have a question can you use the sea salt and caramel chipits stead of caramel bites?
sure!
I have been making these cookies probably since you posted them. At least fifteen times. I swap half the chip for pecans and they are our favorite. Just about to make them again to ship to my hubby in Afghanistan. Thank you!
I’ve made these cookies at least 20 times now and have become somewhat famous for them in my circle of friends ☺️ Everyone RAVES about them and I always get asked for the recipe! They are sooooooo good every single time! Thank you for the amazing recipe!
This is an excellent recipe which I have made numerous times & given as gifts. I do cut Werther’s caramels into small pieces; I find that they melt better than the chips. Also, my last batch I used 1/2 cup light & I/2 cup dark brown sugar. The cookies are a rich golden color & have a more distinct caramel flavor. Going forward, I’ll always use this modification.
I made these cookies i folded werthers soft carmel in half and rolled the dough around they were a big success tnanks
Super yummy and it is hard to stop eating them!
I’ve made this recipe for years now, but this year it’s changed. Is it possible to make an addendum on this one to show the old method? It’s always everyone’s favorite cookie!
Yes, I noticed this as well. Not as good as past years.
These cookies are SO good! I got some caramels from work for Christmas and I wanted to do something with them.
Perfect! Glad you loved them!
Would the caramel freeze and unthaw okay if I make these and freeze for a week?
Yes!