Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies from the kitchen
Light, crispy edges that are soft and fudgy in the middle, with a rich chocolatey caramel taste and sea salt flakes lightly sprinkled on top! For a little extra sweetness, you can drizzle over the top some more caramel or dulce de leche — that is what these Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies deliver. These are straightforward to mix, require ZERO chilling before baking, and are genuinely a strong match for anyone that loves cookies, chocolate, or a truly good sweet and salty combo with their dessert!
Inside the Recipe
This double chocolate salted caramel cookie dough is adapted from the super soft chocolate chip cookies recipe, a cookie that's been pretty popular over on my Instagram feed and over on Pinterest.
With this method, I omitted the instant vanilla pudding and vegetable shortening and added unsalted butter, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt. Then I swapped out the semi-sweet chocolate baking bar for the semi-sweet chocolate chips and caramel-flavored baking chips from Ghirardelli. You can still use the baking bar if you'd prefer, though!
I ensured the unsalted butter was softened and creamed together well with the brown sugar and granulated sugar before adding the eggs, vanilla extract, and dry ingredients. Then I folded in the chips using a spatula.
What's truly nice about this method and the chocolate chip cookie recipe is that they don't require chilling before baking. That's a nice time-saver right there!
As soon as I folded in the chips, I immediately scooped out the dough, using a 1 1/2 tablespoon-size cookie scoop, and placed them about 1 1/2 – 2 inches apart on my cookie sheets. I was able to get three rows of four cookies, yielding a total of 36 cookies. Given the size of your cookie sheets and the spacing needed, you may be unable to fit the same amount.
What goes in
To make these insanely flavorful cookies you'll need the following ingredients:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter – should be softened and at room temperature
- Granulated Sugar
- Light Brown Sugar
- Eggs – should be at room temperature
- Vanilla Extract
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- Caramel Flavored Chips
- Sea Salt Flakes – for sprinkling over top of cookies
- Caramel Sauce or Dulce de Leche – for drizzling over the top. It's optional, but good Lord, it makes the cookies taste even better!
Quick Tips Before Starting
- Cooling time for these double chocolate salted caramel cookies is not included in the prep or cook times shown.
- Ghirardelli makes a caramel chip, and, thanks to a Sovuh reader, I've learned that Hershey also makes them! They can be a little tricky to find, so if you don't have them, you can omit them or try another chip like butterscotch or peanut butter!
- Fold in the chocolate chips and caramel chips to prevent over-mixing the cookie dough. I do this with any add-ons like nuts or dried fruit too.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop out your cookies to get a more consistent shape and size each time! I used a 1 1/2 tablespoon size cookie scoop.
- Instead of using a caramel sauce, you can easily use dulce de leche. I've made them with both, and they taste equally good!
- Allow the chocolate salted caramel cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to the wire cooling rack. They will be very soft, so be sure to use a spatula!
- Yield 36 cookies
- Prep 20 minutes
- Cook 10 minutes
- Total 30 minutes
- Calories 171
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar, lightly packed
- 2 Large Eggs, room temperature
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/2 cups Semi-Sweet or Milk Chocolate Chips
- 1 cup <a href="https://amzn.to/2LjoMMg" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Caramel Flavored Chips</a>
- <a href="https://amzn.to/2NE2L7A" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Sea Salt Flakes</a>, for sprinkling over top of cookies
- Caramel Sauce or Dulce de Leche, optional, for drizzling over the top of cookies
Method
- Adjust your oven rack to the 2nd level mark (just above center), heat the oven to 375ºF, then line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or you can use silicone baking mats.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Hold to the side.
- Using your hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar together on medium-high speed until light and airy.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and continue to stir together until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Switching the mixer speed to low, gradually add in your whisked dry ingredients until just combined. Then fold in the chocolate chips and caramel chips.
- Using a spoon or cookie scoop (I used the 1 1/2 tablespoon size), drop dough by the spoonful leaving 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets.
- Lightly sprinkle the tops of each cookie with the sea salt flakes.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375ºF (mine baked for 10 minutes).
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Drizzle the tops of each cookies with a little caramel sauce or dulce de leche (optional).
- Keep stored in an airtight container for up to a week with a slice of bread.
Baker notes
Recipe adapted from the Super Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies and the St. Stephen's Family Recipes cookbook.
