These Salted Caramel Cookies are a mouthful of flavor! With a soft and chewy texture, chocolate chips and chocolate chunks, plus a gooey caramel filling, this chocolate chip cookie recipe will satisfy all cookie lovers.
I have to admit, I made this recipe on a whim. I had this strange craving to make everything with brown butter this weekend. Including this yummy cookie recipe and a brown butter blueberry coffee cake recipe (coming soon!). Also, I want to apologize in advance for the overload of pictures on this recipe.
The lighting was just TOO good and I couldn't choose which images to share, so I'm sharing them all:)
When I was brainstorming a brown butter cookie I thought of all of the flavors I would love to go with a buttery and chewy cookie base. Naturally, salted caramel and chocolate chunks came to mind. I've seen other bakers/bloggers stuff cookies with caramel, Reese's cups and more, but I've never seen a recipe with caramel, chocolate chunks AND brown butter.
I was a little nervous about how they would turn out to be honest because I'm typically one to use softened butter in my cookie recipes. I'm very particular about the temperature of my butter when I make my chocolate chip pudding cookies so I'm always hesitant to make a cookie recipes that involves melted butter.
The key to making sure your cookies don't spread all over the pan when you're dealing with melted butter is chilling the dough. I know this is somewhat time consuming, but totally worth it. Not only does chilling the dough allow you to have that perfect chewy texture, but it also gives the dough enough time to sit and allow all of the flavors meld together.
Extra delicious flavor and texture is worth it in my book!
Brown Butter Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe Rundown:
Taste: Think of a deep toffee flavor when you take a bite and a sweet and salty caramel surprise inside. And don't forget the chocolate chunks to top it off. The nutty flavor from the brown butter and the burst of sea salt on top and caramel on the inside will make your tastebuds so happy.
Ease: I would definitely consider these salted caramel chocolate chip cookies a special occasion recipe. The ingredients and baking instructions themselves aren't difficult but there are a few extra steps in this recipe, including browning the butter and chilling the dough. You can make them a day in advance and bake them easily when you need them, or if you're like me, keep a batch of the dough in your freezer so you're on the ready when a baking occasion arises.
Texture: Simple words in this blog post just don't do the texture of these cookies justice. I tried my best to capture it in my photos. They're soft and chewy and filled with melty chocolate. The center of these salted caramel chocolate chips cookies are the best part. It's filled with soft and chewy caramel to add an extra layer of chew to this recipe.
Appearance: The large chocolate chunks are my favorite part! They're so mouthwatering and the addition of the sea salt on top adds for extra appetite appeal. Not to mention the gooey caramel when you break it in half...
All that said, I would absolutely make this brown butter salted caramel chocolate chip cookie recipe again. And again and again.
I know I mentioned the few extra steps in making this recipe so I want to break down those two additional steps for you!
How to Brown the Butter:
Don't be intimidated by the extra step in browning the butter here. It really isn't hard at all! Here's what you do:
- Add the butter to a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Allow the butter to melt, stirring occasionally. The butter will start to froth and make an audible crackling noise. This is what you want! Continue to stir periodically for 3-5 minutes until you start to see dark brown bits at the bottom of the pan and the butter turns an auburn color. When this happens, remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into a bowl to cool to room temperature. I like to leave the dark brown bits in the bottom of the pan because they can tend to have more of a burnt flavor but if you like that then go for it!
Once the butter is browned and in the bowl allow it to cool to room temperature before you start the rest of the recipe. This is to make sure the egg/egg yolk don't accidentally cook in hot butter and so the sugar and butter mix together well.
Why and How to Chill the Dough:
Why: It's important to chill the dough in this recipe because it's made with melted butter. If you put the dough straight into the oven after mixing the cookies will spread all over the pan. The chilling allows the butter in the recipe to solidify again so when you put them in the oven you have perfectly soft and chewy salted caramel chocolate chip cookies. It also lets all of the flavors meld together and add more depth of flavor while you're waiting!
How: This is simple! The part in the recipe when you want to chill the dough is when you're done making the dough (of course!). I like to scoop mine into balls, stuff them with caramel then place them on a baking sheet covered in plastic wrap or foil and put them in the fridge. That way, when you take them out all you have to do is preheat the oven and bake. This is also the step in the process where you can freeze the dough. I like to roll mine with the caramel and put them in the freezer to use when I'm ready. Just allow the dough to thaw for 15 minutes before putting them in the oven.
Now that we've covered the two more time consuming parts of this recipe, there's really nothing else to be concerned with aside from staring at these brown butter salted caramel chocolate chip cookies...
I just made a batch of these and baked them and put them in the freezer. I'm heading to a lake house with my family this weekend and wanted to share the delicous-ness with them.
I'm so excited because one of my big sisters just had her first baby one month ago and this weekend means lots of baby snuggles, quality family time and lots of brown butter salted caramel chocolate chip cookies.
If you love these, you will love our brown butter maple pecan cookies.
Brown Butter Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 egg + 1 yolk
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt + extra for sprinkling
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 8- ounce semi sweet baking bar coarsely chopped
- 12-14 soft caramels
Instructions
- Make the brown butter. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, stirring occasionally. Continue to cook the butter until it becomes foamy and you can hear cracking and popping noises. Once that happens, continue to stir occasionally for 3-5 minutes until the butter develops a nutty aroma, brown bits start to form in the bottom of the pan and the butter turns an amber color. Once this happens, remove from the heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Allow to cool to room temperature, 20-30 minutes.
- Once cooled, make the dough. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with the hand mixer, beat the butter, dark brown sugar and granulated sugar together until combined, 2-3 full minutes.
- Add the vanilla, egg and egg yolk and continue to beat until combined, about another 1 minute.
- Add the four, baking soda, baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt into the wet mixture and beat until incorporated.
- Add the chocolate chips and chocolate chunks and combine using a rubber or wooden spatula.
- Using a large rounded tablespoon, scoop the dough and place on prepared baking sheet. You should have 24-28 scoops. Make sure you have an even number when all the dough is gone. Take one rounded scoop of dough and place one caramel in the center, pushing down slightly. Take another piece of dough and place it on top. Form a ball with the dough so the caramel is completely covered. Place back on the baking sheet and repeat the process until all the dough scoops are gone. You should end up with 12-14 large cookies.
- Once rolled, cover with plastic wrap or foil and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight (preferred). This is the point where you can place the cookies in the freezer for up to 3 months as well.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and remove the dough from the refrigerator to allow to set for 10-15 minutes.
- Place the dough in the oven, making sure the cookies are at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until dough spreads and the cookies are set on the top.
- Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.
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