hard caramel

Crunchy, chewy bits of caramel and puddles of chocolate lace this vanilla-forward chocolate chip cookie! Aside from the extra step of making the hard caramel (which takes just minutes, no candy thermometer needed!), this is an easy, one-bowl recipe with no rest time for the dough!

The Best Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

(200 g) granulated sugar

(330) g light brown sugar (packed)

(226 g) unsalted butter (room temperature)

(100 g) granulated sugar

vanilla

eggs (room temperature)

baking powder

baking soda

sea salt

¼ cups (439 g) all-purpose flour

255 g dark chocolate (coarsely chopped or chips)

Sea salt flakes

To make the caramel, spray a rimmed baking sheet heavily with nonstick spray and set aside.

Add the sugar to a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan. Turn the heat to medium high and stir with a silicon spatula until the sugar liquefies, turns golden brown and no sugar crystals remain. Immediately pour onto the prepared baking sheet and use a spatula to spread evenly until it’s about ¼ to ⅛ inch (0.7 to 0.3 cm) thick. Set aside to cool and harden while you make the cookie dough. Once cool, turn out onto a cutting board and cut into shards of 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) and smaller. Careful, they’re sharp.

For the Caramel

Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C) and line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

In an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream your brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter and vanilla on medium speed for about 4 to 5 minutes or until light in color and texture.

Add the eggs one at a time, making sure the first is well blended before adding the second. Add in the baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix on medium until everything is well blended, about 1 minute more. Take the bowl out of the mixer.

Add the flour and mix until barely blended and you still see streaks of flour. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is well combined. Add the chocolate and chopped hard caramel and mix until evenly distributed throughout. Place 2-tablespoon size dough balls on the prepared cookie sheet leaving 2 inches (5 cm) of space between the cookie dough balls.

Bake cookies one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 11 minutes. Take out of the oven and use the edge of a silicon spatula to nudge the cookies back into circles. Place back in the oven for 1 minute more. They will look slightly underbaked. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, and then transfer the warm cookies to a rack to finish cooling. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if using and serve!

For the Cookies

Found this recipe while looking to change up my regular chocolate chip cookies. The extra step of melting sugar to make the caramel is definitely worth it! I love baking and this recipe does not disappoint!

Delicious! these were easy to make, and my husband loved them!

can you use Nestle's caramel bits instead of making the shards?

You can also use molasses instead of honey since that’s what is in brown sugar

Can I freeze the dough before adding the chocolate chip and caramel? Will it effect the texture or taste?

I want to make this in batches of 6 - 12 - 18 - 24 
How to adjust this recipe?

This recipe was so beyond good! The cookies weren’t hard at hall and it wasn’t super hard to make!

I ended up using some brown butter and the result was amazing all my co workers ate them up

I ended up putting some dough in the fridge because I couldn't bake it all before work and the dough is rock hard, do you have any recommendations to bring it back to life or do you think it'll be fine once it's back down to room temp I plan on baking the rest tomorrow so 2 days after I've made the dough

Brown Butter Salted Caramel Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Regular pantry staples are elevated to another level to give this cookie a 'fancy with only a little more effort' vibe. Brown butter is stirred in with toasty muscovado sugar to form a perfect cookie dough, and then hard caramel shards and chocolate chunks are folded in to give the perfect amount of chocolate and caramel per bite. Finished with flaky sea salt, this is a super easy yet satisfying baking recipe.

Brown Butter Salted Caramel Chocolate Chunk Cookies

unsalted butter, straight

granulated sugar (for the caramel)

muscovado sugar

dark brown sugar

granulated sugar

eggs,

vanilla bean paste

all-purpose flour

¾ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp baking soda

tsp kosher salt

dark chocolate, chopped

Flaky Salt

Preheat the oven to 350˚f / 180˚c. Line 3-4 baking trays with parchment paper.

Make the Brown Butter

Place the butter in a medium saucepan, and place over medium heat. Cook until the butter has melted, and then continue to cook, swirling the pan often, until the butter foams and turns golden brown and nutty - this should take 3-4 minutes. Measure out 175g of the brown butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow to cool slightly.

Make the caramel

Place the 200g granulated sugar into a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Place a silicone mat on a heat resistant surface (I use my counter) or onto a baking tray, and have nearby. Place the sugar in a medium saucepan, and place over medium heat. Heat the sugar, stirring occasionally with a whisk, until all of the sugar has melted (the sugar will clump as you heat, but continue to stir - it will soon smooth out). Continue to cook the caramel until it is amber in colour and just beginning to smoke slightly. Immediately pour onto the prepared silicone mat, and leave to cool while you prepare the cookie dough.

Make the cookie dough

Place the bowl with the brown butter onto the mixer, and fit with the paddle attachment. Mix the brown butter, muscovado sugar, dark brown sugar, and second measure of granulated sugar on medium speed until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla, then increase the mixer speed to high and beat for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture has lightened in colour and thickened.

Place the bowl with the brown butter onto the mixer, and fit with the paddle attachment. Mix the brown butter, muscovado sugar, dark brown sugar, and second measure of granulated sugar on medium speed until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla, then increase the mixer speed to high and beat for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture has lightened in colour and thickened.

Add the Dry Ingredients

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer off, add to the mixing bowl, then mix on low until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish the incorporation of the dry ingredients by hand if needed - scrape down the bowl and ensure that all the mixture at the bottom of the bowl is fully incorporated.

Add the chocolate and caramel

Add the chopped chocolate to the bowl. Carefully peel the caramel sheet off the silicone mat, and place onto the chopping board. Using a sharp knife, cut into chunks ½” to ¾” or smaller in size - there will be some small shards, and larger pieces. Use caution as the shards will be sharp. Add the caramel shards to the bowl along with the chocolate, and mix briefly to combine.

Scoop the cookies

Using a two tablespoon scoop, place level scoop fulls of dough onto the prepared baking trays - 8 per tray works well for me, but I like to start with 6 just to make sure there will be enough space. Roll each into a ball and arrange on the trays, leaving ample room for spreading.

Scoop the cookies.

Bake the cookies

Bake the trays one at a time for 11-12 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed up and set around the edges. Remember that they will continue to cook a little once you remove them from the oven. If the cookies have lost their round shape a little in the oven due to the caramel, you can use a round cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie to nudge it back into a circular shape. Sprinkle each cookie with coarse sea salt, then cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Repeat the baking process with the remaining cookies. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

Absolutely the best cookie recipe out there. The pools of chocolate - perfection.

This is my "go-to" recipe when I need to bring something to an event. I've never had leftovers and I've always gotten rave reviews.

These were the first cookies I made from scratch when I began baking a few years ago and although I’m not the biggest fan of chocolate chip cookies, I love the brown butter flavor and the crunch and chewiness of the caramel. It has become a favorite of mine. Instead of chopping the caramel, I recommend throwing it in a food processor. Safer and less messy.

Being making this for a few years. Instructions are great and such an elevated cookie.

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/RcbSHTlG.mp4

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